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A clear majority of Americans now want to see marijuana legalized. Fifty-six percent believe it should be treated like alcohol or tobacco. Only thirty-six percent defend the status quo. What’s more, the trend has been moving towards the pro-legalization position, and continues to do so.

It is about time. The entire drug war is a monstrosity, a crime against the Bill of Rights, the greatest contributor to gang violence, a wholesale attack on our civil liberties and the right of individuals to control their own bodies. Characterizing drug problems as a criminal justice issue has been an unmitigated failure, except for serving law-enforcement special interests, growing the bureaucracy, and deepening the pockets of drug kingpins who profit off this madness.

Marijuana criminalization always rested on the flimsiest of grounds. Fear of blacks and Hispanics fueled the hysteria. So did conflicting propaganda about how marijuana would make American youth violent, yet also make them docile and unable to serve in the Armed Forces.