The Modern Civilization

Some people in the developed wqorld think that the human nature is so good and collaborative that it can peacefully organize itself just fine if not for the imposed totalitarian dictatorship rule of the few hierarchical strongmen who have rose to the top of the stinky power-hungry pile with "who has the biggest gun has the strongest argument" mentality.

right, keep on dreaming and idealizing humanity, that's natural as well. Anyway, to many people beyond the developed world, they are yet another complicit whiiny spoled trash who are responsible, or so they would like to lay the blame, for all the problems and troubles of the poor, and since many of them wouldn't be able to tell the difference between an independent individual and the government, or the  corporate goons, due to being extremely racist and stupid themselves, obviously because of the lack in education and living through many traumatic experiences in their miserable lives, their accusations and retributions will land squarely as much on their sorry rich ass as on any government/corporate spook.

it's all kumbaya my Lord until somebody gets hungry, needy, bored, or hurt. The legalization of cannabis will as much benefit the powers at hand as its criminalization, which gives them tools to consolidate and control the black markets, criminal cartels, and use it as a way to control the general population as a convenient excuse for harassment and incarceration if so desired. 

The cannabis is used as a hostage issue, along with many other good democratic ideas, in order to protect the status quo, and every golden ass kissing corporate slut out there is ready to kill and pillage to appease every whim of the wealthy and powerful elites. If the top of such structure loses its head or pieces, the adoring eager to please their masters servants bellow provide plenty of fodder and replacement parts.

As you have mentioned, the "grass roots push towards "llegalization"" is what was planned and is being executed by the ruling cartel, after the prohibition agenda is exhausted for the time being. The legalization means laws are made to regulate the substance's production and consumption, vs ending the prohibition altogether. However, how many people advocate for the end of the prohibition vs legalization? Not many. Neither there are many folks who know the difference or frankly care much about anything outside of their narrow egocentric focus and short attention span.

Hence, a Brave New World is here now and has been for a while. Most people are complicit with the superstructures they are part of, even if they are not conscious about it, and there is little hope that any substantial resistance to the backwards reality can be galvanized.

My point is that the top actually represents the majority of people, strange as it may sound. People live in the western world enjoying its civilization and what it has to offer, using money, internet, privileges, and thus are part of the system of oppression even though they don't know it or refute it. Majority of people represent the force, the critical mass required for the criminals in power to remain in power. democracy after all is Greek for mob rule. and mobs are always wrong and rather dumb. basically it's not the evil government imposing the prohibition on innocent people, it is the evil government representing the majority of people who are also evil and stupid. And that is reality, the rest is rhetoric.

They simply do not know what is good or evil. And if something is smiling at you it does not mean it is good for you. That's how shiny advertisement works, and people without being enlightened by the proper knowledge of good and evil will side with the appealing evil shit, because it is served to them on a silver platter hard to refuse, while the truth is hard to swallow and is hidden behind many veils.