Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, whose choice as John McCain’s vice presidential running mate is being touted as a hit with social conservatives and supporters of “family values,” has acknowledged smoking marijuana in the past. Does it matter?

In a word, yes.

On Aug. 6, 2006, the Anchorage Daily News reported, “Palin said she has smoked marijuana — remember, it was legal under state law, she said, even if illegal under U.S. law — but says she didn’t like it and doesn’t smoke it now. “‘I can’t claim a Bill Clinton and say that I never inhaled.’”

The paper quoted Palin as saying she opposed legalization of marijuana because of the “message” that would be sent to her children. Let’s ponder that a bit.

Gov. Palin is one of many millions of Americans who have acknowledged using marijuana and gone on to live productive, wildly successful lives. That list famously includes California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Sen. Barack Obama, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and astronomer Carl Sagan, and many others. That Palin used marijuana is no big deal. What is a big deal is that she thinks that the 100 million Americans who have done so — presumably including herself — deserve arrest, jail, and a criminal record.

Worse, as a recent WHO study confirmed, there is no evidence that these laws actually reduce marijuana use. But don’t expect to hear that uncomfortable fact mentioned at Thursday’s press conference at which federal officials are expected to release the government’s latest drug use survey.

Because marijuana was legal in Alaska when Gov. Palin used it, she didn’t risk having a criminal record, but the very laws she now supports might well have aborted her political career before it ever began. Just what sort of message does that send to young people?

Meanwhile, Alaska is one of 12 states that allow the medical use of marijuana (the others are California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington), and one in five Americans currently live in those states. Montana’s medical marijuana law appeared on the November 2004 ballot, receiving 62 percent of the vote, exceeding George W. Bush’s total of 59 percent.

The heavy hand of the federal government has trampled state authority and tried to interfere with the implementation of these laws. The GOP ticket could give the race a breath of fresh air by embracing the time-honored Republican principle of local control and promising to end the federal government’s war on sensible medical marijuana laws in both red and blue states.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at 9:36 am and is filed under Uncategorized .