Adam and his newlywed husband Steve put out the joint and board a flight to Havana, Cuba; some people believe this may all be legal in the near future. In Jacob Weisberg’s article, “The End of Prohibition” he talks about why: gay marriage, getting high, and going to Cuba will soon be legal. Weisberg believes these changes are inevitable because society has changed over the years. In April, Obama lifted restrictions on travel and remittances by Cuban-Americans. The Justice Department announced that it would no longer prosecute cases involving medical marijuana in the 14 states where it is now permitted. Same-sex marriage is legal in six states and that number is on the rise. Loosening restrictions and enforcement reflect a change in society.
In March of 2009 CBS News conducted a survey on American’s view on same-sex marriages. Forty-two percent say same-sex marriages should be legal, 25% say they should be able to form civil unions but not be able to marry, 28% think they should have no legal recognition and 5% are undecided. Same sex marriage should be legal in the U.S. because every citizen is born with the right to marry, whoever they choose. Some of the most common arguments against gay marriage is marriage is for procreation. If that’s the case, why are infertile couples allowed to marry and why aren’t older couples forced to divorce after they are no longer able to have kids? Religious people fight to keep same-sex marriages illegal, but state governments can’t take the Bible into account when voting on a decision because Thomas Jefferson set up the separation of church and state. This means when people vote for or against gay marriage they should not base their vote
In the most recent government survey more than 23 million Americans use marijuana and don’t believe they should be punished for doing so. Portland, Oregon recently become home to Americas first Marijuana Café. With marijuana becoming more popular and becoming Americas number one cash crop there is no reason for it to still be illegal. The value of marijuana is $35.8 Billion. That is more than corn and wheat combined $23.3 billion and $7.7 billion respectively. "The fact that marijuana is America's No. 1 cash crop after more than three decades of governmental eradication efforts is the clearest illustration that our present marijuana laws are a complete failure," says Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington D.C., a group focusing on removing criminal penalties for marijuana use.
The government should not be able to restrict United State citizens from traveling. The government should warn citizens that certain areas of the world are dangerous but they should not be able to tell citizens they cannot go there. Americans want to go to Cuba whether it is to visit family, prospect for post-Castro business opportunities or just take a vacation. Obama has erased some of the laws the Bush administration enforced about travel to Cuba. One of the laws was no longer forcing Cuban-Americans to wait three years between each visit to Cuba to visit their families.
http://www.slate.com/id/2234017/