How stupid are we?

I have finally decided to comment on the November 7th election.  I'm exceptionally pleased that Obama was elected for a second term. However the comments I would personally like to make are a little closer to home. I am referring to the Washington state's, and Colorado for that matters, legalization of marijuana for recreational use. There are far more factors at play here and far more angles of argument then even I want to analyze but the crux of the issue is that a state should not, by any means pass laws that directly conflict with federal legislation. I'm not saying the federal government is always right, however this is inevitably going to be a money sucking legal nightmare. The guidelines for federal prosecutors "explain that it is likely not an efficient use of federal resources to focus enforcement efforts on individuals with serious illnesses who use marijuana as a part of a recommended treatment regime consistent with applicable state law or their individual non-commercial caregiver." The Department of Justice handed states who had previously passed legislation allowing for medicinal marijuana use a free pass. However Federal law states that those "who are in the business of cultivation, selling or distributing marijuana, and those who knowingly facilitate such activities are in violation of federal law and are subject to federal enforcement action." By voting in favor of legalizing  recreational use of marijuana, we as a people have just placed our state in violation of federal law. By taxing the sales of marijuana our state government is making a business of the sales of the drug. There may no be state run dispensaries, but there is state financial benefits from those dispensaries,  however no matter how high the tax maybe it won't cover the increased cost of enforcing the new zero tolerance laws and the inevitable legal appeals by thousands of current offenders. Before now marijuana use enforcement and penalization was a slap on the wrist at best. Are state boarders going to have to start having checkpoints and regulations, because whats legal here isn't legal in our neighbors to the south and east. it's a nightmare an all around nightmare and I'm not even hitting on the impending problems with substance  use testing, enforcement, dangers to others and so many more arguments against it.

I'm fine with medical marijuana use even if the government and FDA isn't yet ready to recognize it's medical benefits. But I find the recreational use of marijuana to be a sad statement on my own generation. I'm not a fan of prohibition, seriously though how is it that gay marriage had so much harder of a fight than legalizing recreational use of marijuana. How sad is it that laws allowing  people to legally use pot have had an easier time passing than laws giving individuals  rights they never should have been denied. I'm disappointed. The American voter has become a self absorbed, trivial bunch.