The New York Times Pushes for Legal Marijuana
The New York Times appears to be taking a strong stance in support of marijuana legalization. In the Sunday edition of the paper, it introduced a series of editorials calling for the end of the prohibition on the plant.
Aptly titled “Repeal Prohibition, Again” the first article, reading like a call to arms, begins by saying the prohibition on alcohol took only 13 years to repeal, as people continued to drink during that time. However, “it has been more than 40 years since Congress passed the current ban on marijuana, inflicting great harm on society just to prohibit a substance far less dangerous than alcohol.”
The newspaper’s main reasons for advocating for legalization is that it doesn’t view the substance as dangerous—although it is only advocating for marijuana sales to those over 21—and because the legal system still has harsh penalties in some states for minor marijuana offenses. The newspaper claims that in 2012 there were 658,000 marijuana related arrests, while there were only 256,000 related to cocaine, heroin or related substances. “Even worse,” it continues “the result is racist, falling disproportionately on young black men, ruining their lives and creating new generations of career criminals.”
The country’s stance on legalization does seem to be shifting, especially in the wake legalization in Colorado and Washington and the fact that a nationally influential newspaper like The New York Times is getting behind the fight is indicative of that shift.
Read more at The New York Times website.
