Colorado voters may make that state the first jurisdiction
to fully legalize marijuana since cannabis in all forms was prohibited almost a
century ago.
Not just medical marijuana.
Not just industrial hemp.
But good old-fashioned Weed.
Current polls in Colorado show that 50% of the public
support the initiative (known as Amendment 64), while 40% oppose and 10% are
undecided.
Adding a last minute push behind the measure is singer-songwriter
Melissa Etheredge, who released a YouTube ad yesterday in support of legalizing
marijuana.
Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer in October, 2004
and underwent chemotherapy. The singer made a memorable appearance in early
2005 at the Grammy Awards, where, bald from the chemotherapy treatment, she performed a cover of Janis
Joplin's "Piece of My Heart." In a 2009 CNN interview with Anderson
Cooper, Etheridge said she instantly noticed a difference in her pain after
using marijuana.
Etheredge says,
"The nauseous,
the pain, it was terrible. Prescription
drugs were not helping. The only thing that allowed me to function and regain
my strength was marijuana and I'm grateful for the relief it provided me. You
know before I needed to use marijuana I just accepted the laws that treated
marijuana users as criminals. But it's funny how a serious illness can give you
a new outlook on life…I now see that it's wrong to arrest adults for using
marijuana and it's even more wrong to allow gangs and cartels to profit from
selling marijuana. Instead we should allow adults to possess limited amounts of
marijuana and we should regulate marijuana sales in order to generate tax
revenues for public schools construction and other community needs. To me,
regulating marijuana is simply the right thing to do. Please vote yes on
Amendment 64."
Proposals to fully legalize marijuana are also on the ballot in Washington state and Oregon. Police chiefs from all three states are frantically seeking to involve U S Attorney Eric Holder in the campaigns to oppose the measures, but so far Holder has been silent on all three.
Since marijuana is illegal under federal law, it is unclear
what effect the ballot measures will have, even if passed. The Obama administration has actually
accelerated raids on state-legal medical marijuana dispensaries in California and Montana,
but growing public support for legalization is now fairly significant on the east and west coasts and in the western mountain states.
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