At one point, CNN's Rick Sanchez asked Mr. Suthers if legalizing and regulating marijuana outright would solve a lot of the problems we experience under prohibition. Here's what he said:
"If there was full regulation, if the legislature stepped in and gave clarification to these very broad provisions, I could see that happening. You know, taxation schemes, regulatory schemes, somebody actually cares about how much THC is in the brownie that you're buying."Check out the embedded video:
It's funny to see this line of reasoning pop up among those on the fence or expressing hesitance regarding marijuana legalization. "Sure, I support letting sick people get the medicine they need, but this whole thing should be much more tightly regulated and official."
ReplyDeleteAdvocates for reform, particularly on the medical side, want exactly the same thing. Nothing would help the cause more than an entirely above-board transition -- re-scheduling under the CSA, FDA approval, robust regulations on production, distribution, sales, customer ID, product labeling, etc etc etc. The medical movement -- and really, the broader legalization effort -- would find that sort of process extremely beneficial.
It comes down to the old guard politicians at the federal level unfortunately. The Controlled Substances Act says so. And those guys refuse to even look into the matter. This patchwork, shaky, sometimes wild-west situation we have now -- so often the target of prohibitionist criticism -- is the direct result of federal drug policy, not of "drug activity" itself.