The right move to rethink nation’s drug war

The debate over marijuana use is one where the law has long lagged public opinion. Despite its illegal status, cannabis has been widely used among large segments of the population for a long time, for a variety of reasons, from medicinal to recreational and beyond.

Still, its status as a controlled substance has meant that people can and do get into legal trouble for partaking. The consequences of criminalizing a substance used by millions of people has meant shattered lives, overcrowded prisons and broken families, not to mention the overwhelming economic cost. It’s never been a smart public policy, to say nothing of its failure morally.

None of this means marijuana use is without consequences. Any mind-altering substance can have serious effects, but as this country learned during Prohibition, simply declaring something to be against the law is often counterproductive. Telling people not to do it doesn’t stop most people.

Thankfully, the law is finally catching up to public opinion, and Connecticut has been at the front of the discussion.

Last year, Gov. Ned Lamont signed a law to legalize and regulate the use of recreational marijuana for adults. At the same time, the law erased certain cannabis-related convictions under state law, providing a fresh start for many people who had been ensnared in the criminal justice system. The law also requires a portion of revenue generated from marijuana sales “to support economic opportunities for communities that have been most negatively impacted by the war on drugs,” as the governor said.

The law made sense, even as many argued it could have gone further. Now, the movement for change has gone national with President Joe Biden’s actions granting federal pardons for people found guilty of simple possession of marijuana.

This was the right move for all kinds of reasons. Even if the number of people directly affected by the president’s pardon is relatively small (most people charged with marijuana possession are in the state system, not federal), it’s still a welcome move and one that is long overdue. It makes no sense to treat marijuana use as harshly as our system has long been doing.

The toll that the war on drugs has taken on communities across America is so large that it’s hard to quantify. The burden has been heaviest on Black and Hispanic people, even as drug use is just as prevalent among white people. It’s long past time to roll back the most punitive aspects of our drug policies and work toward a saner system of enforcement.

That does not mean legalizing everything. It’s worth noting that the opioid crisis was driven at the outset by legal medication approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration and prescribed by doctors. Legalization is not a cure-all.

We do, however, need to continually reassess our statutes and punishments, and make changes when we have bad policies. Connecticut has made progress in this department, and the federal government is slowly following suit.

The benefits for all of us, marijuana users and otherwise, will be substantial.

It’s long past time to roll back the most punitive aspects of our drug policies and work toward a saner system of enforcement.