Inching closer to legalization

March 27, 4:52 PMSan Fernando Valley ExaminerWyatt Shev

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And this is what all the fuss is about... sinister, huh?

President Obama answered a lot of interesting questions during yesterday’s history-making virtual town hall meeting. However, one very, very popular question generated far more notoriety than the others. Not surprisingly, it concerned one of today’s standby hot-button topics- the legalization and taxation of marijuana in the United States.

The Commander in Chief’s response was not exactly positive. America’s self-proclaimed Prophet of Change laughed off the Web-based question, stating his position in no uncertain terms. The Obama Administration- at least officially- does not believe in the economic validity of this radical proposal.

Obama’s somewhat dismissive reaction to the prospect of legalizing marijuana has caused some Hawaiian-sized waves. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws-NORML- has seen its donations quadruple over the last 24 hours. Over half of these donations have attached comments referencing the President’s comments.

Organizations like NORML openly endorsed Obama as a presidential candidate. One of his many unrealised campaign promises suggested loosening federal laws on the medical use of marijuana, essentially allowing individual states to define their own particular laws.

But there’s some good news on the smoky horizon, Stoners of America. Obama’s support- or lack thereof- for the medical marijuana movement isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker. Democratic Senator Jim Webb, who represents Virginia, introduced a bill yesterday with Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) that could stand to change everything. The bill will create a commission designed to study the current model of our criminal justice system, reporting back to the Senate with what will assuredly be a long list of legislative recommendations.

Webb’s response to the question of whether or not the legalization of marijuana will be on the table was positive. “I think they should do a very careful examination of all aspects of drug policy,” Webb stated. “I’ve done a couple of very extensive hearings on this, so we’ll wait to see what they say about that.”

Webb’s collaboration with Specter- the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee- suggests a level of non-partisan cooperation along the lines of that promised by Obama himself. Whilst Obama is yet to deliver on this campaign promise, it seems that at least some members of his party are taking the concept to heart.

The legalization issue is now stronger than ever. Let’s hope it can maintain the momentum needed for the long road ahead.