There’s a powerful analogy between the gay-rights...

“There’s a powerful analogy between the gay-rights movement and the marijuana-law-reform movement. Part of it is about a principle — that people should not be punished for what they do in their own home or their own personal lives. The other point is that there’s an element of ‘coming out’ that is pivotal to the whole process of decriminalizing and ultimately legalizing the behavior. I truly believe that if marijuana users felt as emboldened to come out as gay and lesbian people did some years ago, marijuana prohibition would come crashing down very quickly. The problem is that it’s hard to get people to come out of the closet about something that does remain a crime.”

Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance