Reefer Madness: Even More Popular Than Obama

The election of Barack Obama as president means the end is near for John Walters, the head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy who was appointed the nation's drug czar by President George W. Bush in 2002. And, really, it couldn't come a moment too soon for Walters, whose war on pot has been vigorous but unsuccessful. Indeed, despite his office's attempts to demonize the evil weed, voters continue to back pot-law reform measures in record numbers.

In Massachusetts, voters on Nov. 4 approved a statewide measure eliminating criminal penalties for adult possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and creating, at most, a $100 fine. Meanwhile, Michigan became the 13th state to approve medical marijuana use by seriously ill patients and the first Midwestern state to approve medi-mari legislation. Indeed, in those two blue states, the pot-law reform measures gathered more votes than Obama. Voters in Massa­chu­setts approved the decrim measure with 65% of the vote, while Obama snagged 62%; in Michigan, 63% of voters cast their ballots for the medi-mari law, compared to 57% for Obama.

These victories send the message that pot-law reform is not a fringe issue – and doesn't have to be a dicey one for politicians, who chronically cringe at the possibility of being branded as soft on drugs, says Bruce Mirken, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project, which backed the winning initiatives. "The bigger message is ... that by and large the voters get it," he said. Walters has waged the "most intense anti-marijuana campaign since Reefer Madness," he continued, "and voters in both Massa­chu­setts and Michigan rejected that garbage out of hand." (Walters tried to convince voters otherwise, stumping against the Michigan ballot measure with taxpayer dimes.) Indeed, with the win in Michigan, 25% of Americans now live in states with medi-pot laws on the books. With an Obama administration incoming, "There's a moment of opportunity here," Mirken says, to reclaim a rational approach to drug policy. "I don't think Obama will stick his neck out politically on this, but it is evident [from the victories in Michigan and Massachusetts] that sane reforms don't require that you stick your neck out very far."

While pot-law reform measures showed well on Election Day (in addition to the statewide wins, several communities – including Fayetteville, Ark., and Hawaii Co., Hawaii – approved measures directing police to consider enforcement of adult pot possession their lowest policing priority), more sweeping reforms didn't do as well. In California, voters rejected the so-called Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act, which would have designated $460 million to expand drug treatment and prison diversion efforts. The measure was backed by medical and treatment professionals but was apparently outgunned by foes, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneg­ger and Dem Sen. Dianne Feinstein. "It's a threat to our neighborhoods," Schwarzenegger told reporters, adding that it was written by those (like the Children's Defense Fund and the California Federation of Teachers, apparently) "who care more about the rights of criminals." It was defeated with 61% of the vote.

"Today we saw special interests overpower the public interest," said Yes on 5 campaign spokeswoman Margaret Dooley-Sammuli. Still, it wasn't all despair in the Golden State. By the same margin, voters also rejected the Safe Neighborhoods Act, which would have directed more than $900 million each year to law enforcement, created new criminal statutes, provided for longer prison terms, and required the expulsion from public housing of anyone convicted of a drug offense – because, clearly, making it harder for people to find a place to live is a brilliant way to make neighborhoods safer and break the cycle of crime. Fortunately, California voters weren't buying it.

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