It’s time for Nevada to legalize marijuana

Perhaps the most consequential decision faced by voters in three Western states, other than control of the White House, are voter initiatives that would legalize marijuana. Polls suggest voters in Colorado and Washington may approve initiatives to do so while Oregonians are more reluctant. This would be a welcome retreat in the most foolish front of the Drug War, and one that would likely mark the beginning of the end of marijuana prohibition.

“If any of them pass, it will be the first time since the widespread prohibition of marijuana that any state pulled back,” says Morgan Fox, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates reform. “It will be a really big deal.” If these states legalize marijuana, Nevada, which has tried and failed to legalize in the past, should consider doing the same. I’ll return to that later. Marijuana prohibition is becoming less popular by the day. A Gallup poll last year found that 50 percent of Americans favor legalization, a first. Just as astounding is the trend, as support has doubled in about 15 years. Demographics help explain this, as there were 45 million Americans between 18 and 29 as of 2009, with more coming.

These people are more socially liberal than their parents. What they realize is that it’s just not a big deal. NYE COUNTY SHERIFF"S OFFICE Marijuana filled a room at 2440 Turtle Street in Pahrump in August 2011. The alleged operator of the grow house was 28-year-old Amos Cavallo. There’s also growing skepticism about the effectiveness of marijuana prohibition, and it’s coming from conservatives. William F. Buckley, the late godfather of conservatism, was long a voice against prohibition, but lately it’s become a chorus of conservatives.

This shouldn’t be surprising. Although marijuana is often associated with the lefty counterculture of the much reviled 1960s, the drug war requires big government resources to achieve its dubious ends. It is expensive and inevitably leads to the abuse of government power.