The latest Gallup poll released this week shows Americans in favor of legalizing marijuana by the highest margin ever recorded.
Back in 1969, only 12 percent of respondents supported legal pot. By 2001, about a third of Americans were in favor.
Now a whopping 64 percent of those surveyed said marijuana should be legal.
Well over 70 percent of Democrats say marijuana should be legal. And for the first time a majority of Republicans-51 percent-agree.
But the federal government is not so supportive.
On Thursday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded policies implemented during President Barack Obama's administration that discouraged prosecutions in states where marijuana was legal for medical or recreational purpose.
That clears the way for federal authorities to crack down on marijuana productions, sales and use, even in states where voters have given their approval.
Sessions has never been known for liberal views on marijuana. And in one sense he's right to rescind the Obama-era policies. He's charged with enforcing the law, and marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Indeed, as a Schedule 1 narcotic, it is considered as dangerous as heroin.
But is that the best use of federal law enforcement resources? And is it a good idea to put people in already overcrowded prisons for a federal crime that's legal in a lot of states?
We are not fans of legal marijuana. But attitudes are changing. Like it or not, it looks like legalization is coming across the U.S. The Justice Department enforces federal laws, but Congress makes those laws. It's time Congress sat down and got a handle on this. Keep and enforce the ban, figure out a compromise or accept the inevitable. In any case, the current conflict between the federal government and the will of the people doesn't do anyone any good.