The cowardice comes from not wanting to disturb the sacred status of American hypocrisy. The truth is: most Americans have no real problem with pot-smoking; they just don’t want public approval of it. The way to achieve this, of course, is to legalize it and try to stigmatize it. But that wouldn’t be hypocritical enough. To get to true American levels of hypocrisy - you know: how Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich are fighters for family values, but Barack Obama isn’t - you have to keep it illegal, and use the laws to arrest, harrass and penalize black and brown youngsters - while mainly allowing the American middle and upper classes to cannabinate in peace.