As haze clears, are American opinions on marijuana reaching tipping point?
By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN
(CNN) -- The question has dipped in and out of the national conversation for decades: What should the United States do about marijuana?
Everyone has heard the arguments in the legalization debate about health and social problems, potential tax revenue, public safety concerns and alleviating an overburdened prison system -- but there isn't much new to say.
The nation has moved from the abstract matter of "if" to the more tangible debate over "how," said Beau Kilmer, co-director of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center and co-author of "Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know."
Changing attitudes about weed are part of a larger shift in the country's collective thoughts on federal drug policy. Just this week, on the heels of CNN's Sanjay Gupta reversal of his stance on medical marijuana, Attorney General Eric Holder announced an initiative to curb mandatory minimum drug sentences and a federal judge called New York City's stop-and-frisk policy unconstitutional.
"Between Attorney General Holder's announcement, the decision made on stop-and-frisk and Dr. Gupta coming out with his documentary, it was a big week for drug policy," Kilmer said.
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http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/14/us/marijuana-legalization-tipping-point/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
In some places more than others. Here in the south we have a long way to go. We still ban Alcohol sales in some counties.