22 -The Nation.- February 18, 2013

retahadon against federal employees who ask quesdons aboutone another's compensadon. But he hasn't even done that.

In the end, the single best protecdon for "choice" is affluence,so reducing poverty would help. In the last three decades, the realvalue of the minimum wage has gone down. Eor wage workerstoday, it stands at $7.25 per hour; for dpped workers, it is $2.13,and women hold two-thirds of those jobs. That's not enough tomake it out of poverty working fuU-dme. Raising the minimumwage to $9.80 per hour, as proposed imder the Eair MinimumWage Act, would boost earrdngs for more than 28 milhonworkers, nearly 55 percent of them women, and help close thewage gap—and the "choice" gap.

CoUecdve bargaining also helps women. In 2008, the Centerfor Economic and Pohcy Research reported that unionizationraises the wages of the typical woman worker by 11.2 percentcompared with her nonunion peers. Wages are brought into theopen in union negodadons. A concerted effort to oppose "rightto work" attacks and build union strength for workers wouldempower more women than a pile of peddons for presidendalexecudve orders. Moreover, as Jane McAlevey describes in herbook Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell), given the right sortof leaders, strong uiuons can contribute muscle and leadership-building savvy to an endre community. That's good for a world offights, from healthcare layoffs to school closings to "fetal protec-

don" laws that result in pregnant women being locked up. Theymight even be able to confront the lingering "confusion," let'scaU it, that in 2012 caused 56 percent of white women to vote forMitt Romney. Unions did more than any other endty in 2008,and again in 2012, to taUi to voters in swing states, white personto white person, about race.

American Eederadon of Teachers president Randi Weingartensays that her workers, and unions, have never experienced sucha vicious attack as the one they recendy endured. "The momentyou press against austerity and budget priorides is the moment itstarts getdng ugly, espedaUy in tough economic dmes," she says."What happens is, you get demonized, denigrated, defamed inorder to divide you from your community—and then defunded."

That's what makes victories hke the Chicago Teachers Union'sso important. The union is 87 percent female, and a progressiveslate of candidates, having buÜt power within their own organiza-don, won the union's leadership. The members then worked withtheir community to build a sense of common interest such diatwhen they took on a powerful Democrat, Chicago Mayor RahmEmanuel, they won what many thought was an impossible fight.As CTU vice president Jesse Sharkey told the smart new journalJacobin., "We know that we don't have real friends in high places.So we should stop depending on them." It's probably the bestadvice anyone could give the women's movement. •

Turning the Tide on Drug ReformWith state-level victories in November, activists are ready to take the fight to the feds.

by KRISTEN GWYNNE

In Barack Ohama: The Story, biographerDavid Maraniss writes that the presi-dent spent his youth in Hawaii gettingstoned on a paved road up MountTantalus, where he took "roof hits"

in smoke-filled cars with his friends, theChoom Gang. (To "choom" is Hawaiianslang for smoking marijuana.) Obamaloved weed so much, Maraniss writes, hethanked his pot dealer, but not his mother,in his high school yearbook.

Decades later, the Choomer turned pres-ident is in a historically unprecedentedposidon when it comes to drug policy in the United States.Marijuana is ülegal under the ControUed Substances Act, buttwo states, Washington and Colorado, voted in November tolegahze and regulate its sale and use by adults 21 and older.This conflict with federal law puts aU eyes on Obama, who,despite his smoke-filled teenage years, has refused to considermarijuana legahzadon as an altemadve to prohibidon. Indeed,drug pohcy reformers have endured a rocky four years (to

Kristen Gwynne is a New York-based reporter and drug policy editor atAlterNet. Her work has also appeared on Salon and RollingStone.com.

put it mildly) in their reladonship with theObama administradon. That's why, when thepresident told Barbara Walters in Decemberthat his administradon had "bigger fish tofry" than prosecuting recreadonal users ofstate-legal pot, legahzadon advocates tookthat statement with a grain of salt. The lastdme Obama said he would allow the statesto determine their own pohcies on medicalmarijuana, he ended up busdng more state-sancdoned dispensaries than George W. Bush.

Ethan Nadelmann, execudve director ofthe Drug Policy Alliance, is confident that

the recent state-level legahzadon victories mark a "turningpoint" that will inspire more polidcians and voters to becomecurious, even passionate, about marijuana policy. "It's causinglawmakers to rethink this issue," Nadelmann says, adding thatpolidcal risk is "the same reason the White House said nodi-ing about the ballot inidatives in Washington and Coloradobefore the election."

While preparing a response to a possible federal crack-down is a priority for the legahzadon movement, advocatesare hoping for more than just nonintervendon from thefeds. They would like to see an open conversadon about drug

February 18, 2013 -The Nation.- 23

policy that will turn more policy-makers into legalization advo-cates, and more states (red and blue alike) a cannabis-firiendlygreen. For that domino effect to happen, however, they mustfirst craft a message that convinces people that voting forreform or even outright legalization is not a vote for pot, buta vote against the multidimensional disasters of prohibition—a web of mass incarceration and racial injustice, tangled up witheverything from foreign policy to public benefits at home.

According to the FBI, in 2011 more than 750,000Americans were arrested for marijuana-related offenses,accounting for roughly half of all drug crimes in theUnited States. Fighty-seven percent of marijuana-relatedarrests were for possession alone—a minor prime that

can sdll cause major problems in one's life.The good news is that, should the feds decide to crack

down on Colorado and Washington, there is no way to forcelocal law enforcement to arrest marijuana users in those twostates. They could, however, still go after some large-scale dis-tributors, as they have done with medical marijuana suppliersin California and Montana.

That's why the marijuana legalization move-ment's first priority, says Paul Armentano, deputydirector of the National Organization for theReform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), is mak-ing sure that all goes smoothly in Washingtonand Colorado. It must ensure that policy-makersfollow through on implementing legalization, toavoid situations like the one in Delaware, where a medical mar-ijuana bill was passed in April 2011 but has never taken effect.

At the same time, Armentano says, legalization advocatesmust make sure that new laws continue to reflect the will ofthe voters. This means establishing viable and effective guide-lines to regulate how marijuana will be sold and consumed,while also looking out for unnecessary regulatory schemes.In effect, Washington and Colorado must create a model thatlawmakers from other states won't be afraid to suppoi't.

"With drug law reform, it's the states that move federalpolicy," Armentano adds. "There's going to continue to beincreased efforts at the state level to bring about additionalreforms—legislative in 2013, or possible citizen initiatives in2014 or 2016." These will include everything from medicalmarijuana legalization to decriminalization of possession tofall legalization of recreational use and sale.

The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) tells The Nation that thenext roxmd of marijuana legahzation measures is most likely tocome from Alaska, Maine, Oregon, California, Massachusetts,Rhode Island and Nevada. Meanwhile, Armentano is optimisticthat, elsewhere, efforts to decriminalize, rather than legalize,pot stand a particularly good chance at success, since they donot invite the same conflict with the feds. (Decriminalizationtypically reduces the penalties for small amounts of marijuanapossession from an arrest to ticket or fine, while legalizationremoves all penalties for adult possession and sale.)

Texas and New Jersey have already introduced decriminal-ization bills. In New Hampshire, MPP says, three bills will beintroduced this year: one to legaHze medical marijuana, one

to decriminalize, and one to tax and regulate. "The electionof Governor Maggie Hassan, who has expressed support formedical [marijuana], means a medical bill would almost surelybe signed," says MPP's Mason Tvert.

Still, Armentano believes that legalization bills will remainon. hold until state lawmakers can feel reasonably confidentthat there will be no federal crackdown. "To be realistic,I don't think that we're going to see a state legalize legisla-tively in 2013. Most state lawmakers are going to want to takea wait-and-see approach for at least a year, maybe two, to seehow this all shakes out in Colorado and Washington."

A year from now, says Rick Steves, a PBS travel show hostwho co-sponsored the Washington initiative (1-502), residentsin that state can expect stores selling pot to open their doors,though imder stringent regulations. Indeed, while some inthe legalization movement have criticized 1-502 for being toostrict—a DUI provision has been especially controversial—Steves notes that "we had to seriously consider and addressthe concerns of the pubhc that does not use marijuana." Partof the goal was to "write a law that is so public-safety-minded

The last time Obama said he would let statesdecide their own marijuana policies, he bustedmore dispensaries than George W. Bush.

that you get local law enforcement endorsing it." That strategyworked: not only did a Seattle sheriff and former prosecutorendorse the initiative, the former prosecutor co-sponsored it.

Amuch bigger challenge than passing state-level reformswill be convincing Congress to take up the issue. Butadvocates say they are up to the challenge. "It is a highpriority of NORML and other organizations to takethe victories of Colorado and Washington and try to

translate them into a much more serious and prolific discus-sion in Congress," Armentano says. He predicts that at thefederal level too, "a greater number of elected officials [willbe] talking about marijuana-law reform."

As for potential allies in Congress, MPP's director of govern-ment relations, Steve Fox, says the reform movement's "biggestsupporters are in the Democratic caucus." With Ron Paul andBarney Frank—previously the "biggest players"—gone fromCongress, Fox says there's "a lot of younger people coming up,trying to take the mantle." He cites Jared PoHs of Colorado,Farl Blumenauer of Oregon and Steve Cohen of Tennessee asleading the charge, addiiag: "The mood in DC on this issue hascompletely shifted in light of the recent election."

Representative Diana DeGette of Colorado has alreadyintroduced the Respect States' and Citizens' Rights Act of 2012,which would amend the Controlled Substances Act to exemptstate marijuana laws from federal control. This kind of legisla-tion, aimed at finally resolving the conflict between state andfederal law regarding marijuana, is what Americans can expect tosee coming out of Congress over the next four years. (Whether

24 - The Natrón.- February 18,2013

it can garner enough votes to pass is another story.)The key to that effort is messaging, says Tom Angelí, the

founder and chair of the group Marijuana Majority, whopoints to recent polls showing that most Americans do notwant the federal government interfering in Washington andColorado. "Our task now," he adds, "is to show [elected offi-cials] that the voters are way ahead of them, and that they'll berewarded for speaking up and not punished for it." Bridgingthat gap between public opinion and policy, however, requiresinstilling in politicians the confidence necessary to attach theirnames to marijuana-law reform. Marijuana Majority is dedi-cated to this work; much of what it does is spread awarenessof the broad range of support for marijuana-law reform so thatan increasing number of people, politicians and citizens ahke,realize that "when you speak out for marijuana reform, you'rein good company and won't be attacked and marginalized."

If supporting pro-marijuana legalization is increasinglymainstream, so is the opinion that the drug war as we knowit has failed. Even Obama's drug czar, Gil ICerlikowske, headof the Office of National Drug Control Policy, has distancedhimself from the "war on drugs," recasting it as a public

health issue. "There is some truth to the notion that there's beena shifr," Nadelmann says, but he adds that legislators have failedto match their rhetorical shifr with a change in funding, and thatspending for incarceradon sdll outweighs funds for treatment.

The White House, too, has not hved up to its rhetoric. "Ithink the Obama administradon would be well served to takea page from what the states are doing with respect to incar-ceradon policy in general," says Mary Price, vice president andgeneral counsel for Eamilies Against Mandatory Minimums(EAMM). She adds that while much reform at the state level isdriven, at least in part, by budgetary concerns, "it's also drivenby a new interest in evidence-based solutions" to criminal jus-tice problems. Harm reduction, rather than incarceration, isone kind of drug policy that would use a public health modelto minimize and prevent the harms (such as overdosing) thatare ofren associated with drug use.

Still, while the Obama administration has shown some signsof taking a more public-health-oriented approach (by back-ing federally funded needle exchange programs, for example),it has been silent on prisons. "What's telling- is that Obamahas yet to make one powerful comment about the high rateof incarceration in this country, or the fact that we have thehighest rate in the world, or the incredible racial dispropor-tion involved," says Nadelmann, who adds that while Obamaworked early on to reduce the racially charged sentencingdisparity for crack versus powder cocaine (from 100-to-l to18-to-l), "there's really been a lack of leadership."

The disconnect is particularly egregious given the outsizerole of mandatory minimum sentencing in drug cases. As Pricenotes, the "stacking" of such mandatory minimums leads to suchinjustices as the case of Montana medical marijuana providerChris Williams, who initially faced over eighty years in fed-eral prison for possessing both marijuana and guns—neither ofwhich were illegal under state law at the time. "If a gun is foimdin connection to the offense, even if it is not directly related, theperson is subject to this rather extreme mandatory minimum,"says Price, who explained that the first gun charge carries a mini-mum of five years, followed by a twenty-five-year minimum forevery additional charge. (Prosecutors ultimately offered Williamsa plea deal that would reduce his sentence to five to ten years.)

With the Sandy Hook tragedy moving Obama and Congressto target guns. Price says she is "somewhat concerned"that the House might push for new mandatory sentencingschemes. But vocal opposition by Senator Patrick Leahy tomandatory minimums gives her confidence they would notpass the Senate.

Coupled with drug reform victories, such progressive stancesby elected officials reflect a larger ongoing shifr in attitudestoward criminal justice policy, driven by the states. Increasingly,people reahze that the coimtry's exorbitandy expensive, exces-sively harsh prison system has been more cosdy than it has beensuccessful at making us safe. The question is whether Congressand the White House will recognize this and use their powers toexpedite, rather than impede, change. •

The Election Reform MomentCampaign finance reform has been around a long time, but it's finally gaining traction.

by JOHN NICHOLS

There is little in the way of good news on the campaignfinance front. In 2012, campaigns for every office—fromthe presidency to the San Jose City Council—cost expo-nentially more than ever before. It is certainly true thatright-wing billionaires Hke Sheldon Adelson blew fortunes

on losing political bets, as did the US Chamber of Commerceand other groups that had hoped to buy elections with unlim-ited expenditures. But as Pubhc Campaign's Nick Nyhart notes,"billionaires lost, but big money won." Republicans backed byAdelson and the Koch brothers got beat by Democratic cam-

paigns and progressive interest groups that came close to—andsometimes matched—Republican and conservative spending.The pay-to-play political process remains cloaked in "darkmoney" secrecy. Yet even those who complain about the politicalarms race reject unilateral disarmament. And every indication isthat the courts are determined to make things worse.

The situation is overwhelming—and that's the good news.The days of imagining we can merely tinker around the edges ofAmerica's historically dysfunctional system for funding pohticalcampaigns with private dollars are over. There is no small reform

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