I'd venture a guess that many more politicians in Congress and elsewhere are aware of how stupid drug prohibition is than will publicly admit it. Remember, a lot of them are genuine intellectuals, with some of the sharpest young policy experts in the country working for them. Politics is the art of the possible, and ending drug prohibition is a political nonstarter right now.
Unfortunately, the weed legalization movement has been succeeding with the "weed isn't that bad for you" message, which is a half-truth that will undermine further liberalization, and has failed to shift the debate regarding the War on Drugs overall.
The good arguments for ending the drug war, which the general public is not aware of, are: 1) Prohibition empowers violent criminal organizations domestically and internationally, 2) People should be free to put whatever they want in their own body and earn the consequences, and 3) Prohibition of popular drugs puts otherwise law-abiding people in contact with the criminal underworld.
Try this at home. Tell your friends "I think all drugs should be legal". My experience is that you're going to get strong disagreement from the vast majority of people, even the more liberally-minded ones. Decades of propaganda have been effective.
Unfortunately, the weed legalization movement has been succeeding with the "weed isn't that bad for you" message, which is a half-truth that will undermine further liberalization, and has failed to shift the debate regarding the War on Drugs overall.
The good arguments for ending the drug war, which the general public is not aware of, are: 1) Prohibition empowers violent criminal organizations domestically and internationally, 2) People should be free to put whatever they want in their own body and earn the consequences, and 3) Prohibition of popular drugs puts otherwise law-abiding people in contact with the criminal underworld.
Try this at home. Tell your friends "I think all drugs should be legal". My experience is that you're going to get strong disagreement from the vast majority of people, even the more liberally-minded ones. Decades of propaganda have been effective.