(Newser) – This November, three states will vote on whether to legalize marijuana for old-fashioned "getting-high purposes." Colorado is the best bet—one poll has the public behind the bill by a 61-27 margin—but Oregon and/or Washington might as well, and even if all of them chicken out, Julian Brookes of Rolling Stone thinks the end of marijuana prohibition is nigh. "The status quo, people are starting to notice, is a total disaster."

The ban on marijuana "has done an impressive job of racking up racially-biased arrests, throwing people in jail, … and enriching psychotic Mexican drug lords. But it hasn't stopped Americans from smoking a ton of weed." There are costs associated with legalizing, "but it's hard to see how we could make things worse." Of course, there's a big hurdle: The federal government could still crack down on states that choose to legalize. Even President Obama—a certified "Choom Gang alumnus"—has cracked down hard on medical marijuana, and "if the president in January 2013 is zero-tolerance drug warrior Mitt Romney, run for the hills." Click for Brooks' full column. (Read more marijuana stories.)

