The contest between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton not only mesmerized America. Finding out who will command the most powerful nation on the planet - and its nuclear arsenal - kept the entire world glued to their television sets as the vote count rolled on.
American politics is like no other. Not only do they not directly elect their president, the final decision is made by a curious number of appointees who vote according to the political content of each state, with the voting power dictated by that states population numbers. Whoever gains the magic number of two hundred and seventy votes - wins the contest !
American presidential elections also deliver another unusual aspect of democracy. It is possible to ask the voters to approve or reject "propositions " which the individual states consider to be too contentious for them to decide. A number of states asked their people to make a decision on making Marijuana legal for recreational use.
This is not an entirely new issue. This same question got approval in a similar manner at previous elections and "Pot " is a legal substance sold over the counter in the states of Alaska, Colorado, Washington and the District of Columbia. It is also available in medical form in several other states.
This constitutes a clash between state and Federal governments. Under Federal law Marijuana is and remains a banned drug. The states that have legalized it have the problem of Federal law forbidding banks to conduct normal banking operations for shops that sell that product. They can not bank their daily takings and that creates an enormous security problem. There is pressure to relax Federal law and so far that has been declined.
This just concluded election saw a fresh ballot to legalize the recreational use of Marijuana put to the people and it won the numbers in Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada. In the eyes of many legal people, it has now passed that tipping point where legalization must become universal in the United States.
Until now, legality has occurred in the lesser states and the Federal authorities have chosen to ignore what they see as a serious breach of the law. Suddenly, the biggest state in the union which has the world's sixth largest economy will make this a legal product. Twenty percent of the entire population of the United States will be legally entitled to use Marijuana for recreational purposes. The decision of California to defy Washington is bringing change to the whole aspect of drug use.
Marijuana - or "Hemp " as it was formerly known - was a legal product used by some sections of society for recreational smoking during the earlier part of the twentieth century. Somehow it got lumped with Opium and Heroin when a drug culture emerged after the end of the second world war. Harsh laws were enacted and for many years people were sentenced to prison terms for getting caught with minor quantities of this substance. In today's Australia, those caught with a "joint "are usually released with a caution.
Smoking Marijuana produces a similar "high "to the drinking of alcohol. Some medical people consider it less harmful than alcohol and if it is legalized it will put a huge dent in the drug trade. Already it is achieving legality in countries that include Uruguay - and now Canada. Its legalization in California is simply too great a population segment of the American nation for this legalization anomaly to be ignored.
It has taken a long time for sanity to prevail. The fact that Marijuana has been lumped in with other drugs under a total prohibition order has actually brought many users into contact with hard drugs because of its illegality. That vote in California is likely to have ripple effects across the entire world !
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