Marijuana a Bipartisan Issue?

Jenifer Harper from The Washington Times, recently wrote an article on Jon Stewart's 'Restore the Sanity' rally, a parody rally staged in Washington D.C. at the National Mall. The most interesting part of this rally was not only the signs that some of the protesters brought like, "I fought the Nazis and they don't look like Obama" or "Don't let Glenn Beck Teabag our children" but also some of the protesters themselves. Executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, Ethan Nadelmann told their supporters to, "march in business suits - not Birkenstocks by reinforcing the message that there is no archetypal marijuana legalization supporter" This group has been trying to prove a point that marijuana is a bipartisan issue that should be talked about by both liberal Democrats, and Republican deregulators. The fact that the issue can be supported by such a large spectrum may be a key tool in next years elections.

Ethan Nadelmann provides more details about the issue in Harper's article saying, "The desire to end marijuana prohibition crosses ideological and partisan boundaries; it's not just liberals and libertarians who say it should be legal. Calls for reform come from across the entire political and social spectrum - yesterday it was George Soros in the Wall Street Journal, today it's law enforcement, major unions and moms," Mr. Nadelmann tells Inside the Beltway. "People who believe in fundamental civil rights decry marijuana [law] enforcement for unjustly targeting minority groups and introducing them to the criminal justice system in disproportionate numbers. Our presence at the rally brings these voices together."

Republicans should keep this in mind for the next election cycle because it could be a good platform to advocate states rights, and federal deregulation. If they play their cards right the GOP could very well steal additional seats in congress. GOP players like Ron Paul have been preaching that states rights are at the heart of Republican ideology. The could place marijuana in a very interesting position during the up coming election cycle.