When do you think marijuana will be legalized in the United States?

[Spike89]

43. Weirdly, I think it will take a conservative president

No liberal, especially a black democrat, can politically afford to push legalization. Just like Nixon could go to China, Reagan could nominate a female to the SCOTUS...you need someone who can afford to piss off a part of their own party. Possibly a conservative dem could pull it off, maybe even Obama could do it in his second term if he is willing to spend that much capital on one issue.

I'm actually semi-confident that this will happen within 10 years. Testing for impairment is one of the most persistent red-herrings ever! There is no roadside test for lots of legal things that can cause impairment. They currently do ticket pot users for DUI and the convictions stick. Ironically, because pot is so illegal in many places, police are less likely to pop a driver for a DUI because the punishment can be draconian--much worse than a liquor DUI. Legalize it and I'd expect to see a rise in the number of pot DUIs issued Not because of more pot-smoking drivers necessarily, but just because cops would be more likely to drop a $200 ticket on a stoner than to place a charge that could send a first-time offender off to prison for years.

There is no field test for lack of sleep--but you can be cited. There are no field tests for a huge variety of perfectly legal drugs that state clearly "Do not drive or operate heavy machinery" but if you're bombed on Percocet, you can certainly get a ticket.

Explain to me why pot is different?