Legal Marijuana Endorsed by Ithaca, NY Mayor

Why the hell not?

ITHACA, NY — Svante Myrick, the mayor of Ithaca, NY, announced on Tuesday that he thinks it's time to legalize marijuana. The 25-year-old elected official's announcement comes one month after voters in Colorado and Washington strongly approved measures legalizing marijuana.

"Despite having arrested over 20 million people for marijuana nationally, a number larger than the entire population of New York State, marijuana prohibition has failed to make our communities safer," Mayor Myrick announced exclusively to the organization Marijuana Majority. "By legalizing and regulating marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol we can free up our already overburdened courts and law enforcement agencies to focus on serious and violent crime. Plus, we can take money out of the hands of the criminal black market and generate enormous revenues for the government while creating thousands of new jobs. New York should lead on this issue just as we led on repealing alcohol prohibition."