Tagged: marijuana

Marijuana has been historically cast as a dangerous drug for outcasts and societal dropouts. But with the passage of I-502, marijuana is going mainstream. A Seattle web entrepreneur is building tools for the masses to bring marijuana – and its users – into the 21st century.

Officials with the Washington state Patrol say about 8 percent of the drivers they pull over turn out to be impaired by drugs. A lab test verifying marijuana in the blood is a factor in showing driver impairment, they say, but there’s never been a legal limit the way there is for alcohol. That changes with the new law allowing marijuana possession, which takes effect Thursday, Dec. 6. It contains a new limit on marijuana components in a driver’s bloodstream.

Medical marijuana is available in 18 states, and the vote on November 6 legalized the possession of pot in Colorado and Washington. With the highest incarceration rate in the world, and more than $2 trillion dedicated to fighting the "war on drugs," we continue to fill our prisons with drug offenders. Is it worth it? From the series Intelligence Squared U.S., the motion is Legalize Drugs.

Panelists:

Paul Butler, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center