Obama Stumped by Question on Marijuana Legalization

[Anti]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-morgan/obama-marijuana-legalization_b_927845.html

It's become pretty clear that the president is going to be asked about marijuana legalization absolutely any time he takes questions from the public, so it kind of amazes me that he is actually getting worse at talking about it. This latest exchange is just embarrassing:

President Barack Obama sidestepped a question about medical marijuana legalization at a town hall event in Cannon Falls, Minnesota Monday.

"If you can't legalize marijuana, why can't you just legalize medical marijuana?" a woman asked the president.
"A lot of states are making decisions about medical marijuana," Obama explained. "As a controlled substance, the issue is then that is it being prescribed by a doctor as opposed to... you know, well, I'll leave it at that." [Raw Story]
​

That is the best he can do to address one of the hottest topics in modern American politics. He'll just "leave it at that," because an increasingly frustrated public might react negatively to a slightly lengthier attempt at explaining why anyone, least of all sick people, should ever have to worry about being arrested and thrown in jail for having some marijuana in their pocket.
To find oneself speechless in the midst of an intensifying debate is to reveal rather transparently the utter incoherence of one's position, and this could be the most complete collapse yet in the ugly history of political leaders trying and failing to defend our nation's massively unpopular war on medical marijuana. Reread, if you must, the statement above from Obama and ask yourself if that is an adequate answer to a question that continues to burn in the minds of so many among us.
Let me be the first to say that I am really very sorry that President Obama and various other people who don't want to discuss marijuana policy are being routinely forced against their will to do so. I can imagine what an annoying distraction this is when we have so many other issues to work on. There just seems to be some sort of misunderstanding happening here, wherein we came under the impression that if marijuana wasn't important enough to warrant even 30 seconds of meaningful discussion from the president, then it's also probably not important enough to justify arresting millions of us for possessing it.
I know I don't get to make the rules here, but it would be wonderful and very appropriate if we could just stop all of this, stop putting anyone at all in handcuffs for having marijuana, until someone like President Obama can at least summon the integrity to tell us in intelligent terms why things have to be this way. A leader speaks to the people and helps us understand the challenges we face. Obama's approach to marijuana policy and the debate surrounding it is not leadership, it's cowardice, and it's senseless from every standpoint, moral, practical and political.

 

[El Jefe]

we cant just vote in some guy and expect him to stand against the status quo alone. what is needed is action from us, something that will set about change swiftly and violently to the point that it is beyond anyone's power to stop it. the time has come and i cant just sit on my hands waiting anymore....it's time for a million man smokeout

 

[paladin420]

Washington D.C.. April 20,2012 Be there...I'll be bringin some Medicine...

 

[MadBuddhaAbuser]

It's good that he has to face these questions from us, but the truth is he cant do anything about it.

He cannot just throw down an executive order to legalize marijuana.

the people would should be bombarding with questions everyday are these people-

Majority Members (Republican)
F. James (Jim) Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-WI) [Chairman] 202-225-5101 202-225-3190 http://sensenbrenner.house.gov/email_zip.htm
Louie Gohmert (R-TX) 202-225-3035 202-226-1230 http://gohmert.house.gov/Contact/
Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) 202-225-5431 202-225-9681 http://goodlatte.house.gov/contact/index.shtml
Dan Lungren (R-CA) 202-225-5716 202-226-1298 https://lungren.house.gov//index.cfm?sectionid=84&sec …
J. Randy Forbes (R-VA) 202-225-6365 202-226-1170 http://randyforbes.house.gov/Contact/ZipAuth.htm
Ted Poe (R-TX) 202-225-6565 202-225-5547 http://poe.house.gov/contact/contactform.htm
Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) 202-225-7751 202-225-5629 https://chaffetz.house.gov/contact/email-me.shtml
Tim Griffin (R-AR) 202-225-2506 202-225-5903 https://griffin.house.gov/contact-me/email-me
Tom Marino (R-PA) 202-225-3731 202-225-9594 https://marino.house.gov/contact-me/email-me
Trey Gowdy (R-SC) 202-225-6030 202-226-1177 http://gowdy.house.gov/Contact/
Sandy Adams (R-FL) 202-225-2706 202-226-6299 http://adams.house.gov/Contact/
Ben Quayle (R-AZ) 202-225-3361 202-225-3462 https://quayle.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=58§i …


Minority Members (Democrats)
Member Name DC Phone DC FAX Contact Form
Bobby Scott (D-VA) [Ranking Member] 202-225-8351 202-225-8354 https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
Steve Cohen (D-TN) 202-225-3265 202-225-5663 http://cohen.house.gov/index.php?option=com_email_for …
Hank Johnson (D-GA) 202-225-1605 202-226-0691 https://hankjohnsonforms.house.gov/contact-form.shtml
Pedro Pierluisi (D-PR) 202-225-2615 202-225-2154 http://pierluisi.house.gov/english/contact-us.html
Judy Chu (D-CA) 202-225-5464 202-225-5467 https://forms.house.gov/chu/contact-form.shtml
Ted Deutch (D-FL) 202-225-3001 202-225-5974 https://deutchforms.house.gov/Forms/WriteYourRep/defa …
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) 202-225-7931 202-226-2052 http://wassermanschultz.house.gov/contact/email-me.sh …
Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) 202-225-3816 202-225-3317 http://www.jacksonlee.house.gov/Contact/
Mike Quigley (D-IL)202-225-4061 202-225-5603 https://forms.house.gov/quigley/contact-form.shtml

These fine folks represent the House Commitee on the Judiciary:Subcommitee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. This is where the decriminalization bill Ron Paul and Barney Frank introduced earlier this year. This bill will stall here if we do not contact these people feverently. It still may, but its an actual chance. stop asking some guy if he would sign a bill that will never see his desk unless we contact these house members.

 

[MadBuddhaAbuser]

since these are the kinds of bills this committee passes....

H.R. 514: FISA Sunsets Extension Act of 2011

112th Congress: 2011-2012
7%
93%

To extend expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 relating to access to business records, individual terrorists as agents of foreign powers, and roving wiretaps until December 8, 2011.

something tells me they wont just push a weed bill along without us telling them to.

 

[HighDesertJoe]

The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease...
We as a community need to ramp up the questions to Obama at every opportunity we can.
He can't hide for ever.

 

[Grass Lands]

This is what he said...

... you know, well, I'll leave it at that.

however he was probably thinking something along these lines

"Well, we'll just wait until the Big Pharma has all their I's dotted and T's crossed...then we'll legalize pot for med use...then a few years later we'll bring on full legalization..."



GL

 

[stillsmokin843]

It would already be legalized if we could just convince them it would give them the only thing that they care about: more money! All the other stuff is just dust in the wind with our corrupt ass government

 

[Grass Lands]

It would already be legalized if we could just convince them it would give them the only thing that they care about: more money! All the other stuff is just dust in the wind with our corrupt ass government

Dude they know how much money its worth, right now its worth billions as they incarcerate growers and tokers daily...only until they can get a hold on it and kick our asses to the curb (growers) it will remain illegal..facts are facts...no other way to really put it...

well I guess you could say if all the potheads joined together grower and tokers alike we may stand a fighting chance, but until that day comes it will be the same old song and dance and until unity brings us together for our common goal we will continue to sit behind our closed doors to toke our sacred herb.

 

[olddirtybastard]

he is going to want to get re-elected, being pro-weed is not going to help his cause. if he wants to stay in office he must play the game.

that said i dont give a fuck, we are all fucked anyway

 

[Jurassic5]

I understand you guys, but be happy about the states that allow medical marijuana.
I live in Germany and would be happy about a similar solution here.
Living in the "right" state assumed...

 

[Anti]

I am happy about the med states. And I'm not in one of them. It gives me some small hope.

 

[Duplicate]

The problem isn't him not supporting legalization, it's him not being able to explain why prohibition makes sense.

 

[wantaknow]

you all get one last chance to vote in ron paul,you just wont give the man the same chance you osama obama hussain ,this country is going to collapes ,and you cant even smoke a damn joint ,theyhave keep us well in the wage slave movement ,by that new car not guns and food and non gmo seeds ,wake the hell up amerika ,wake up,wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up......please wake up ........can you here me now........oopppssss out of time ......prince was right party like its 1999,

 

[Grass Lands]

What would make me happy is for the gov to see what the fuck they are doing is down right asinine. They are to fucking stupid, or a better word would be to fucking greedy to see what the fuck they are doing to our country...

two parties do not do one damn thing for the US, all it does it bring on bickering and "he said, she said" bullshit. Until we unite and see it as One Party for whats best for our good ole USofA...IT WILL NEVER CHANGE Hey there is that word again "CHANGE" We got change alright...just not the change folks were expecting that voted for the great obama....

glad I can say my ass wasn't one of them..I seen right through that fool...and no I didn't vote for the other evil either...he was just as fucking bad.

 

[BiG H3rB Tr3E]

Look at how much the GOP and the tea party DESPISES obama - can you imagine if he legalized marijuana?? No president wants to be a single term president.

When we had Arnold Scharzenegger (im guessing thats how its spelled?) he vetod every single pro-mj issue - than in his last week of office he reduced up to 28g. possession of marijuana from a misdemeanor to an infraction (which is the same as getting a traffic ticket).

I think we may just see the same thing in Obama's second term. I will be registering Republican to vote for Ron Paul in the primary - but even with that - im not holding my breath on Paul getting the nomination and if I cant vote for Paul - ill be voting for Obama.

But can you imagine a Paul v. Obama scenario? There would be almost no doubt in my mind that paul would clench the presidency if he went up against Barack. Im just curious who would Paul run as a VP - I mean he looks like hes in good health - but he is the oldest guy running...

 

[ozman]

Im just curious who would Paul run as a VP - I mean he looks like hes in good health - but he is the oldest guy running...

Well with any luck he would have Gary Johnson.I think they wold make a great team.
They are both for doing away with prohibition of marijuana.Just my $0.02 worth lol.

 

[bruceinpacifica]

we cant just vote in some guy and expect him to stand against the status quo alone. what is needed is action from us, something that will set about change swiftly and violently to the point that it is beyond anyone's power to stop it. the time has come and i cant just sit on my hands waiting anymore....it's time for a million man smokeout

To all of you WELL MEANING people out there please keep the fucking federal government out of my bag of weed.
Thanks & Cheers,
bruce

 

[señorsloth]

meh, i am convinced that the voting power of baby boomers is the only key, stoners can't hope to be a majority...we need to convince fat old ladys and crazy old religious guys that we aren't all morons and that it's not a bad thing...we need to convince them to let us smoke. that's the key! baby boomers make up 25% of the population, and they are all going to be retiring soon, they are the ones out there voting in mass, not the 18-35 year olds that support legalization with a clear majority. the government couldn't legalize pot if the majority of the people don't want it, regardless to the corruption and politics involved... until there is a clear majority supporting it politicians wont even consider it, and even if something did happen there would be a public outcry...

legalization at a federal level lies in the public, not politicians, we need to change public opinion, we need to each do our part to always show marijuana and marijuana use in a positive light. walking around smoking in public, for one is probably the worst thing anybody could do...nothing ruins a squares family picnic at the beach like having to explain to their kids or grand kids what the deadlocked kids are doing at the table next to them that smells so weird...if they have no negative exposure to it then they are much more likely to change their opinion on it...it would be much more likely that they would "let us smoke".

on a state level it's different, we can put these things up to vote by the public fairly easily and if the public opinion in that state is above 50% they can actually stand a chance to pull it off and defeat the ensuing lawsuits. if they legalized it there is a chance that the benefits will be so obvious, that it will sway public opinion across the country very quickly and make federal legalization possible, in that way the public can use their votes to affect the federal governments position on prohibition. In the end however, it all comes down to us needing a majority support in the public! Since actual marijuana smokers are in a clear minority we need to focus on the one important task!

CONVINCE NON SMOKERS TO LET US SMOKE!

 

[stratmandu]

What we need the Prez to do, and really all he COULD do , is simply re-schedule cannabis down a few notches into a lesser "has medical uses" category. This will open the door for more states and get DEA out of domestic cannabis enforcement, while keeping smuggling into the country illegal, letting them continue to harass the Cartels and spend more time interdicting on the borders. That would be a great first step, but I'm not holding my breath.

So we need, as a collective wheel, to get way more "squeaky", as was posted earlier. I just don't see your average pothead giving enough of a rip to get out and vote, much less call their reps. Too many tokers tacitly approve of the status quo by doing nothing. Sad.

Obama will not be getting my vote unless I hear him promise to CHANGE cannabis laws on the Fed level. Otherwise, forget it, Barry. I told his nat'l campaign office as much.