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IPFS News Link • Drug War

Meet the Special Interests Keeping Marijuana Criminalized

• https://fee.org, by Laura Williams

In this era of political polarization, when Americans seem to agree on absolutely nothing, let me reassure you. We overwhelmingly agree that cannabis should be legal.

1 in 5 Americans have (state) legal access, 1 in 2 have experimented with it, and more than 1 in 10 smoke regularly. Southern California yuppies are publicly winning prizesfor growing the same plant that landed Georgia teenagers in prison.

Half of states allow at least limited use, and a few attract elite cannabis tourism. Federally, the drug remains fiercely criminalized, despite irrefutable evidence of its medical value.

So what's the hold-up?

Being in the anti-marijuana business is astonishingly lucrative for bureaucratsand campaign donors. Here are just a few of the heavy hitters addicted to federal prohibition:


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