Conservative Thinkers and Marijuana Policy Reform

“There is no logical basis for the prohibition of marijuana.”

— Milton Friedman

“The anti-marijuana campaign is a cancerous tissue of lies, undermining law enforcement, aggravating the drug
problem, depriving the sick of needed help, and suckering well-intentioned conservatives and countless
frightened parents.”
— William F. Buckley, Jr.

“I happen to believe that the Federal Government shouldn’t be locking up anyone for making a decision of what
he or she should privately consume, whether that person is rich or poor, and we should never be giving people
the excuse, especially Federal authorities, that they have a right to stop people or intrude into their lives in order
to prevent them [from doing so].” — Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R - California)

Today, most Americans agree that marijuana prohibition
should be brought to an end. According to an November
2019 Pew Poll, 67% of the public supports making marijua-
na legal, with support among Republicans more than dou-
bling over the past decade to 55%. When it comes to states’
rights, however, 57% of Republicans think the federal gov-
ernment should not enforce its laws prohibiting marijuana
in states where it is legal, according to Pew Research Center
in 2013 — and 67% of Republicans believe the enforcement
of federal marijuana prohibition is not worth the cost.
Since 2012, 10 states — Colorado, Washington, Oregon,
Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, California, Nevada,
Michigan, and Illinois — have replaced their states’ prohibi-
tion of marijuana with legal and regulated adult markets,
similar to those for alcohol. Today many conservative
leaders, like Congressman Rohrabacher, have picked up the
torch from Messrs. Buckley and Friedman and are helping
to lead America in a more sensible direction on marijuana
policy.

Marijuana Prohibition Has Failed, With Serious Negative Consequences for Society
Vermont Senate Republican Leader Joe
Benning — “Despite seven decades
 of pro-
hibition in the so-called War On Drugs, a
sizable number of Vermonters use marijua-
na. We kid ourselves if we believe prohibi-
tion will eventually win the battle. I’d argue
it is time to change our approach.” photo credit:
Vermont Press Bureau
Editorial Board of the National Review — “[D]rug
prohibition has not produced the desired results; . . . it
creates enormously powerful economic incentives for
domestic trafficking operations and allied cartels abroad;
… the human and financial costs of fighting a ‘war’ on
drugs are enormous, and .. the martial rhetoric and
assumptions associated with that effort are a menace to
privacy and civil liberties …”

The Federal Government Should Respect States’ Rights to Enact Sensible Policies
Grover Norquist, founder and president of
Americans for Tax Reform — “[A]s a matter
of States’ rights, regulating marijuana and
alcohol seem indistinguishable; and, alcohol
policy has been entrusted to the States since
the repeal of Prohibition in 1933.”
photo credit:
Washington Times
Senator Cory Gardner (R - Colorado) —
“Since the campaign, President Trump
has consistently supported states’ rights to
decide for themselves how best to approach
marijuana… President Trump has assured
me that he will support a federalism-based
legislative solution to fix this states’ rights photo credit:
issue once and for all.” U.S. Congress

continued

Marijuana Policy Project • www.mpp.org

 Conservative Thinkers and Marijuana Policy Reform

The Federal Government Should Respect States’ Rights to Enact Sensible Policies … continued

Senator Ted Cruz (R - Texas) — “Look, I actually think this is a great embodiment of what
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis called ‘the laboratories of democracy.’ If the citizens of
Colorado decide they want to go down that road, that’s their prerogative. I personally don’t
agree with it, but that’s their right.”

photo credit: The Hill

Criminalizing marijuana distracts law enforcement and erodes civil liberties

Walter Olson, CATO Institute — “[The legal-
ization debate is] one that raises questions of
individual liberty and the proper role of law:
What business is it of the government what
citizens do behind closed doors? And in a
state with no shortage of serious crime, is
this what we want police working on? What-
ever your answers to these questions, it’s hard to
claim the current approach is working.”
Congressman Don Young (R - Alaska) —
“Since Alaska legalized marijuana, I have
heard from many constituents — including
small business owners — who have been
impacted by archaic Federal marijuana
policy that criminalizes them for selling
photo credit: marijuana-derived products otherwise photo credit: U.S. Congress
Cato Institute
legal under state law. Additionally, our nation’s prisons are
overcrowded with non-violent offenders who too frequently
have their lives ruined by harmful and outdated policies.”

Marijuana Prohibition Fails to Recognize That Marijuana is Less Harmful Than Alcohol and Other
Schedule I Drugs
Former Congressman Tom Tancredo (R -
Colorado) — “I am endorsing Amendment
64 not despite my conservative beliefs, but
because of them. Our nation is spend-
ing tens of billions of dollars annually in
an attempt to prohibit adults from using
a substance objectively less harmful than
alcohol.”
Congressman Matt Gaetz (R - Florida) —
“To classify marijuana with heroin and
LSD continues a generational sequence
of lying by the federal government to the
American people. And those lies have led
to overly punitive criminal penalties. Our
photo credit:
policies on marijuana for the last genera- photo credit:
Florida House of
United States Congress tion have done irreparable harm.” Representatives

Marijuana Prohibition is Fiscally Irresponsible and Bad for the U.S. Economy
Syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin —
“[T]he legalized marijuana entrepreneurs
here in my adopted home state are just like
any other entrepreneurs: securing capital,
paying taxes, complying with a thicket of
regulations, taking risks and providing
goods and services that ordinary people
want and need.”
Cato Institute — “[Our] report concludes that … [a]bout
$8.7 billion of … savings would result from legalization of
marijuana … Legalization [of marijuana] would also gener-
ate tax revenue of … [a]bout $8.7 billion.”
photo credit:
David All

Marijuana Policy Project • www.mpp.org