Could Obama’s Pro-Marijuana Commerce Secretary Spell a Golden Era for Pot Reform? | Rights and Liberties | AlterNet
President-elect Barack Obama nominated New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to his Cabinet as secretary of commerce. Given that Obama had already confessed to inhaling — “that was the point,” he classically cracked — and once declared the hyperbolically named War on Drugs “an utter failure,” adding that America needed to “rethink and decriminalize” American cannabis laws, Richardson’s nomination to Commerce was cause for celebration. After all, Richardson signed a bill in 2007 making New Mexico the 12th state to legalize medical marijuana.“So what if it’s risky? It’s the right thing to do,” he said of his decision. “My God, let’s be reasonable.”
…a mostly Democratic Congress and Richardson offer the best chance in years to right this conundrum [of using the Constitution's commerce clause to support marijuana prohibition]. With Richardson at Commerce, and Congress on the hunt for new sources of green, environmental and financial, during a time of deep economic recession, the launch window for legalization has never been wider…
“Richardson was a strong champion for legal access to medical marijuana,” explains Reena Szczepanski, director of New Mexico’s chapter of the Drug Policy Alliance. “In his role at the Commerce Department, he may be well-positioned to examine the economic contributions of the medical cannabis sector to the economy in states that have medical cannabis laws.”
Well-positioned is right, but will Richardson exhibit the kind of spine he showed in the Democratic primary, when his brave decision on medical marijuana in his own state caused him to stick out like a sore realist?
While Richardson at Commerce could be helpful to our cause, I’m waiting to see how Daschle pans out at Health & Human Services. Daschle’s from South Dakota, the only state where a medical marijuana initiative has made it to the ballot and lost, albeit by a narrow 48%-52% vote. As Secretary, Daschle will set the tone for the Food & Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, agencies that directly affect the federal discussion on cannabis as a medicine.
