Democratic Party platform didn't quite say "Legalize It" but came close

[cannabis_flower]

2 We believe that the states should be laboratories of democracy on the issue of marijuana, and
3 those states that want to decriminalize marijuana should be able to do so. We support policies
4 that will allow more research on marijuana, as well as reforming our laws to allow legal
5 marijuana businesses to exist without uncertainty. And we recognize our current marijuana laws
6 have had an unacceptable disparate impact, with arrest rates for marijuana possession among
7 African Americans far outstripping arrest rates among whites, despite similar usage rates.

http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/dnc_platform.pdf

[Bluenorthwest]

2. 7. Also applies to Hispanics who are also arrested disproportionately in the States that still feel

compelled to arrest people for cannabis. In both groups and also among arrested whites, 91% are male and a strong majority is under 26 years of age. So it's mostly young black and Latino men being arrested in such bastions of liberty as NYC, which has reduced low level possession arrests to under 17,000 a year from a high of over 50,000 but again, other States don't arrest those people at all. NYC has been doing this and doing it racist style my entire adult life. Over 700,000 such arrests in the last 20 years. This is a large part of why I do not live in NY.

[mountain grammy]

3. I love the idea of states being called the "laboratories of democracy"

because it's so damn funny and stupid and ridiculous and our history shows it's a big crock of shit! Slavery, lynchings, restrictive marriage laws, Jim Crow, segregation, and all kinds of discrimination of all shapes, sizes and colors have come from the "laboratories of democracy."
Give me a fucking break with this nonsense!

[RussBLib]

4. situational ethics

It is a bit hypocritical to slam "states rights" if those states want to prolong slavery or keep minorities from voting, but then turn around and laud "states rights" if those states want to legalize marijuana.

I guess one should look at the end result of the "states rights" argument. If that argument is used to restrict rights of some people, then it should be slammed and disallowed. But if the "states rights" argument is used to expand the rights of all citizens within that state, I really see nothing wrong with it.

So, yeah, I'm all for situational ethics. Sometimes "states rights" sucks, and sometimes "states rights" is a good thing. Depends on what the argument is being used for. Some (not referring to you Mountain Grammy) cannot see the distinction.

[mountain grammy]

5. While I'm glad my "laboratory" legalized MJ

I remember, not so long ago, when the same laboratory amended our constitution to ban any local laws outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation. Thankfully, the supreme court blew up that lab.

When states enhance federal laws and standards, like raising the minimum wage, that's ok, but, in too many cases, states use states rights for nothing but restricting the constitutional rights of citizens.

[TonyPDX]

6. Greetings from a laboratory of democracy! Join us, won't you?

Imagine the uproar from Oklahoma and Nebraska, Alabama and Mississippi if the Federal government "shoved cannabis down their throats" (conjures an interesting image, though). Like it or not, state acceptance of legal cannabis remains very controversial in many places (even in pockets of Oregon, Colorado, Washington & Alaska) and the very difficult work of achieving legalization must happen step-by-step at the state level.

Reasonable people everywhere will eventually see the folly of prohibition, but decades of reefer madness will have to be unwound first. The cultural and economic repercussions of legalization are not trivial, and for acceptance to occur, citizens cannot be made to believe the changes are being forced upon them. They have to come from folks they know and respect.