VOA慢速英语--大麻合法化在美国持续增长

The 2020 election led to more American states legalizing marijuana.

Among the states voting to legalize marijuana for recreational use were South Dakota, New Jersey¹, Arizona and Montana. Voters in Mississippi approved the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Currently, 15 American states permit recreational marijuana, while 36 others have made it legal for medicinal use. The passing of legalization measures in recent years has demonstrated that the efforts generally have had bipartisan support.

In the November 3 election, for example, Republicans captured important congressional races in South Dakota and Montana. The two states also voted to re-elect Republican President Donald Trump². In fact, the recreational marijuana measures got 16 percent higher support among voters than Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

A recent public opinion study by the Gallup organization found that 68 percent of Americans favor the legalization of marijuana. That is two times greater than the percentage of people who said so in 2003.

The study found that just under half of Republicans and people who identify as politically conservative think marijuana should be legal. Of people who said they attend church every week, 48 percent said they favor legalizing the drug.

Matthew Schweich is deputy director of the Marijuana Policy Project, which favors legalization. He told The Associated Press that despite "a war" against marijuana in the U.S. for the past 100 years, "that war has been an abject³ failure."

Schweich said criminalization of the drug had led to the jailing of millions of Americans, worsened racism⁴ and prevented important medical marijuana research.

Marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. So, it cannot be used to treat people at Veterans Affairs medical centers. Schweich says some veterans suffering from pain have been forced to turn to highly addictive⁵ opioid medications.

Bill Stocker is a retired⁶ U.S. Marine⁷ and former police officer in South Dakota. He voted for President Donald Trump in this year's presidential election. He told the AP that enforcing marijuana laws gets in the way of going after other drug crimes. He dismissed warnings about the drug being dangerous.

Brendan Johnson is a former federal prosecutor⁸ in South Dakota. He supported the state's marijuana measure. He said the campaign centered on the fact that, in recent years, 10 percent of arrests in the state were for marijuana possession. Most of those arrests involved small amounts of the drug.

"We have a real problem here where we have criminalized an entire generation of South Dakotans, and we're paying a price," Johnson said.

Richard Abromeit is the owner of Montana Advanced Caregivers, a group of medical marijuana dispensaries in Billings, Montana.

He told the AP that the passage of recreational marijuana measures can be linked to long campaigns by medical marijuana supporters to educate the public about the benefits of the drug.

Groups supporting legalization are now seeking to get marijuana removed from a federal list of illegal drugs that have no accepted medical use and a high probability of abuse. The listing prevents laboratories from researching new medical treatments using marijuana.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told lawmakers last week that he would hold a vote in December on a bill that would decriminalize marijuana. The measure would also create a process to remove nonviolent marijuana convictions from criminal records and take the drug out of the Controlled Substances Act. It is not clear whether such a bill could pass both the House and the Senate.

Words in This Story

recreational – adj. relating to drugs taken on an occasional basis for enjoyment⁹

bipartisan – adj. relating to or involving members of two political parties

despite – prep. without being affected¹⁰ by

abject – adj. something experienced or present to the maximum degree

addictive – adj. causing or likely to cause someone to become highly depend upon something

prosecutor – n. a lawyer who represents the side in a court case that accuses a person of a crime and who tries to prove that the person is guilty

dispensary – n. a place where medicines are given out

benefit – n. a good or helpful result or effect

conviction – n. when someone is officially found to be guilty of a particular crime

1 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 abject   

adj.极可怜的，卑屈的

参考例句：

• This policy has turned out to be an abject failure.这一政策最后以惨败而告终。
• He had been obliged to offer an abject apology to Mr.Alleyne for his impertinence.他不得不低声下气，为他的无礼举动向艾莱恩先生请罪。

4 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

5 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

6 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

7 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

9 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。