Bring Out the Base With Marijuana Reform Ballot Initiatives

FatDave

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Tue Mar-30-10 03:20 PM
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Bring Out the Base With Marijuana Reform Ballot Initiatives

So we've all heard that California is going to have a ballot initiative this fall to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Conventional wisdom here is that it will pass easily, and I believe that is true. A lot of factors are driving law in that direction, not just in California (though they are certainly leading the charge). People are beginning to realize that the war on drugs has been an expensive failure. The past three US presidents have all admitted to smoking weed, and they still managed to lead somewhat successful lives. The people who took Reefer Madness seriously are mostly dead and buried. And of course taxation would be a new source of funds for struggling state governments, and lower incarceration rates would save funds currently being wasted. People noticed that even with the fairly lax medicinal marijuana regulation in California, the sky somehow managed to stay firmly affixed above them.

But when I think of California's upcoming ballot initiative, I can't help thinking about all the would-be potheads that will come out to vote. You've got your 20-somethings who may normally have no interest in voting but would register and vote if it meant they could smoke a little weed without being a criminal. You've also got your successful professional middle-aged smokers, who may not fit the pothead stereotype, but believe me, they're out there. And then you've got probably millions of people like me, who quit smoking it when they started families because it's not worth the risk of coming up against the draconian drug policies that became common as the war on drugs escalated.

I live in Iowa, a purple state by pretty much every measure. The Des Moines Register did a non-scientific poll not long ago asking respondents whether or not they supported medical marijuana in Iowa. I don't remember the exact percentage supporting it, but it was in the 80's. If there's that much support in Iowa, there's surely that much in New York, Vermont, Oregon, Washington, etc.

So I say we put these initiatives on ballots in more states than just California. Maybe the more conservative states aren't ready for full-on recreational legalization, so go with medical there as a first step. The main effect will be that some sensible laws regarding marijuana get passed, but the icing on the cake will be that having these on the ballot will bring out a lot of left-leaning voters. Legalization has long been a pet issue amongst liberals, who are the Democratic Party's base despite all the pandering the party does to the middle these days. The young potheads, the older wish-they-could-still-smoke-it-without-getting-their-door-kicked-in folks, these groups will lean largely toward liberal ideologies. Granted, not all pot smokers are Democrats and not all Democrats are pot smokers, but the circles are largely overlapping on that particular Venn diagram.

Incidentally, this is a trick the right has been using for years. Does the base not have much to get excited about this year? Slap a gay marriage ban on the ballot and watch them show up at the polls! Well, I think there's a lot more people out there who wish they could run down to the 24/7 and buy a pack of joints than there are who give a damn what gay people call their partners. Let's beat 'em at their own game.

Oh, and we'll also be able to smoke weed.