Obama is positive for marijuana legalization

[sixixix]

I copied this from another forum:

In an interview The New Yorker did with Obama recently, he took a surprising stance on the point of marijuana legalization. This is good news indeed, seeing as the US (together with the UN) has been pushing for prohibition and thereby affecting drug policies worldwide. A good example of this is how the US allies with countries in Europe, making them put pressure on Netherlands to change their liberal drug laws that enables them to sell DANGEROUS DRUGS to innocent european youths. Surely this crap has to stop now that the Nobels peace price-winning president is speaking up about his views on the matter. This is just as important for the rest of the world as it is for the US.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/...currentPage=all

When I asked Obama about another area of shifting public opinion—the legalization of marijuana—he seemed even less eager to evolve with any dispatch and get in front of the issue. “As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol.”

Is it less dangerous? I asked.

Obama leaned back and let a moment go by. That’s one of his moves. When he is interviewed, particularly for print, he has the habit of slowing himself down, and the result is a spool of cautious lucidity. He speaks in paragraphs and with moments of revision. Sometimes he will stop in the middle of a sentence and say, “Scratch that,” or, “I think the grammar was all screwed up in that sentence, so let me start again.”

Less dangerous, he said, “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer. It’s not something I encourage, and I’ve told my daughters I think it’s a bad idea, a waste of time, not very healthy.” What clearly does trouble him is the radically disproportionate arrests and incarcerations for marijuana among minorities. “Middle-class kids don’t get locked up for smoking pot, and poor kids do,” he said. “And African-American kids and Latino kids are more likely to be poor and less likely to have the resources and the support to avoid unduly harsh penalties.” But, he said, “we should not be locking up kids or individual users for long stretches of jail time when some of the folks who are writing those laws have probably done the same thing.” Accordingly, he said of the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington that “it’s important for it to go forward because it’s important for society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished.”

As is his habit, he nimbly argued the other side. “Having said all that, those who argue that legalizing marijuana is a panacea and it solves all these social problems I think are probably overstating the case. There is a lot of hair on that policy. And the experiment that’s going to be taking place in Colorado and Washington is going to be, I think, a challenge.” He noted the slippery-slope arguments that might arise. “I also think that, when it comes to harder drugs, the harm done to the user is profound and the social costs are profound. And you do start getting into some difficult line-drawing issues. If marijuana is fully legalized and at some point folks say, Well, we can come up with a negotiated dose of cocaine that we can show is not any more harmful than vodka, are we open to that? If somebody says, We’ve got a finely calibrated dose of meth, it isn’t going to kill you or rot your teeth, are we O.K. with that?”

 

[LiLWaynE]

regarding your thread title: yes, that is about all he is positive for.

 

[k-s-p]

Maybe he'll get around to it in his third term. He has to concentrate on domestic surveillance and other cool stuff right now.

 

[nattynattygurrl]

Gurrrr…such an enraging point…

“we should not be locking up kids or individual users for long stretches of jail time when some of the folks who are writing those laws have probably done the same thing.”

 

[Jhhnn]

I think Obama knows what he's doing, which is passively supporting legalization. It's a smart move on his part, because by the time 2017 rolls around, it'll likely be irreversible & gaining converts.

He knows it as well as we do, that the upside is a lot bigger than any real downside. Just get out of the way & let it happen in more progressive states. We'll drag the rest along as it unfolds.

It's brilliant in its own way, because he doesn't give 'em any ammunition. It's hard to play the "Stand up against Obama!" game when he's playing a whole different game. Too many of 'em have used the "States' Rights" rhetoric to demand federal enforcement now.

 

[Capt.Ahab]

"If you like your weed, you can keep your weed".. Actions speak louder than words.

 

[EsterEssence]

The corporations want the $$$, they see what is happening in CO...

 

[wantaknow]

one thing is for shure ,what ever a politician says is a lie ,he wants your support to raise his very low ratings ,they have made very strong promises in the past ,and then do just the opposite ,read my lips no new taxes ,but if you were deaf and could read lips he actually says new taxes ,you had to read his lips and not listen with your ears ,its all deception for the moment to gain support ,nothing more

 

[wingdings]

Put Obama in a thread title and watch the ignorant flock to voice their opinion.

 

[Midnite Toker]

Yeah, his lips were moving......

 

[bigAl25]

I have not heard anything similar on the cannabis issue from the Republican leaders, except from the Paul family. But the Paul family is so crazy on a few issues and ignored by the remainder of the Republican party, they will not have much sway on this issue. This is a positive for people who know the truth about cannabis/ganja. I want to know when we drive a stake through the drug war's assault on ganja and reschedule it off the list completely. The more stories about cannabis helping children live better lives the better for all of us. As a parent and grandparent the medical help cannabis gives all sick people is wonderful.

 

[Razzurrection]

i've been thinking of moving to Colorado just out of principle....

 

[WelderDan]

Weed will eventually be legalized the same way it was first made illegal... The influence of BIG $$$

When the BIG MONEY men decide Cannabis is the next big investment, their bought-and-paid-for politicians will line up to decry the "unjust" drug laws they previously supported.

The President could theoretically speed up this process, but IMO, he won't do much more than he has done already, and will just let the whole thing unwind at its own pace.

Former DEA agents are now consulting with Colorado businesses to help them adhere to regulations. The tide is turning. Legalization is inevitable. There will be holdouts, but eventually all will come around. The smell of money will lure them like sharks to blood.

 

[Jhhnn]

Weed will eventually be legalized the same way it was first made illegal... The influence of BIG $$$

When the BIG MONEY men decide Cannabis is the next big investment, their bought-and-paid-for politicians will line up to decry the "unjust" drug laws they previously supported.

The President could theoretically speed up this process, but IMO, he won't do much more than he has done already, and will just let the whole thing unwind at its own pace.

Former DEA agents are now consulting with Colorado businesses to help them adhere to regulations. The tide is turning. Legalization is inevitable. There will be holdouts, but eventually all will come around. The smell of money will lure them like sharks to blood.

I think we'll see some of that, but legalization is very much a real grassroots effort, and will continue to be. I don't mind having big money allies, anyway, so long as personal growing is part of the deal. With that, A64 insures that cannabis can't ever effectively be re-criminalized in Colorado, and it insures that prices can't be ridiculous for long.

As I understand it, the DEA can re-classify substances w/o Congress. We might see that from Obama after the 2016 election. It'd pretty much jam his successor into one corner or another, unwilling to undo that change. Dems get onboard because of racial justice, tax revenues & common decency while Repubs have their libertarian elements to consider along with their supposed support for States' Rights. More moderate Repubs often embrace the tax revenue angle with some glee, as well.

 

[minds_I]

Hello all,

Well, for all the nay sayers that thought Obama was not Pro-pot....it would seem he say given tacit approval. Damn snap.

minds_I

 

[Darth Fader]

Hello all,

Well, for all the nay sayers that thought Obama was not Pro-pot....it would seem he say given tacit approval. Damn snap.

minds_I

"According to a recent CNN poll, 87 percent of Americans think marijuana is no more dangerous than alcohol." - link

Making a statement that almost 90% of the public agrees with isn't exactly a bold move.

 

[Eighths-n-Aces]

Making a statement that almost 90% of the public agrees with isn't exactly a bold move.

obama seems downright stoner friendly when you consider the alternative

 

[wantaknow]

vote for me again

vote for me again

And I will legalize mj,shuts after you break the law on term limits,and why not pass the law now in good faith ,just in case you don't get re elected?

 

[Darth Fader]

obama seems downright stoner friendly when you consider the alternative

I know, it's so much better now that he's issued all those pardons , correcting the terrible injustice.

Nice attempt at diversion. If you hadn't heard, the last election was over a year ago. So ... there is no alternative. Another hint: this thread is about the President, not people who aren't President. Maybe you can start a thread about all the people who aren't President who would be worse that the shithead who is. Of course, average chicks all look hot standing next to a fatty, so that is really misdirection at best.

"it's important for it to go forward because it's important for society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished."
-Honest Obe


If only it wasn't just the select few getting punished everything would be just grand! If we just put mo whitey in jail there wouldn't be anything to complain about!


Even when he gets it right, he gets it wrong. You don't end injustice by spreading it more evenly.

Actions, not words. Still waiting for the pardons. Is he waiting for his 3rd term to actually do something besides make an uncontroversial statement.

 

[Jhhnn]

I know, it's so much better now that he's issued all those pardons , correcting the terrible injustice.

Nice attempt at diversion. If you hadn't heard, the last election was over a year ago. So ... there is no alternative. Another hint: this thread is about the President, not people who aren't President. Maybe you can start a thread about all the people who aren't President who would be worse that the shithead who is. Of course, average chicks all look hot standing next to a fatty, so that is really misdirection at best.

"it's important for it to go forward because it's important for society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished."
-Honest Obe


If only it wasn't just the select few getting punished everything would be just grand! If we just put mo whitey in jail there wouldn't be anything to complain about!


Even when he gets it right, he gets it wrong. You don't end injustice by spreading it more evenly.

Actions, not words. Still waiting for the pardons. Is he waiting for his 3rd term to actually do something besides make an uncontroversial statement.

That's unfair. Actions speak louder than words, and the DEA didn't seem to be around when I bought my first retail marijuana. They're sitting this one out, and I doubt it was their idea.

Lack of federal enforcement enables legalization. Just stepping out of the way is Obama's smartest realistic move, and I think it's good for legalization in some subtle ways. Nobody can pin it on him, drag it down by association. He avoids letting conservatives make a big national effort complete with big money, sends it down to the state level where we have the best chances. It plays to our strengths in more progressive states.

We need for a lot more places to get on the sane side of legal, and we need to accept all the help offered in getting there.

What do we gain by denouncing it?