Dope's no worse than booze, claims President Obama, a former doper. Dope, as in mary jane, tea, herb, grass or, more commonly, pot. The Magnificent O made his pronouncement in a lengthy interview with The New Yorker, as conveyed through the auspices of the Washington Times. His Magnificence wasn't speaking ex cathedra -- yet -- so states needn't jump to and join the dope legalization bandwagon. For the time being, though, states hungry for tax revenues can opt to treat dope legalization like casino gambling -- a controlled vice with upsides for state government coffers. Many -- mostly blue states -- will.

Hence, New York State, with the munchies perpetually for more tax dough, is kinda eyeing dope legalization. Doubtless, Andrew the Hater, who occupies the governor's mansion in the ontime Empire State's version of Jersey -- Albany -- will eventually push to make dope a right, not a cause for jail time or community service, at the least. Why, dope cultivation and sales could be the centerpiece of the guv's effort to attract businesses to "business friendly" New York.

Time to dust off Cheech and Chong for the onetime Empire State's promos. Out with Sinatra's "New York, New York." In with Dylan's "Everybody Must get Stoned," the anthem of the dawning Age of Stupor. Because, sooner or later, in a blue state like New York, a law will pass, with scant opposition from house-trained Republicans, that legalizes dope smoking.

The guv's "Come to New York" scheme is designed to sucker rube-run businesses into New York State with tax breaks and red tape wavers, only to nail the yokels on the back end, presumably thinking that by then, the U.S. Supreme Court will have offered a generous interpretation of the Commerce Clause that prevents businesses from vacating one state for another, this in the name of fairness, justice, and compassion.

More than anything, New York's guv needs to chill. It seems that Andrew the Hater could use a couple hits on ye olde bong long about now. The cocktails ain't helping. The alleged Catholic's rant the other day against "extreme conservatives," i.e., those who believe in the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and the 2nd Amendment, reveals the knockoff Cuomo as a man with a mean streak -- or a calculating cynic, shamelessly pandering to his leftwing constituencies so as not to be outshined by the Big Apple's newly inaugurated commissar, Bolshevik Bill de Blasio. Andrew the Hater and Bolshevik Bill might be in the opening round of an internecine fight for top lefty in all of New York. It could be a clash worthy of Stalin and Trotsky.

Word is that Andrew the Hater wants to be president one day. Bolshevik Bill hasn't expressed presidential aspirations, and he might not, with dreams of an American Petrograd and politburo dancing in his pinko head.

The Democratic Party going into the '14 midterms and the '16 presidential contests could fairly be tagged the party of "Dope, Atheism, and Tyranny." Democrats would probably only protest the last characterization, but facts are facts. The growth of the state and its centralization of powers are dramatic -- and perilous to liberty -- under the Magnificent O's reign (and thanks to RINO pusillanimity). The police state, particularly, under the cover of "homeland security," uses broad discretion to sweep up innocent Americans' proprietary information. Democrats are no longer about civil liberties -- licentiousness, doping, baby-killing, dissing faith, and gun-grabbing, yes. Protecting the individual from tyranny, no. Ds aim to be the kings of a debauched society and a land of crushed liberties. The mix suits their brand of tyranny well.

Make no mistake that the Magnificent O spoke about dope as an election-year ploy, though lighting up a doobie in the White House's private quarters without fear of recrimination might just suit our Hawaii-loving prez. But Barack and his savvy numbers crunchers get that a lot of young people are pro-dope legalization.

The Magnificent O is playing the "dope ain't worse than booze" card to try to juice his numbers with America's hip, cool, intellectually-challenged youth -- challenged because they think that socialism is edgy, never bothering to learn that it's all been tried before and cratered spectacularly. (Dare say, an enterprising historian needs to write a book about the role stupidity plays in civilization's backslides).

This merits more noodling, but don't expect dope legalization to do much to quell the black markets for ganja. Black markets can thrive due to prohibitions, but they can also flourish due to taxes and regulations that inflate cost and limit access to products or services. Bootleggers can as easily make handsome profits underselling markets and skirting restrictions for legalized drugs as they can for overcharging for what's illegal. Cigarettes are black market commodities thanks to overtaxing and overregulation. So people are still smoking tobacco, but some are doing so through the illegal trade.

Therefore, states glomming onto dope legalization may boost tax revenues a tad off legal sales but put nary a dent in the criminality associated with illegal weed. Thus, our best and brightest statists surrender the one tangible advantage that legalization of dope might bring: a crippling of the black markets and illegal drug trade that undermines inner-cities and too many suburbs from coast-to-coast. That's "might."

Progressives can't even get this right. The states that legalize dope will perform the nifty trick of putting societal seals of approval on dope use while insuring that the illegal trade continues. Not exactly a win-win.

Dope, not incidentally, is worse than booze. A toke or two on a potent strain of cannabis can send the user from sea level to Mile High City in a blink. A glass of wine can do no such thing. Nor a beer. Nor are social drinkers looking for a high like "recreational" cannabis users. The former dope-smoking occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue could attest to the effects that potent weed has on the brain -- even a brain as brawny and superior as his.

Be that as it may, medicinal dope would be a good thing for Andrew the Hater, mellowing him, one thinks. It might even get him to love "extreme conservatives" and make him believe that Albany is Shangri-La.