Most Americans Now Live in States That Reject Prohibition

In a great article on Huffington Post, Marijuana Policy Project’s Rob Kampia reports that with the recent passage of Illinois’ medical marijuana law, most of our nation’s population now lives in states that have rejected cannabis prohibition.

53% of Americans now live in a state that has either legalized cannabis outright (2 states), legalized it for medicinal use (20 states and DC), or decriminalized possession of small amounts (17 states). This 53% figure does account for overlapping state laws, but does not include municipalities which have decriminalized possession in states without such laws.

The fact that 20 states plus Washington DC have passed laws for medicinal cannabis really flies in the face of the federal government’s position that cannabis, as a Schedule I substance, has no accepted medical value. Of course, the fact that the federal government also has a patent on cannabis as a medicine has been contradicting this position for years. There is now enough evidence on our side to change the minds of even the most brainwashed beaurocrats. If only we could say the same for rehab profiteers and drug war industrialists, but some people will say and do anything to protect their income.

In addition to the fact that most of our nation now lives in states with laws contradicting federal cannabis policy, this train of reform is not slowing down for a second. 12 more states are set and hopeful to pass full legalization laws by 2017. Even if the feds stick to their guns on federal policy, they cannot stop the rejection of the idiotic and inhumane policy of destroying lives over cannabis. With all the progress of cannabis reform, it is becoming clear that prohibition is coming to an end, in America and across the globe.