COULD OBAMA'S PRO-MARIJUANA COMMERCE SECRETARY SPELL A GOLDEN ERA FOR
POT REFORM?

December has been an interesting month for marijuana, or cannabis as
it is known to scientists and all too few others. To kick off the
month, the U.S. Supreme Court decided against reviewing a California
state appellate court ruling arguing that its medical marijuana law
trumped federal law. That, in effect, set the stage for better
implementation of medical-marijuana law in not just California, but
every state that has one, while also reminding local police that the
job of enforcing federal drug policy is, in fact, not its job.

Two days later, the oldest stash of cannabis ever found was unearthed
from a 2,700-year-old grave in the Gobi desert, aptly reminding
humankind and its ass-backwards politicians that pot has been around
a lot longer than lobbyists. If the eye-candy archaeological
slideshow didn't fully illustrate the value of such a stash, the
scientists did.

"As with other grave goods, it was traditional to place items needed
for the afterlife in the tomb with the departed," explained Ethan
Russo, lead author of the Journal of Experimental Botany paper that
announced the find.

But as readers pondered packing their own trusty pot for use in the
afterlife, better news broke on the same day: President-elect Barack
Obama nominated New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to his Cabinet as
secretary of commerce. Given that Obama had already confessed to
inhaling -- "that was the point," he classically cracked -- and once
declared the hyperbolically named War on Drugs "an utter failure,"
adding that America needed to "rethink and decriminalize" American
cannabis laws, Richardson's nomination to Commerce was cause for
celebration. After all, Richardson signed a bill in 2007 making New
Mexico the 12th state to legalize medical marijuana.

"So what if it's risky? It's the right thing to do," he said of his
decision. "My God, let's be reasonable."

Reason is indeed what proponents of decriminalization have been
crying for after four consecutive presidential terms derailed their
hopes and maneuvers for legalized cannabis, medical and otherwise.
But something has always stood in the way of that inevitability, and
it has usually leaned quite heavily on the U.S. Constitution's
Commerce Clause, which states that Congress has the right to regulate
commerce between the United States and other nations, as well as
between its own states. It remains the most widely interpreted clause
in the Constitution and has been more abused than the American
people's goodwill. In the landmark case Gonzales v. Raich, the U.S.
Supreme Court, under the distracted leadership of Justice Antonin
Scalia, sided with the Bush administration's argument that banning
the homegrown cultivation and consumption of marijuana is a federal
imperative, even when no cannabis changes hands or travels across
state lines. The lunacy of the ruling even threw rightward justices
like Clarence Thomas, Jr. off their creaking rockers.

"Certainly no evidence from the founding suggests that 'commerce'
included the mere possession of a good or some personal activity that
did not involve trade or exchange for value. In the early days of the
Republic, it would have been unthinkable that Congress could prohibit
the local cultivation, possession and consumption of marijuana ...
Respondents Diane Monson and Angel Raich use marijuana that has never
been bought or sold, that has never crossed state lines, and that has
had no demonstrable effect on the national market for marijuana. If
Congress can regulate this under the Commerce Clause, then it can
regulate virtually anything -- and the Federal Government is no
longer one of limited and enumerated powers."

Thomas is right, but a mostly Democratic Congress and Richardson
offer the best chance in years to right this conundrum. With
Richardson at Commerce, and Congress on the hunt for new sources of
green, environmental and financial, during a time of deep economic
recession, the launch window for legalization has never been wider...

"Richardson was a strong champion for legal access to medical
marijuana," explains Reena Szczepanski, director of New Mexico's
chapter of the Drug Policy Alliance. "In his role at the Commerce
Department, he may be well-positioned to examine the economic
contributions of the medical cannabis sector to the economy in states
that have medical cannabis laws."

Well-positioned is right, but will Richardson exhibit the kind of
spine he showed in the Democratic primary, when his brave decision on
medical marijuana in his own state caused him to stick out like a
sore realist? The answer came, once again, in December. When asked in
an interactive question-and-response forum on Obama's transition site
Change.gov whether the president-elect will "consider legalizing
marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age
limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a
billion-dollar industry right here in the U.S.," the site's answer
was the following curt, depressing cop-out: "President-elect Obama is
not in favor of the legalization of marijuana."

That is probably a play-it-safe deferral, given that Obama has yet to
take office. But it is still disappointing, given that legalization
is an even safer position with the public.

"The main obstacle to legalization of medical marijuana is that many
politicians haven't yet figured out that it is a popular, politically
safe issue," argues Bruce Mirken, director of communications for the
Marijuana Policy Project. "The fact that it keeps rolling up wins
surely helps with that, and the continuing stream of positive
scientific studies does as well. But clearly the public is more
divided on marijuana policy outside of medical situations, and we
need to do a better job of understanding the public's concerns and
addressing them."

In order for that to happen, a public dialogue needs to take place on
legalization, and that is almost sure to happen under Obama's watch,
as well of that of his friendly Democratic Congress. Indeed, the
balls have already begun to roll.

"Legislation will be reintroduced in the House of Representatives
during Obama's first term to reform America's antiquated and overly
punitive federal marijuana laws," explains Paul Armentano, deputy
director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana
Laws (NORML). "One bill seeks to allow state governments the ability
to legalize and dispense medical cannabis without running afoul of
federal law. Another seeks to remove federal anti-drug penalties on
the possession of up to 100 grams of marijuana, roughly 3 ounces, by
adults. One would hope that the new Congress will hold hearings on
these proposals and begin a long-overdue, objective political
discussion on Capitol Hill regarding the need to amend America's
marijuana policies."

Given that the Bush administration left behind political and economic
wreckage at home and abroad, decriminalization and reform might not
be at the top of either branch of the government's to-do list. But an
exponentially increasing climate crisis, resource shortage and
recalibration of globalization and consumption is going to demand
some homegrown answers, as nations, states and even cities circle the
wagons and look for answers from the interior. And since cannabis has
been with humankind for at least a newly established 2,700 years, can
grow in practically any climate and was once cultivated by George
Washington and Thomas Jefferson, there may be no place like home when
it comes to turning around a superpower.

"That we spend billions every year in futile efforts to eradicate
America's No. 1 cash crop, a drug markedly less harmful than alcohol,
is insane," says Mirken. "And with the federal deficit approaching a
trillion dollars, it is time to bring marijuana out of the
underground economy, regulate it appropriately, and generate billions
of dollars in tax revenues. Instead of guaranteeing all the profits
to criminals, which is what prohibition does."

And if money isn't the point, let's move instead to morality. Even on
that diaphanous front, the numbers have spoken.

"Since 1965, America has arrested over 20 million Americans for
violating marijuana laws," explains Armentano. "Penalties include
probation and mandatory drug testing; loss of employment; loss of
child custody; removal from subsidized housing; asset forfeiture;
loss of student aid; loss of voting privileges; loss of adoption
rights; and loss of certain federal welfare benefits, such as food
stamps. In human terms, some 34,000 state inmates and an estimated
11,000 federal inmates are serving time behind bars for violating
marijuana laws. In fiscal terms, this means U.S. taxpayers are
spending more than $1 billion annually to imprison pot offenders."

That's money and lives that disappear down the drain, never to
return. And in the end, that is probably the reality that Obama and
Richardson will be forced to reconcile. So even if Obama is against
legalization now, he will probably be for it later. And if not him,
someone else, who pissed-off voters will no doubt vote into office one day.

"It is not politically risky for the incoming administration to move
forward in this area," adds Armentano. "This is a realm where the
public is well ahead of the politicians."