A Drug Loses Shock Value

America’s war on drugs started in the ‘70s under President Richard Nixon. Since then, the nation has used drastic police methods and punishments in an attempt to eradicate drug use. That war was lost: Nowhere on earth do people use more cannabis and cocaine than in the United States. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people there languish in jails because of ridiculous U.S. drug laws. The war between lawmen and the drug cartels has laid waste to entire regions of Central America.

Now the people of Colorado have embarked on a new experiment: They are now permitted to buy marijuana for recreational use in designated shops. Local authorities now treat dope smokers the same as they do those who drink alcohol—that is to say, they regulate use rather than forbid it outright. They also raise revenue in the process. It remains to be seen how the change will play out. Will pot now be increasingly smuggled into neighboring states where it is still illegal? Will minors have easier access to it? Will the number of addicts increase?

At any rate, the mood in the U.S. seems to indicate that Americans have had enough of repression and think that government should quit wasting resources fighting that battle. For the first time, a majority of Americans now favor the legalization of marijuana. The drug has lost is shock value. Unlike President Bill Clinton, Barack Obama has always admitted that he smoked dope in his youth—and the people voted for him anyway.