Thinking Clearly

U.S. Conference of Mayors asks Obama for flexibility on marijuana

 By Stephen C. Webster at The Raw Story

The United States Conference of Mayors unanimously passed a historic, bipartisan resolution Monday calling on the Obama administration to stop interfering with state and local efforts to deal with the problems caused by marijuana prohibition. 

...

It specifically focuses on the dominance of organized crime in the black market, racial disparities in arrest statistics, state laws that clearly express an unwillingness to continue marijuana prohibition and recent polling that favors letting states decide the matter. ...

“We commend the U.S. Conference of Mayors for taking action in defense of state and local efforts to move beyond the failed policy of marijuana prohibition,” he said in an advisory. “Our nation’s marijuana policy should reflect the facts about marijuana. If our federal government is unwilling to adopt evidence-based marijuana laws, it is up to states and localities to pick up the slack.”

Marijuana Majority’s Tom Angell echoed that sentiment, saying: “I sincerely hope and believe that when mayors across the country speak with one unanimous voice and demand that the feds give them the opportunity to implement their cities’ forward-thinking marijuana laws that it’ll finally give the president the encouragement he needs to sit down and seriously reconsider his administration’s approach to this issue.”