Why are we still arresting people for pot? Do we need to feed the private-prison-industrial-complex that bad? Nobody here profits by this racket (at least we hope they don't) other than illegal drug dealers. It's time to legalize, tax, and regulate.

Paul Armentano wrote for AlterNet 10 July 2012, There's Been a Tectonic Shift on Marijuana Across the US, Except in Washington — Why Can't We Pop the Beltway Bubble?

America is at a tipping point when it comes to the politics of pot. Never in modern history has there existed greater public support for ending this nation's nearly century-long experiment with cannabis prohibition and replacing it with a system legalization and regulation. Moreover, state and local politicians beyond the ‘Beltway bubble’ for the first time in many decades are responding to this sea change in public opinion, even if their colleagues in Washington are not. From Rhode Island to Texas, from New York City to Chicago, lawmakers are finally acknowledging that being pro-pot reform equals votes. The question is: Why isn't Washington getting the message?

How much change in public opinion?

Over the past 10 years, there has been a seismic shift in public opinion, with every single demographic polled by Gallup steadily showing year-to-year increased support for cannabis liberalization.

Polling data published in May by the well-respected firm Rasmussen Reports is even more favorable. Rasmussen reported that 56 percent of Americans support "legalizing marijuana and regulating it like alcohol or cigarettes" while only 34 percent oppose the idea. Every age group polled, including those age 65 and older, favored the plant's legalization over its continued criminalization.

Rasmussen's 56% is even higher than Gallup's 50% of last year.

-jsq

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