4 Fascinating Things Marijuana Legalization Has Already Taught Us

http://www.alternet.org/4-fascinating-things-marijuana-legalization-has-already-taught-us



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1. Pot is politically relevant .

Putting pot on the ballot increases young voter turnout-- a lot. While the youth vote hovered at 18% in 2008, states that had legalization on the ballot this election saw young people coming out in much greater numbers. Take a look at this graph from Jon Walker at Firedog Lake’s Just Say Now column.
*CHART AT LINK

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2. Ending prohibition is good for racial justice .
As voters were gearing up to decide whether to legalize marijuana, Queens College sociologist Harry Levine released a report detailing marijuana arrests in Washington and Colorado. In CO, his report found that more than 210,000 people have been arrested for pot in the past 25 years, with the annual rate of weed arrests steadily rising. The study also uncovered racial bias embedded in the war on weed. In the last 10 years, police in CO arrested blacks and Latinos at a rate of about 1.4 times that of whites, even though white people use marijuana at about the same rate as people of color. Youths were also disproportionately affected: The study found that more than two-thirds of those arrested for weed in CO from 2001 to 2010 were 25 or younger, and almost 80% of them were younger than 30. In Washington, the pattern of pot arrests paints a similar picture: A skyrocketing number of busts coupled with a higher rate of arrests for youths and people of color. African Americans were arrested at nearly three times the rate of whites, while Latinos and Native Americans had an arrest rate 1.5 times that of whites.

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3. Legalizing marijuana could bring peace to the US-Mexico border.

At least 60,000 people have died in the drug war Mexico President Felipe Calderon declared on the cartels six years ago. But a more peaceful solution may be at hand. Legalizing weed in just two states -- CO and WA -- could deliver a serious blow to Mexican cartel profits; US officials estimate that 60 percent of cartel profits come from marijuana. At the very least, it is the “gateway drug” for hustling, as many Mexican traffickers start with pot before moving up to the harder stuff.