Politicians, Indiana legislators and Ball State students are all discussing a hot topic: the legalization of marijuana.
A question about marijuana was on three states’ ballots Nov. 6. Washington and Colorado passed initiatives to legalize the possession and sale of marijuana for recreational use. Oregon voters defeated a measure to allow cultivation of recreational pot and to remove criminal penalties for possession.
According to the measures, Colorado and Washington require users be 21 in order to purchase and possess up to an ounce of marijuana. In Colorado, a person can grow up to six plants for personal use while Washington will still ban it. State-licensed stores can legally sell taxed cannabis — a system modeled after stores with alcohol sales.
Indiana legislatures are also considering changing state laws concerning marijuana. Democratic state Sen. Karen Tallian has said she will reintroduce a bill to decriminalize possession of less than three ounces of the drug.
“I think this means that the debate is changing,” said Brandon Wait, a Ball State political science assistant professor. “People shouldn’t count their chickens before they are hatched, but the fact that this is a discussion at all is important.”
Waite said the legislation has little chance of passing, especially with Gov.-elect Mike Pence. Indiana is going to be more of a follower rather than a leader in this subject.
Legalization laws only pertain to state police, and as long as the war on drugs progresses, the federal government still considers pot an illegal substance, Waite said.
“We are left with a showdown about the powers of the 10th Amendment,” Waite said. “However, the federal government can use national supremacy laws to overturn state policies.”
That does not stop those who support legalization from rejoicing.
“I know people would still smoke pot, because they will see it legal at a state level and not even care that it is still illegal at a federal level,” Joe Buhle, a freshman education major, said. “They would think, ‘[The federal government isn’t] going to bust someone for just smoking a joint.’”
The states plan to heavily tax the drug. Colorado said it would devote the revenue first to school construction and Washington will spend its tax money on health programs.
“I don’t think [states] should say what it is for; it is like encouraging people to smoke it because it will help the community,” Buhle said.
While agreeing there may be the potential to pay off state debts, Bethany Moore, a freshman nursing major, said she believes marijuana is a gateway drug, and the consequences of legalization far outweigh the benefits.
“I have two uncles that started smoking pot in high school, and now they have both moved onto other drugs,” she said. “Neither of them can hold a job, and one of them is in jail. I honestly don’t think they would have moved onto anything worse if they had not smoked pot, and these laws are just going to make it easier to get a hold of.”
None of these changes are going to be implemented until 2013. Therefore, the state and federal governments will have a chance to decide how to handle legal loopholes.
“The federal government shouldn’t tread on state laws,” Ryan Schunk, a freshman music education major, said. “The country is moving in a more progressive direction, and a lot of the old policies are changing. Weed laws are a huge representation of that.”
