Colorado and Washington enjoy their marijuana moment | World news | guardian.co.uk
Marijuana users and activists celebrated the drug's legalisation in Colorado and Washington as landmark victories on Wednesday but uncertainty over the federal government's response tempered jubilation.
Voters in both states on Tuesday approved amendments legalising the recreational use of marijuana, historic decisions that reflect growing disenchantment across the US with the decades-old "war on drugs".
A coalition of pot shop dispensaries, civil rights advocates and former law enforcers argued that legalisation would hit drug cartels' profits, boost state tax revenues and reduce the mass incarceration of African Americans and Latinos.
"I really think this is the beginning of the end for marijuana prohibition, not only in the US, but in many countries across the world, including the UK," said Sean McAllister, a former assistant attorney general in Colorado who supported the change. "We didn't just legalise it ? we created a regulatory system."
Norm Stamper, a former Seattle police chief and member of the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, said he was very happy. "After 40 years of the racist, destructive exercise in futility that is the war on drugs, my home state of Washington has now put us on a different path."
Beau Kilmer, co-director of the Rand Drug Policy Research Centre, called the votes groundbreaking.
Once the elections are certified ? which could take up to two months ? personal possession of up to an ounce (28.5 grams) of marijuana will be legal for anyone aged 21 or over in Washington and Colorado. Pot, previously available for medicinal purposes at dispensaries, will be sold and taxed at state-licensed stores.
Washington still bans personal cultivation, but Colorado will allow six plants per person. Neither state allows public use. Voters in Oregon rejected legalisation in their state.
Social media erupted with jokes and puns, many focusing on Denver's nickname as the Mile High City and Colorado's official song, Rocky Mountain High.
Questions abound over whether Colorado and Washington will become Amsterdam-style magnets for marijuana tourism, and over how federal authorities will respond.
The justice department said federal law making pot illegal remained unchanged. The Obama administration has used federal law to crack down on dispensaries in California and elsewhere, making some Colorado and Washington dispensaries nervous of a backlash. "We don't know what's going to happen ? no clue," said one Denver store owner, declining to be named.
McAllister, the former assistant attorney general, predicted that Obama, secure in a second term, would leave Colorado alone because its regulations were tighter and clearer than the nebulous regulations which left California's open to abuse.
State leaders had opposed the legalisation but promised to respect the vote.
"This will be a complicated process, but we intend to follow through," said the Democratic governor, John Hickenlooper. "That said, federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don't break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly."
Mike Coffman, a re-elected Republican congressman, told the Guardian: "I need to see what other states are doing but clearly if there is a sentiment that is moving nationally to legalise marijuana, then I certainly respect the decisions by the states. And I would support the forming of legislation at the federal level. But I don't know if I'm there yet. I need to study and see what the other states are doing."
A good move IMO, legalised and regulated, bringing in hundreds of millions in new taxes.
Marijuana users and activists celebrated the drug's legalisation in Colorado and Washington as landmark victories on Wednesday but uncertainty over the federal government's response tempered jubilation.
Voters in both states on Tuesday approved amendments legalising the recreational use of marijuana, historic decisions that reflect growing disenchantment across the US with the decades-old "war on drugs".
A coalition of pot shop dispensaries, civil rights advocates and former law enforcers argued that legalisation would hit drug cartels' profits, boost state tax revenues and reduce the mass incarceration of African Americans and Latinos.
"I really think this is the beginning of the end for marijuana prohibition, not only in the US, but in many countries across the world, including the UK," said Sean McAllister, a former assistant attorney general in Colorado who supported the change. "We didn't just legalise it ? we created a regulatory system."
Norm Stamper, a former Seattle police chief and member of the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, said he was very happy. "After 40 years of the racist, destructive exercise in futility that is the war on drugs, my home state of Washington has now put us on a different path."
Beau Kilmer, co-director of the Rand Drug Policy Research Centre, called the votes groundbreaking.
Once the elections are certified ? which could take up to two months ? personal possession of up to an ounce (28.5 grams) of marijuana will be legal for anyone aged 21 or over in Washington and Colorado. Pot, previously available for medicinal purposes at dispensaries, will be sold and taxed at state-licensed stores.
Washington still bans personal cultivation, but Colorado will allow six plants per person. Neither state allows public use. Voters in Oregon rejected legalisation in their state.
Social media erupted with jokes and puns, many focusing on Denver's nickname as the Mile High City and Colorado's official song, Rocky Mountain High.
Questions abound over whether Colorado and Washington will become Amsterdam-style magnets for marijuana tourism, and over how federal authorities will respond.
The justice department said federal law making pot illegal remained unchanged. The Obama administration has used federal law to crack down on dispensaries in California and elsewhere, making some Colorado and Washington dispensaries nervous of a backlash. "We don't know what's going to happen ? no clue," said one Denver store owner, declining to be named.
McAllister, the former assistant attorney general, predicted that Obama, secure in a second term, would leave Colorado alone because its regulations were tighter and clearer than the nebulous regulations which left California's open to abuse.
State leaders had opposed the legalisation but promised to respect the vote.
"This will be a complicated process, but we intend to follow through," said the Democratic governor, John Hickenlooper. "That said, federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don't break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly."
Mike Coffman, a re-elected Republican congressman, told the Guardian: "I need to see what other states are doing but clearly if there is a sentiment that is moving nationally to legalise marijuana, then I certainly respect the decisions by the states. And I would support the forming of legislation at the federal level. But I don't know if I'm there yet. I need to study and see what the other states are doing."
A good move IMO, legalised and regulated, bringing in hundreds of millions in new taxes.
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