As feds acquiesce on marijuana, might the South legalize? [View all]

[Zorro]

Ask a Southerner when states in the former Confederacy will legalize recreational marijuana and you’re likely to get a chuckle and a bemused shake of the head. “Not happenin’ soon, son,” is a common reply.

While a growing number of states mostly out West and up in New England are on a legalization path after the Department of Justice’s decision to shrug its shoulders at state regulation (as long as it doesn’t involve kids, the black market, or federal property), none of them so far are in the South, where bedrock Baptist morals still push, not always successfully, against the sin of intoxication.

But look a little closer at Dixie’s denizens and one sees small but potent signs of a legalization groundswell, in part fueled by the South’s unique contributions to marijuana culture and prohibition. In Texas and all over the South, there are a lot Willie Nelson-style social and cultural “outlaw” attitudes, all of which overlap with Ron Paul libertarianism.

Indeed, some marijuana policy experts argue that Southern states may begin deciding to regulate instead of ban the use of the cannabis plant for medical and recreational purposes.

http://news.yahoo.com/feds-acquiesce-marijuana-might-south-legalize-165731657.html