Editorial:
Learn
to
See
Hope
6/10/05
David Borden, Executive Director, [email protected]
Any positive change can easily be set back. A dramatic example is the reinstitution of mandatory minimum drug sentences in 1986 after previous mandatory minimums had been repealed only in 1970. And even in the areas where we have support, it is hard to make the actual changes happen. Medical marijuana -- the big issue of the week, following the long-awaited Raich Supreme Court ruling and with a Congressional vote awaiting next week -- is the perfect example of this. Some polls say we have as much as 80% support on the medical marijuana issue. Yet Congress continues to hold on to the power to prosecute (or persecute) patients and their providers. It can be discouraging. On the other hand... some polls say we have as much as 80% support. This wasn't the case 10 years ago. That's good news. There was a fear that in the wake of an adverse ruling on Raich, the feds would feel emboldened to step up the raids and really put down the medical marijuana movement. There was a fear that states would back down on their own medical marijuana laws, or on passing new ones. It's too soon to tell; those things could still happen. But the early signs for the most part paint a different picture. The medical marijuana co-ops in California and elsewhere continue to operate as usual. Editorials calling on Congress to finally address the issue have appeared in papers across the country in record numbers. A state medical marijuana bill has passed a legislative body -- the Rhode Island Senate -- by an overwhelming, record margin, only one day after the ruling. And while some state officials have made ominous statements, they have been so transparently inaccurate that advocates see little difficulty in putting the lie to them and keeping their states' laws on track. There was a fear that an adverse ruling in the Raich case could have an adverse effect on the prospects for passage of federal legislation. This Tuesday when Congress votes on the Hinchey/Rohrabacher amendment we'll find out. But after seeing things unfold, in going through our several articles preparing to publish this issue, most of all when reading our interview with Angel Raich herself -- that is not my prediction. Rather, my view, albeit intuitive, is that rejection by the court has elevated the moral stature of our grievances even further. Now, for example, I think I see more hope for short-term progress in the legislative arena than I did a few days ago. I'm not ready to say that I think medical marijuana will pass the US Congress next week or even this year. But I'm hopeful that Tuesday's vote will demonstrate progress on the issue, and maybe a good deal of progress. We'll find out about that soon. But if it turns out that I'm wrong on this particular, still I believe I'm right in the larger sense. As former governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson used to say, support for the drug war is a mile wide but an inch deep. Once people learn what's really going on, it's not hard to bring them to our side of things; the possibilities for transforming public opinion are real. These times while dark hold hope for change, and those who learn to see hope can bring it to fruition all the sooner thereby.
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