Legal Pot and Gay Marriage: Two Inevitable Eventualities

Like it or not, the tides seem to be turning when it comes to two major issues facing the voters of this country: same-sex marriage, and the legalization of marijuana.

Adam and Steve

Ever since sodomy laws were struck down by the United States Supreme Court in 2003 (Lawrence v. Texas), gay marriage has been slowly but surely becoming legal in states across the country. Massachusetts, which was one of thirteen states whose laws against sodomy the ruling affected, became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage later that year when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that same-sex couples have a right to marry. When making the decision to legalize same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, Chief Justice Margaret Marshall quoted the text of the Lawrence decision, stating that "Our obligation is to define the liberty of all, not to mandate our own moral code."1

Nearly ten years later, twelve states (Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington) plus the District of Columbia have recognized same-sex marriage. The movement to legally recognize same-sex marriage started in the 1970s, and first came into the public eye when Baker v. Nelson was heard by Minnesota courts. Two gay student activists from the University of Minnesota applied for a marriage license at Minneapolis's county court, and were denied. They appealed the case to the Minnesota supreme court, and then to the U.S. Supreme Court. The United States Supreme Court refused to hear the case, saying that it lacked a “substantial federal question.”2 The reason why I suggest that the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage is an inevitability is because in the last ten years, nearly a quarter (12 out of 50) of the nation's states have recognized same-sex marriage. Perhaps I should have compared the change in public opinion and states' policies not to a tide, but to a tsunami. Nearly all of the visible progress towards same-sex marriage has been made over the last ten years, even though the fight has gone on for nearly forty. The Supreme Court will be ruling soon on two important cases regarding same-sex marriage: United States v. Edith Schlain Windsor, regarding the legality of the Defense of Marriage Act, and Dennis Holingsworth v. Kristin M. Perry, regarding the legality of California's Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state. The effects that these cases have will depend on how broad the wording of the court's rulings are.

The beginning of this sharp change in public discourse back in the early 2000s brings to mind the current situation regarding the legalization of marijuana, and makes it more and more plain to the average person that the tide is turning on the public's view of a certain plant with a distinctive smell. 

One Toke Over The Line?

Ever since the 1930s, when William Randolph Hearst ran a smear campaign against hemp (which, as a cheap resource to make paper, threatened his interests in the timber industry), the threat of "Reefer Madness" has been held over the general public with all of the credibility of the threat of Santa Claus leaving coal in their stockings. Thanks in part to its reputation at the time of being associated with rowdy black musicians, and the general public's lack of knowledge about its effects, many states began jumping on the bandwagon to ban not just cannabis, but all hemp. The federal government followed suit, and ever since all hemp has been illegal at the federal level. Many conservative presidents, including Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, have spoken out against its use and purported effects. 

Ever since Richard Nixon declared drug abuse to be “public enemy number one in the United States” in 1971,3 many otherwise innocent citizens and youths have been jailed over the possession of a plant. While smoking anything is bad for a person, one must ask themselves which is worse: The possibility of lung damage, or a lengthy jail sentence? Of course, Pennsylvania has the option of the ARD (Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition) program, which allows an offender's record to be expunged upon payment of a fine and completion of probation. Even so, is it worth the time, tax dollars and resources to prosecute non-violent crimes such as the possession of marijuana? Increasingly, the public is saying "no." In 2012, two states—Colorado and Washington—became the first in the nation to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Many states (including New York, Ohio, North Carolina, Wisconsin, California and others) have decriminalized simple possession of small amounts of marijuana. In 2008, for example, Massachusetts passed a voter initiative decriminalizing the simple possession of up to an ounce of marijuana. This made it a civil infraction rather than a criminal one—comparable to getting a $100 parking ticket.4

While some still worry about the fabled slippery slope of drug abuse that use of marijuana will supposedly lead to, I expect that more and more the public will wake up to the fact that marijuana—while not harmless—is much less harmful than alcohol or tobacco. Even if a chunk of the public still sees it as a gateway drug or something that causes society to crumble, politicians will continue to realize just how much more easily budgets can be balanced with the regulation and taxation of marijuana (not to mention the money saved from the thousands upon thousands of non-violent marijuana arrests that are never processed or prosecuted). Baby boomers will realize just how well the effects of cannabis help their various ailments and conditions. And, of course, the law enforcement community will begin to realize that their time could be spent tracking down violent killers and predators, rather than arresting and ruining the lives of teens who were doing nothing more than laughing at nothing, eating too much pizza and listening to Pink Floyd in their basement.

References:

1 Linda Greenhouse, “Supreme Court Paved Way for Marriage Ruling With Sodomy Law Decision,” The New York Times, November 19, 2003. Accessed June 8, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/19/national/19RULI.html.

2 Andrew Gumbel, “The Great Undoing?,” The Advocate, June 20, 2009. Accessed June 8, 2013. http://www.advocate.com/news/2009/06/20/great-undoing.

3 “Thirty Years of America's Drug War,” PBS Frontline. Accessed June 8, 2013. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/cron/.

4 “States decide on gay rights, abortion,” NBC News, November 5, 2008. Accessed June 8, 2013. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/27523989/.