Here's to Hypocrisy, Mr. President!

[useless people]

http://www.saferchoice.org/content/view/835/9/
Wouldn't it hurt the economy to make ALCOHOL ILLEGAL?

If so, then why wouldn't it help the economy to make MARIJUANA LEGAL?

During today's On-line Presidential Town Hall, President Barack Obama acknowledged that the most popular questions he received from the American people were in regard to marijuana, and whether making it legal, regulating it, and treating it like alcohol could generate revenue, create jobs and help the economy.

"I don't know what this says about the online audience," he said, laughing along with those in attendance. "The answer is no, I don't think that [is] a good strategy."

What this says about the online audience is that they're either more informed or less ideological than he is when it comes to the subject of marijuana. And although the President's small, hand-picked audience might have been laughing with him, millions of Americans are either laughing at him... or not laughing at all.

If you're one them, please visit http://www.WhiteHouse.gov today and use the on-line form to send a quick message to President Obama, letting him know you are outraged by his position on marijuana, as well as his continued failure to provide any logical explanation for it to the American people. Then be sure to forward this message along to others.

We also encourage you to ask him:

• Wouldn't it hurt the economy if local, state and federal governments were not receiving billions of dollars in alcohol-related tax revenue? If so, then why wouldn't it raise equally valuable tax revenue when it comes to marijuana?

• Wouldn't it hurt the economy if millions of Americans lost their jobs producing, distributing, selling, and promoting alcohol? If so, then why wouldn't it create these types of jobs when it comes to marijuana?

Most importantly, be sure to ask him:

Why are you so accepting of alcohol use and the economic benefits that accompany it, yet so opposed to the use of a far safer substance and its surefire economic benefits?

Is it because your presidential campaign received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the alcohol industry? ($432,170 to be exact, according to OpenSecrets.org)

Is it because alcohol is your recreational drug of choice (these days)?

Just why do you prefer Americans use a drug that contributes to tens of thousands of deaths each year instead of one that contributes to ZERO? Why do you prefer they use a drug that contributes to domestic violence, sexual abuse, and other violent crimes instead of one that has never been found to contribute to such problems? Why do you prefer people use alcohol rather than make the safer choice to use marijuana instead?

Why are you driving Americans to drink, Mr. President?

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

I am still going to give him more than two months before i start talking shit, just because of one comment. just give it time. who knows what will happen?

Your right about telling him about it. I have sent several letters, and e-mails to him and his staff already myself.

keep up the activism

 

[chubbynugs]

I personally think people should push for hemp legalization before full marijuana decriminalization. It would be softer way to push the issue on this gov.

 

[horror business]

I personally think people should push for hemp legalization before full marijuana decriminalization. It would be softer way to push the issue on this gov.

While I agree 100% that people should continue to push for hemp legalization and cultivation, I don't think there is ANY "soft" way to push the issue, especially with all of the current Medical Marijuana issues in the media, the widespread support for legalization, and the current Drug War situation with Mexico. Cannabis as a drug is constantly in the media, up for debate, and in the minds of everyone who watches and/or reads the news. People are curious and want to learn, and it's inevitable that when they do their research they will see that Cannabis for medicinal and/or recreational purposes is not the harm and "evil weed" that they were once brainwashed to believe. It's out in the open. The government knows that a large amount of people smoke and/or are for decriminalization and/or legalization. That can't be denied.

So trying to be "soft" about the issue by industrial hemp wouldn't really help as far as eventually pushing the issue to change the Marijuana laws.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

I think if he still refuses to put it up for vote in a year or so from now. we should just force it with over whelming civil disobediance, and peacful protest. like the back in the 60's. Massive demonstrations.

 

[cornflake]

the amount of money donated to both parties by the pharmaceutical industry will keep cannabis illegal

period

 

[Bobby Stainless]

Cornflake makes a good point.

There is also the fact that Obama wants what every first term prez wants.

A second term.

The government is too busy making organic farms illegal...

 

[SuperZero]

The question Obama asked is not THE question, it's not about should we legalize it for profit, the question should be: why does it remain illegal for no justifiable reason, and in doing so incarcerates hundreds of thousands of, otherwise innocent, Americans every year?

 

[PharmaCan]

The question Obama asked is not THE question, it's not about should we legalize it for profit, the question should be: why does it remain illegal for no justifiable reason, and in doing so incarcerates hundreds of thousands of, otherwise innocent, Americans every year?

This is the question that needs to be on the mind of every American. The general public needs that, "DOH! Tell me again why we started prohibition" kinda moment.

With all the media attention that the violence in Mexico is getting, you'd think that more and more people will start questioning just why mj is illegal. I honestly think the vast majority of Americans couldn't really give a rat's ass one way or another about mj. But they need motivation to change the status quo and perhaps the violence in Mexico will provide the impetus needed to get the silent majority to say enough is enough.

PC

 

[slappyjack]

It's nothing but smart political posturing, and after a week or so to think about it I believe Obama is now perfectly postured for being open to Senator Webb's plan to research the issue of the drug war and prison overpopulation. If he had said anything else he would now be known as the first President who wants all of our of children smoking pot. That would be suicide.

We have to erase Bush style politics from our minds, he's gone. Obama doesn't do Bush style black or white, "with us or against us" politics, he's always many moves ahead of the media. He plays chess, not checkers.

IMO everything is going perfectly and we'll have our freedom back sooner than we might think. I predict CA, CO, MA and a few other states will be legal on a state level by next year and rescheduling of Cannabis will occur before 2012.

 

[BiG H3rB Tr3E]

we should just force it with over whelming civil disobediance, and peacful protest. like the back in the 60's. Massive demonstrations.

^^^^that shit doesnt work. it just makes us look crazy....
MMJ is the way to get this legal,, nothing else. once they allow it
for medical use,,, you know the governement will want a bigger cut
and just decrim like the DAM did. not "legal" but not "illegal"...like beer.

intresting key note:: i googled MARIJUANA RIOTS,, and this is all that came up

^^^thats a DANGEROUS bunch if i must say so my self.....

 

[slappyjack]

^^^^that shit doesnt work. it just makes us look crazy....
MMJ is the way to get this legal,, nothing else. once they allow it
for medical use,,, you know the governement will want a bigger cut
and just decrim like the DAM did. not "legal" but not "illegal"...like beer.

Agreed, we need more people like Rick Steves to speak out on the subject.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyabv_0Cvxs

Not that there's anything wrong with these smoke-outs, but it seems like the goal of these isn't really to change minds, it's just about getting baked in public with friends.

 

[canned abyss1]

Since Obama obviously thinks cannabis legalization is nothing more than a joke and the people that support it are something to be ridiculed, maybe he will take it seriously as a civil rights issue. Maybe if he understands that the Jim Crowe laws that allowed cannabis to become illegal in the first place are the same laws that would have kept him from becoming the first non white president and the same laws that treated black people as second class citizens up until the 1970's . I think that in order for people to truly take cannabis legalization serious they need to be made aware of the real reasons it was made illegal, the racist attitudes that were prevalent during the first half of the twentieth century that are no longer tolerable in our modern free thinking society. Not because of how dangerous it may or may not be. This needs to be addressed as the civil rights issue that it is. I believe that the majority of the population have no idea what the real reason cannabis (marijuana) was made illegal and if they found out the truth they would be shocked and angry, and would demand change. Medicinal, recreational, and industrial uses of the cannabis plant are all valid points but each one of these areas only effect a certain percentage of the people. Civil rights and liberty effect every citizen of this nation. We need to take it to the streets like they did in the sixties but this is a new era an era of technology. Our streets are those of the information superhighway, the internet. This is not to say that we shouldn't be physically proactive also but instead combine these things to make our voices heard and make sure they listen. Physical rallies and internet email blitz's need to happen on a regular basis. A rally that only happens once a year will not produce any results. It just turns into a big party where nothing gets accomplished and a bunch of rhetoric is spewed among the crowd. Imagine if the war protests or civil rights marches of the sixties only happened once a year and only if you could get a permit and a band would be playing etc. Not much would have gotten achieved. The attitude of let's all get high in a large crowd of people, listen to some speakers talk, and some bands play and then go home until the next year and do nothing in the mean time needs to change. If someone on the internet can get thousands of people to show up at a location at the drop of a hat for whatever crazy reason. then why can't the cannabis community do the same. I put forward this challenge to every member of the cannabis community either step up or step out. If you choose not to put in at least a little effort to get this plant legalized then you don't deserve to partake in all of its wonder.

 

[JJScorpio]

I put forward this challenge to every member of the cannabis community either step up or step out. If you choose not to put in at least a little effort to get this plant legalized then you don't deserve to partake in all of its wonder.

That's a pretty bold comment......

 

[BiG H3rB Tr3E]

We need to take it to the streets like they did in the sixties but this is a new era an era of technology. Our streets are those of the information superhighway, the internet. This is not to say that we shouldn't be physically proactive also but instead combine these things to make our voices heard and make sure they listen. Physical rallies and internet email blitz's need to happen on a regular basis.

Make sure you write out a long winded response so they can hit the mass
delete button faster than you can pack a bongload.

Physical rallys?
Sorry most of us have whats known as JOBS,FAMILIES, AND RESPONSIBILITY.

Its not that we are lazy, its that most of us dont have the time to be a
provider, a family man, and a soldier, and yes most of the gatherings are
vacation not vocation. I dont have many free days and the ones i do,
are used for relaxation. I have seen the front lines, I have seen the civil
disobdience, I have seen the protests, the marchs, i have even organized
and help fund a few of the los angeles medical cannabis rallys. ive blocked
city hall with an RV where we had eddy lepp come down and speak on a
loud speaker. we stopped federal traffic by blocking the entrance to the
federal building. we bought a casket and held a funeral procesion for a tribute
to the death of states rights. we made the news a few times but it never will
accomplish anything and even more likely will be covered in a negative view by
the local spin media and actually prove detrimental to our movement....

We are already 70% (or more) in favor of legalization
and with the medical aspect, those who would normally vote against
progressive drug laws, are voting in favor of them.

Like they say::::: ROME WASNT BUILT IN A DAY.......

 

[cornflake]

Is this a real cop? wtf with the tats if it is?

 

[canned abyss1]

That's a pretty bold comment......

I don't think that it is that bold. I am not asking anybody that is already proactive to do anything more than they already do. I am asking those who partake in the herb but have yet to lift a finger towards legalization to either step up and participate in this battle or step out and not use the herb anymore. (It's like the story "The Little Red Hen" In the tale, the little red hen finds a grain of wheat, and asks for help from the other farmyard animals to plant it. However, no animal is willing to volunteer to help her.

At each further stage (harvest, threshing, milling the wheat into flour, and baking the flour into bread), the hen again asks for help from the other animals, but again she gets no assistance.

Finally, the hen has completed her task, and asks who will help her eat the bread. This time, all the animals eagerly volunteer. However, she declines their help and eats it with her chicks, leaving none for anyone else.

The moral of the story is that those who show no will to contribute to an end product do not deserve to enjoy the end product.)

I am not saying that people have to go to a rally if they are not comfortable being there, but at least take the time to write a letter or two or send an email, or make a donation to one of the legalization organizations such as NORML or MPP etc. Contact your representatives and tell them that they do not have your vote if they are anti-cannabis, write letters to the editor, or email local media requesting to see more pro cannabis stories, or any other thing you can think of to help legalize the herb. For those that say they don't have the time to be proactive, if you can come here on ICMAG and make comments on peoples buds and plants and other things like that then you have the time, it is just how you choose to use it.

 

[BiG H3rB Tr3E]

Is this a real cop? wtf with the tats if it is?

100% REAL

 

[the_man]

The question Obama asked is not THE question, it's not about should we legalize it for profit, the question should be: why does it remain illegal for no justifiable reason, and in doing so incarcerates hundreds of thousands of, otherwise innocent, Americans every year?

not only that but what about all the people who died in raids over a bag

and all the college kids that lose there funding and are screwed for life

 

[Tony Aroma]

I personally think people should push for hemp legalization before full marijuana decriminalization. It would be softer way to push the issue on this gov.

I think it should be one in the same thing. If anything, legalizing mj should come first.

I have to agree with Obama to a certain extant though, that with the magnitude of our economic troubles, the added revenue from mj legalization would be a drop in our economic bucket. But what nobody seemed to realize is that legalizing mj would also legalize hemp at the same time, since hemp is only illegal because mj is. So legalizing mj alone would not be significant economically, but add legal hemp to the equation and that's a different story. Now we're talking about something that could, over time, drastically reduce our dependence on foreign oil. That would be great for our economy. So couldn't Obama economically justify legalizing mj because legalizing hemp at the same time would be consistent with all his rhetoric on developing alternative domestic fuel sources. Surely Obama can't be so short sighted as to not seeing the long-term benefits of legalizing mj..