MARIJUANA POLICY CHANGE STILL LIKELY IN CONN.

As a drug policy activist, I found the results of the Nov. 2 elections
both disappointing and informative. It was disappointing because, out
of four major marijuana policy bills I hoped and expected to pass
(Prop 19 in California, Prop 203 in Arizona, Measure 13 in South
Dakota, and Measure 74 in Oregon), zero actually did. In light of
these - for lack of a better term - sobering results, I have
encountered many people, students and non-students, inside and outside
of the movement, who take these results as a death knell for the
marijuana law reform movement, especially for the effort here in
Connecticut.

If legalization, despite all of the support it could possibly garner
in a state as drug-progressive as California, could fail, then how can
Connecticut muster up enough support for a bill proposing
legalization, medicalization or decriminalization of marijuana?

The answer: a lot more easily than you'd think. In fact, Connecticut
has already done it once before. In 2007, HB 6715, a medical marijuana
bill, passed through the Connecticut legislature. It would have been
put on the books soon after if Gov. M Jodi Rell had not vetoed it. But
Rell will not be Connecticut's governor for much longer. Dan Malloy
will take office on Jan. 5, and this simple fact should be reason
enough for drug policy activists in Connecticut to get excited. This
optimism stems from his own words. Malloy has publicly and repeatedly
stated that he would support marijuana decriminalization and
medicalization in Connecticut. Remember that a medical marijuana bill
already passed through Connecticut's legislature with over 60 percent
of the vote. But enough time has passed to allow the movement to amass
additional support and publicity.

That is the status of the political side of the marijuana reform
movement. The other side, which is run by a collection of local,
statewide and national grassroots organizations, is equally promising.
Students for Sensible Drug Policy is a drug policy group based right
here on campus. UConn's chapter of SSDP, which meets Tuesdays at 8
p.m. in Monteith 101, was named 10th best in the country by High Times
Magazine in October. UConn SSDP was a major mover and shaker in
getting the 2007 medicalization bill through the legislature. It also
played a key role in getting Dan Malloy elected, who won by a narrow
margin of several thousand votes.

Katlin Tyrol, a junior public and community engagement major, SSDP
member and former SSDP president, was extremely optimistic about
approaching marijuana law reform in Connecticut.

"Connecticut is closer to [marijuana] decrim and medical than we have
ever been before," Tyrol said. "It's now our job now to make sure
legislation is appropriately and quickly presented to our lawmakers so
we can stop treating non-violent marijuana offenders like criminals
and start treating them like the normal, contributing people they are."

Picking apart the numbers from the recent midterm elections, one
realizes how much support marijuana law reform actually has in this
country. In California, Prop 19 (which would have legalized and taxed
marijuana within the state) received more "yes" votes than any
Republican candidate running for any seat in the entire state.
Arizona's legalization effort, Prop 203, failed by a mere 6,000 votes
- - about 1 percent of the total votes cast.

These types of results suggest that the movement is teetering on the
edge of success, and only slight adjustments need to be made within
the movement for it to succeed throughout the country. "We must stop
painting marijuana as a bad thing that needs to be controlled," wrote
Russ Belville, outreach coordinator of the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). "People need to question why we
bother arresting bright, successful, educated people and break up
their loving families just because they prefer [marijuana] to a
six-pack or a cigarette. The movement cannot succeed until people are
rightfully more afraid of prohibition than they are of
legalization."

Connecticut is currently in great shape to reform and repeal our
archaic and harmful marijuana laws. Every bordering state to
Connecticut has some form of medical or decriminalized marijuana, a
statistic many state drug activists find disheartening. But I find it
to be advantageous for when legislation is actually proposed. When
might such legislation actually pass in Connecticut? With the
combination of Dan Malloy as governor, a progressive state legislature
and top-notch drug law activists in and surrounding our major
universities, I expect marijuana decriminalization and/or
medicalization to be fully passed in Connecticut within the next 200
days. It is the most likely and most sensible solution to America's
most dangerous social problem: the War on Drugs.