Analysis by Kyle A. Lohmeier
Something odd is happening. Typically, government follows predictable trends because the people involved in running government aren’t terribly clever. For example, the trajectory of same-sex marriage in the USA was kind of easy to see coming. No serious politician or even the President would say they were all out in favor of same-sex marriage until polling data hit that magic 50 percent number. In fact, that was exactly where public acceptance of same-sex marriage stood in the USA, at 50 percent, when all of a sudden Obama’s views on same-sex marriage quit “evolving” and he embraced the notion completely. Conveniently, the Gallup Poll that showed 50 percent support for gay marriage was released just days before Obama’s announcement, according to this CNN story from 2012. Shortly thereafter, when the Supreme Court invalidated state-level bans on gay marriage, Obama lit the White House up in rainbow colors and acted like he invented gay marriage.
So, imagine my surprise when I wake up this morning to find a Gallup Poll saying that 60 percent of Americans favor full legalization of marijuana, and this is after a Pew Research poll last week found support for outright legalization was at 57 percent.
That’s seven-to-ten points higher than the polling threshold that triggered the final evolution of Obama’s opinion on gay marriage. By now, the Rose Garden should have been tilled under and replaced with Strawberry Cough, Sour Diesel and Girl Scout Cookies. There are old photos of the president smoking pot. There are new videos of his daughter smoking pot. What gives?
Well, see, there just wasn’t much money to be made opposing same-sex marriage, and the only people who were going to be “hurt” by Obama’s embrace of same-sex marriage were conservatives, Christians and other people who are either Obama’s rivals, or irrelevant to him politically. If nothing else, Obama’s “populism” is always very well calculated.
And, that’s why he’s mum on marijuana legalization – the math just doesn’t add up. First, Obama is already a lame duck and doubtlessly wants to twist a few more knives into the back of the taxpayer on his way out the door – decriminalizing anything isn’t high on his list of priorities. That leaves his obvious and already-anointed successor (no, go vote anyway, see what happens), the Hildabeast, who has already said she doesn’t support legalization of marijuana. Why would that be, given that would place her in the minority of American public opinion and into an even smaller minority of self-identified democrats? Again, it’s all about the money.
Two Democrats and 17 Republicans entered the primary races last year. Among those nineteen candidates, Clinton raised by far the most in contributions from Big Pharma, more than one third of all of Big Pharma’s donations to all candidates, in fact. Those same drug companies spend money at the state level to oppose legalization efforts, which is what Insys Theraputics Inc., maker of the dangerous opiate fentanyl, has done in its home state of Arizona. Earlier this year, Wikileaks revealed collusion between the DNC and the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America to fund an effort to crack down on “drugged driving,” specifically aimed at marijuana.
So, unlike same-sex marriage, the polling data on marijuana will continue to be irrelevant as far as federal legalization goes. Embracing popular opinion can only carry politicians so far, embracing the corporate oligarchs that control the industries that would be “threatened” by marijuana legalization, namely Big Pharma and Big Booze, makes all the difference – that’s where the money is.
Leave a Reply