Ethan Nadelmann: We have reached the marijuana policy reform 'Tipping Point'

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Ethan Nadelmann: We have reached the marijuana policy reform 'Tipping Point'

30 October 2013

Last week, more than 1,200 drug reformers from around the world gathered in Denver at the International Drug Reform Conference to talk about policy reform and find "an exit strategy from the war on drugs," as Tony Newman with the Drug Policy Alliance said in a statement about the conference.

One of the most energetic and impassioned speeches over the three-day conference was delivered by Drug Policy Alliance executive director Ethan Nadelmann who said that the world has hit "the tipping point on marijuana."

"[It's] Because of what Colorado and Washington did and what Uruguay is going to do," Nadelmann said, referring to both states' legalization of recreational marijuana in 2012 and Uruguay's expected passage of its own marijuana legalization laws, which will make it the first country in the world to establish rules for the production, distribution and sale of marijuana for adults. Nadelmann also cited the Department of Justice's decision to let Colorado and Washington's new marijuana laws go into effect without a challenge.

"And we've hit the tipping point because 58 percent of our fellow citizens say it's time to legalize marijuana," Nadelmann said to applause from the conference audience.

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