The New York Times on Sunday published an calling for the federal government to end the prohibition on marijuana.
The editorial has drawn significant attention this week, with one media observer it “a landmark moment in the decades-long fight for legalization.”
While The Times is not the first U.S. newspaper to call for marijuana legalization, it’s certainly the largest.
Times editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal that the biggest reason for the call was the social cost of the ban on marijuana, saying, “Criminalization has already ruined too many young lives.”
Many readers lauded the decision. And Allen St. Pierre, executive director of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, told USA Today that the editorial speaks to “a massive cultural change in America.”
Others have criticized The Times’ stance. Project SAM, which opposes legalization, decried the editorial while pointing to Colorado as an example of what can go wrong: “[E]arly data show increases in poison center calls, treatment admissions, and stoned driving in Colorado.”
What do you think? Do you agree with The Times’ editorial? Vote in our poll at right.
