Colorado conservatives should lead the fight for Amendment 64
Published in the Denver Post Idea Log, 12/24/12
Paul Ryan’s support of each state’s right to regulate marijuana puts the Romney/Ryan ticket more on the side of legalization than President Obama. While Ryan later clarified that he and Gov. Romney don’t personally support legalization, his clear statement that this issue belongs to the states is certainly more supportive than the current administration’s ongoing policy of creating ad hoc marijuana rules enforced by the heavy hand of federal agents.
Conventional wisdom says that conservatives will oppose marijuana legalization, period. However, Paul Ryan — the conservative’s conservative — tells us that states should be able to legislate their own marijuana laws, giving Coloradans affirmation that our vote on Amendment 64 is valid and just. What gives?
“What gives” is that fundamental conservative philosophies support legalizing and regulating marijuana, and established conservatives like Pat Robertson, Tom Tancredo, both of whom support outright legalization, and now Paul Ryan are doing no more than flying the flag of conservatism and leaving conventional wisdom in the dust.
Why? First, the most fundamental principle at work in American conservatism today is faith in individuals, not government, to make decisions about how to live their lives. There is a strong body of evidence demonstrating that marijuana is less addictive than either alcohol or tobacco and much less likely to cause injury or death to its users or others around them. Therefore, marijuana use is not a matter of public safety, but of individual choice. To be sure, marijuana, like alcohol, needs to be regulated to keep it out of the hands of minors and people about to get behind the wheel of a car. But, in the absence of communal concerns, every conservative worth his or her salt should support the right of the individual to decide what to eat, drink, or smoke in private.
Second, conservatives feel the havoc caused by the drug wars. While a 40-year war on drugs has not reduced marijuana use, it has been a windfall for Mexican drug cartels that have rained chaos on our southern neighbors resulting in over 40,000 deaths in the past five years alone and their control of many local governments. The Economist estimates that 40 to 60 percent of drug cartel revenues come from marijuana, which means that marijuana legalization would eliminate almost half of their income — an enormous game changer.
Conservatives stood up for this principle before when they became the force behind ending alcohol prohibition. In 1932, Herbert Hoover led the Republican Party to support the end of prohibition resulting in the 21st Amendment passing in 1933. It took America decades to rid ourselves of the organized crime that grew out of alcohol prohibition, so the sooner we put this lesson to work on marijuana prohibition, the sooner the many horrors of the drug cartels will become a thing of the past.
Further, much of America’s illegal immigration is a direct result of this societal chaos south of the border that has grown out of our drug laws. America would take a significant step towards helping our southern neighbors get on their feet and prosper by eliminating the outsized profit incentives that marijuana prohibition creates.
Third, conservatives respect democracy and we see that the end to marijuana prohibition is inevitable. An Economist poll in 2011 showed that every age group in America now supports legalizing marijuana and this support is growing rapidly. Americans have enough history and have seen enough science to know that arresting over 700,000 people annually on marijuana offenses serves no American value or cause. The status quo, built on the wisdom of “Refer Madness,” is rapidly losing popular support and it is the purest kind of grass roots American democracy that put Amendment 64 on Colorado’s ballot. The coming changes in marijuana laws are no more than the government by the people and for the people that conservatives stand so squarely behind.
That many conservatives stand behind changes to Colorado’s marijuana laws should surprise no one. By our own beliefs, Colorado’s conservatives should be leading the way forward.
Paul Ryan’s support of each state’s right to regulate marijuana puts the Romney/Ryan ticket more on the side of legalization than President Obama. While Ryan later clarified that he and Gov. Romney don’t personally support legalization, his clear statement that this issue belongs to the states is certainly more supportive than the current administration’s ongoing policy of creating ad hoc marijuana rules enforced by the heavy hand of federal agents.
Conventional wisdom says that conservatives will oppose marijuana legalization, period. However, Paul Ryan — the conservative’s conservative — tells us that states should be able to legislate their own marijuana laws, giving Coloradans affirmation that our vote on Amendment 64 is valid and just. What gives?
“What gives” is that fundamental conservative philosophies support legalizing and regulating marijuana, and established conservatives like Pat Robertson, Tom Tancredo, both of whom support outright legalization, and now Paul Ryan are doing no more than flying the flag of conservatism and leaving conventional wisdom in the dust.
Why? First, the most fundamental principle at work in American conservatism today is faith in individuals, not government, to make decisions about how to live their lives. There is a strong body of evidence demonstrating that marijuana is less addictive than either alcohol or tobacco and much less likely to cause injury or death to its users or others around them. Therefore, marijuana use is not a matter of public safety, but of individual choice. To be sure, marijuana, like alcohol, needs to be regulated to keep it out of the hands of minors and people about to get behind the wheel of a car. But, in the absence of communal concerns, every conservative worth his or her salt should support the right of the individual to decide what to eat, drink, or smoke in private.
Second, conservatives feel the havoc caused by the drug wars. While a 40-year war on drugs has not reduced marijuana use, it has been a windfall for Mexican drug cartels that have rained chaos on our southern neighbors resulting in over 40,000 deaths in the past five years alone and their control of many local governments. The Economist estimates that 40 to 60 percent of drug cartel revenues come from marijuana, which means that marijuana legalization would eliminate almost half of their income — an enormous game changer.
Conservatives stood up for this principle before when they became the force behind ending alcohol prohibition. In 1932, Herbert Hoover led the Republican Party to support the end of prohibition resulting in the 21st Amendment passing in 1933. It took America decades to rid ourselves of the organized crime that grew out of alcohol prohibition, so the sooner we put this lesson to work on marijuana prohibition, the sooner the many horrors of the drug cartels will become a thing of the past.
Further, much of America’s illegal immigration is a direct result of this societal chaos south of the border that has grown out of our drug laws. America would take a significant step towards helping our southern neighbors get on their feet and prosper by eliminating the outsized profit incentives that marijuana prohibition creates.
Third, conservatives respect democracy and we see that the end to marijuana prohibition is inevitable. An Economist poll in 2011 showed that every age group in America now supports legalizing marijuana and this support is growing rapidly. Americans have enough history and have seen enough science to know that arresting over 700,000 people annually on marijuana offenses serves no American value or cause. The status quo, built on the wisdom of “Refer Madness,” is rapidly losing popular support and it is the purest kind of grass roots American democracy that put Amendment 64 on Colorado’s ballot. The coming changes in marijuana laws are no more than the government by the people and for the people that conservatives stand so squarely behind.
That many conservatives stand behind changes to Colorado’s marijuana laws should surprise no one. By our own beliefs, Colorado’s conservatives should be leading the way forward.
