If Obama actually uses his clemency power to free thousands, or even hundreds, of drug war prisoners, that would be historically unprecedented, and it would go a long way toward making up for his initial reticence. He could help even more people by backing sentencing reform, which has attracted bipartisan support in Congress. And having announced that states should be free to experiment with marijuana legalization, he could declare the experiment a success. “I’m waiting for the president to come out and say his views are evolving on marijuana,” says Piper.
If none of those things happens, Obama’s most significant drug policy accomplishment may be letting states go their own way on marijuana legalization. Even if Obama is succeeded by a Republican drug warrior, he will have a hard time reversing that decision, especially given the GOP’s lip service to federalism.
“The toothpaste is out of the tube, and I don’t think there’s any putting it back,” Piper says. “Even if the next president really wants to crack down, I don’t think they’re going to be able to. They might be able to create chaos, and some people will go to jail, but I don’t think there’s any stopping legalization at this point.”
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