When will marijuana be legalized in the USA for recreational usage ?

Your thoughts please.

There will likely be an "Arizona" or two, holding out for way too long when the rest of the world has passed them by (the reference is to Arizona holding out against Martin Luther King Day, not MJ policy).

It'll be slow, and then it will be quick. Sort of like gay marriage, which still has a ways to go before it's not an everyday/everywhere thing.

That's why I support the Marijuana Policy Project, which has taken a state-by-state, locality-by-locality approach. There may be a so-called "tipping point" when (as with concealed-carry of firearms, or gay rights/marriage), a large number of states will "go over" and give some impetus to very late national action.

For years I have speculated somewhat wildly, that if the GOP wanted to finally break down the Democratic Party, and gains its goal of "permanent power" (that's the GOP expression), they will do so by co-opting issues like drug legalization and even gay rights (Perry seems to want to distance himself from a no-win stand on this). I mean, they own the issue of drug prohibition, and are uniquely set up to dictate the frame, and have benefited greatly from gay-bashing. And they've already torn a near-permanent segment out of the Democrats by smashing up gun-control laws. If they do this, they will capitalize on getting the support of an increasingly apolitical, cynical younger voter which is resigned to his/her plight as long as they aren't fucked with too much.

As some of my Democratic activist friends have said for years, no one wants to deal with those hot-button issues. Yeah. Right.

n/t

based on the fact that the feds can't even get behind medical marijuana yet. If more states get behind med. mj, that will help. Let's say over half of the states have it, the feds may have to ease up on their crackdowns. For recreational use I think it will take at least another 20 - 30 years.

just to remind people that it was perfectly legal for centuries :)

We need that on a bumper sticker: Re-legalize Marijuana.

I don't see that happening anytime soon. 20-30 years...maybe.
quite possibly never

I don't even pay any attention to the federal laws because law enforcement here only busts people they catch with big commercial grows.

drug money, which is never. That is the only thing keeping many of them solvent.

There is actually alot of interest on both sides of the aisle to do this. It's just going to take someone to take interest and frame the issue.

One of the busiest stores in a little strip mall that I frequent, is the shop to purchase grow supplies.

Miracle Grow has a special grow mixture for MJ.

Last week I met a man who sells insurance for grow operations & dispensaries. No kidding! They insure your crop & your shop.


on edit: That said, it's going to be a battle. There are a lot of old attitudes about MJ. Even though Colorado has MMJ laws, many of the local municipalities are making it very difficult for dispensaries & stores to operate.

Instead of compromising.

It's a fact that much of the opposition to recent legalization efforts in CA came from the northern counties where the cultivation and sale of weed is the backbone of the local economy.

Fishing and timber are in the crapper in these areas. Large scale central valley type farming isn't feasible. Vineyard development is pricey.

All that's left for the small grower is ganja. As long as the supply is somewhat limited they have some control over the price. And they don't really feel warm and fuzzy about corporate America getting in on the action.

It may take until 2045 or even longer, but I think it's inevitable. I'm really curious why no one has checked the "against legalization" option. I guess all the stealth freepers are afraid to do so.

But a day will come when that will end and at that
point, sanity will suddenly break out and marijuana
will no longer be the anathema it is seen as today.

I picked 2030 but not for any strong reason; I just
figure that's about when people will finally be
ready to straighten out the basic problem of our
government being a wholly-owned subsidiary of
the Corporations and the rich.

Tesha

but that will probably be ten years at the most.

The public tide has surprisingly turned. If we had a different Gov't, I think we'd have it already.

I think it will be linked with this coming second crash. If we go fascist, expect it to continue to be legal in pill form and nothing else. If we go the other way, I think legalization/regulation will be a big thing to come of it.

A recent Angus Reid poll (http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/43975/majority-of-americans-ready-to-legalize-marijuana/) of 1,003 Americans brought back results of 55% support for marijuana legalization. The next most supported drug asked about in the survey was MDMA, with 10% support. Now, this is obviously a small (but somewhat representative) sample size, but the general trend across these polls has been increasing support of marijuana legalization.

The need for the money around alcohol was a factor in bringing an end to Prohibition, and it will be the same for cannabis. The worse things get, the further and quicker it will be pushed to the forefront. Legalization will be on the 2012 ballot in CA and CO.

I voted for 2020.

Still, it's an uphill battle, but especially with budgets being cut and money being tight, people are increasingly going to ask "do we REALLY need to spend $80 Billion a year to throw cancer grannies and jamband fans in prison for smoking a joint?"