Editor's Note: Election day is upon us–and for those who want a quick rundown of what's happening around the country, Huffington Post gives a great overview. Plus, this article makes it clear why these elections are so important to the marijuana industry:
"If even a handful of initiatives in states like Oregon, Alaska, Florida, California, and Washington D.C. pass, Tuesday could prove a milestone in the long fight to end this forty-year nightmare. Beyond this state and city level, how voters vote on drug policy will also send a strong message to the Obama administration as it considers candidates to replace Attorney General Eric Holder, arguably the strongest proponent for fixing America's broken drug policies to ever hold the office. The stakes couldn't be higher, which is why it's important to be informed. If you live in one of the states below, it's crucial that you get to the polls and help strike another fatal blow against the War on Drugs."
Whatever else Tuesday may bring, it looks poised to be a banner day for those of us who have long sought to end America's failed war on drugs. And if the stars and voter participation align, it may indeed prove a tipping point in the long fight toward a possible landslide for Drug War Reform.
Citizens across the country will vote Tuesday on more initiatives to reform drug control policy than at any other time in American history. This is a coup in itself, of course, reflecting how much the movement to end the Drug War has gained ground in recent years. But to seal the deal and truly begin to close this harrowingly destructive chapter in American history, voters need to understand how the war has failed for over forty years to curb rates of drug addiction or abuse while instead simply shattering families, tearing communities apart, and wasting taxpayer dollars, all the while sowing popular distrust in law enforcement and filling the nation's jails with predominantly poor, minority, and nonviolent inmates.
