u.s. marijuana lobby sets sights on full legalization

http://www.nationofchange.org/us-marijuana-lobby-sets-sights-full-legalisation-1359645204

Since the U.S. states of Colorado and Washington fully legalized marijuana via ballot initiatives in the November 2012 elections, efforts to medicalise, decriminalize, or legalize marijuana at the state level are sprouting up like so many hemp stalks on a sunny day.

Eighteen out of 50 U.S. states now allow medical marijuana, used to help cancer patients and others, and 15 others have decriminalized it, meaning that possession is a civil offence that carries no jail time.

“In terms of getting federal law change, we need to get maybe half of the states before we get congress to take some action,” Keith Stroup, founder and legal counsel of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), told IPS.

“We tend to focus primarily on full legalization, regardless of why one smokes,” he added. “The primary reason people smoke, 99 percent of them, is because they enjoy getting high. We’re not going to eliminate the high number of arrests until we completely legalize marijuana.”