Ongoing drug violence in Mexico and state budget deficits are driving optimism among supporters of marijuana legalization, the Associated Press reported June 16.

Legalization supporters argue that legalization will cut Mexican drug cartels out of the business and provide a new vehicle for generating state tax revenues.

“This is the first time I feel like the wind is at my back and not in my face,” said long-time drug reformer Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance.

While proponents are not expecting nationwide legalization, many are hopeful that statewide debate and changes are on the horizon.

“For the most part, what we’ve seen over the past 20 years has been incremental,” said Norm Stamper, a former Seattle police chief now active with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. “What we’ve seen in the past six months is an explosion of activity, fresh thinking, bold statements and penetrating questions.”

“Obama’s got two wars, an economic disaster. We have to realize they’re not going to put this on the front burner right now,” said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of NORML, or the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. “But every measurable metric out there is swinging our way.”

Gil Kerlikowske, director of the federal Office of National Drug Control Policy, has not backed the concept of an all-options review of drug policy, but has recommended dropping the “war on drugs” label and focusing more on treatment and prevention.