Editor's Note: The New York Times Editorial Board is wielding its power once again to end marijuana prohibition. Last July, it published a series of editorials by its editorial board pleading the case for repealing marijuana prohibition. Now, its editorial board has penned this piece that emphatically states: "Congress and the Obama administration remain far too timid about the need for change."
Even as support for ending marijuana prohibition is building around the country, Congress and the Obama administration remain far too timid about the need for change.
Last year, residents in Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia voted to join Colorado and Washington State in making recreational use of marijuana legal. Later this year, residents of Ohio are expected to vote on a ballot measure that would legalize it. Nevadans will vote on a legalization proposal next year. And Californians could vote on several similar measures next year.
Instead of standing by as change sweeps the country, federal lawmakers should be more actively debating and changing the nation’s absurd marijuana policies, policies that have ruined millions of lives and wasted billions of dollars.
