The entire McLaughlin Group just agreed that Cannabis will be fully legal by 2020

When the question was posed I assumed half would say no, but that wasn't the case. They all said yes, and a few of them said it would happen sooner.

Something has changed, and it makes me feel hopeful that Cannabis prohibition is finally coming to an end.

Just a bit of good news this Sunday morning.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/26/obama-war-on-weed.aspx?e_cid=20111204_SNL_MC_1

Feds Attempt to Force Medical Marijuana Industry Out of Business

In recent months there have been several blows to the various industries who support the medical marijuana market. Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, reported in U.S. News & World Report Opinion, these disturbing changes:

"The Department of Justice sent letters this past spring to state lawmakers that were debating legislation to allow for the licensed distribution of medical cannabis, threatening prosecution of those involved with said efforts if the measures went forward;
The IRS has assessed crippling penalties on taxpaying medical cannabis facilities in California by denying these operations the right to file standard expense deductions;
The Department of Treasury has strong-armed local banks and other financial institutions into closing their accounts with medicinal cannabis operators;
The Drug Enforcement Administration has rejected a nine-year-old administrative petition that called for hearings regarding the federal rescheduling of cannabis for medical use, ignoring extensive scientific evidence of its medical efficacy;
The National Institute on Drug Abuse rejected an FDA-approved protocol to allow for clinical research assessing the use of cannabis to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, stating, "We generally do not fund research focused on the potential beneficial medical effects of marijuana."

Most recently, Deputy Attorney General James Cole, along with the four U.S. attorneys from California, announced plans for a coordinated effort against operations in California that provide above-ground access to cannabis for those patients qualified to use the substance in accordance with state law."

After being rescheduled in early 2012.

Ideally it should be completely removed from the schedule as a special case (similar to Alcohol and tobacco), but that will take much longer.

what do you see at the federal level that leads you to such a conclusion?

That and the very real possibility of a strong Democratic majority in both houses.

And the fact that 50% of Americans currently support legalization. A number that is rising very quickly.

on MM, don't you.

It's fine to have hope, not he's not the one to pin your hopes on.

.....on top of the hundreds of thousands of GIs coming home from the Middle East?

Where will all these people be employed? And what about all the firepower and weaponry existing now?

And will the jails be emptied out of MJ offenders?

Of course legalization is the right thing to do -- always has been. I'm just pondering the ramifications.

:sarcasm:

Both of which lead to shortened lives.

If it is legalized on the entire planet, even better. It's difficult to quantify exactly what would happen, but if people could just relax a bit and stop worrying about hating each other maybe culture can finally advance.