Washington Post, 25 Mar 2013 – The March 21 editorial “A more fitting punishment,” on Maryland’s bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, correctly pointed out how current laws waste police time and drain precious resources. But merely decriminalizing marijuana possession while leaving sales unregulated ensures that people who use marijuana must purchase it through the black market, often from gangs that use violence to protect their profits and turf. It’s true that federal law prohibits the sale of marijuana. But states such as Colorado and Washington haven’t waited for Congress to change failed and outdated marijuana policies, and Maryland shouldn’t, either. Without pressure from the states, the federal government is unlikely to take on the important task of reviewing its decades-old marijuana laws.
posted on March 25, 2013 by
