Long stigmatized as political poison, the marijuana movement has found new allies in prominent politicians, including Representatives Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Ron Paul, Republican of Texas, who co-wrote a bill last year to decrease federal penalties for possession and to give medical users new protections.
“Look, I’m a libertarian,” [FOX News Channel host Glenn] Beck said on his Feb. 26 program. “You want to legalize marijuana, you want to legalize drugs — that’s fine.”
“We’ve been on national cable news more in the first three months than we typically are in an entire year,” said Bruce Mirken, the director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, a reform group based in Washington. “And any time you’ve got Glenn Beck and Barney Frank agreeing on something, it’s either a sign that change is impending or that the end times are here.”
Beneficiaries of the moment include NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which advocates legalization, and other groups like it. NORML says that its Web traffic and donations (sometimes in $4.20 increments) have surged, and that it will begin a television advertising campaign on Monday, which concludes with a plea, and an homage, to President Obama.
“Legalization,” the advertisement says, “yes we can!”
But Allen F. St. Pierre, the executive director of NORML, said he had cautioned supporters that any legal changes that might occur would probably be incremental.
“The balancing act this year is trying to get our most active, most vocal supporters to be more realistic in their expectations in what the Obama administration is going to do,” Mr. St. Pierre said.
via Marijuana Advocates Point to Signs of Change – NYTimes.com.
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