Barack Obama: The Organization For Economic Cooperation And Development

America Dept: For me, Tuesday s elections brought back that sense of America as the land of the future. The presidential race is being discussed as one that was about nothing, with no message or mandate. But that s simply not true. Put aside the re-election of Barack Obama and consider what else happened this week:, according to The Star. Two states voted to legalize some recreational use of marijuana, which will surely mark the beginning of the end of the war on drugs. This may be the most costly, distorting and futile war the United States has ever waged. Over the past four decades, we have spent $1 trillion to fight this war without reducing the price and availability of drugs in cities while also destroying our penal system. The United States has more than three times as many prisoners per capita as we had in 1980 and about 10 times as many prisoners as do other rich countries, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In 2010, about 1.6 million Americans were arrested on drug charges, most for using marijuana, a drug that is no more dangerous than alcohol and growing up in India in the 1960s and 1970s, I always thought of America as the future. It was the place where the newest technology, the best gadgets and the latest fads seemed to originate. Seemingly exotic political causes such as women s liberation and gay rights always seemed to get their start on the streets or in the legislatures and courts of the United States. Indians couldn t imagine embracing all American trends in fact, we rejected some things outright because they were too edgy for a country like ours. But we had a sneaking suspicion that today s weird California fad would become tomorrow s conventional practice. Three states voted to legalize same-sex marriage, which is the civil rights cause of our times. One day we will look back and wonder how people could have been so willing to deny equal treatment under the law to a small minority and Tuesday will stand as one of the most important moments marking the end of that cruelty. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.