Tuesday, December 16, 2008
2008 A Short Answer From Obama on Pot Legalization
Posted by Eli Sanders on Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 9:50 AM
This came about because of a pretty cool Change.gov initiative that allowed anyone with a web connection to ask a question of the Obama transition operation. The questions were then voted on, Digg-style, with the top picks getting answers, including this one:
Q: "Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion dollar industry right here in the U.S.?" S. Man, Denton
The official answer, which is only slightly longer than my above summary:
A: President-elect Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana.
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1
Told you so. He's not the one to ask anyway. First the House has to approve it then the senate. It's going to take an abundance of states to legalize it on a state level and then it will be easier to prssure congress.
2
A tad hypocritical, but not shocking. I would settle for decrim now, but continuing the press against the alcohol and medical lobbies for legalization. However, the question itself was a loser. It should have read, "Would you promise to honor state laws regarding decriminalization and medical use, and helping end no knock raids?" Something like that.
3
There's not enough support (among voting fanatics) for legalizing it yet. Obama's not an idiot, he's not going to fight on the losing side in a no-win situation.
5
I'm hoping it's all in how he worded it, I don't think we should legalize pot either, we should only decriminalize it. If not expressly forbidden we have the right to do it.
6
He's got daughters.
He knows what happens at those pot and coke parties, trust me.
Really, he does.
Cause he did them.
He knows what happens at those pot and coke parties, trust me.
Really, he does.
Cause he did them.
8
Remember, when students going to Harvard and Yale "experiment" with drugs it's only a youthful indiscretion, because they might one day grow up to be President. When anybody else does it, it's a serious crime for which they should be thrown in prison and ritually abused to atone for their actions. And the sentencing judge won't care if they "didn't inhale."
13
Shitty question. It should have been asked if he favors mimicking Britain and U.S. states like Massachusetts in making it a lowest-priority crime at the federal level, not legalizing it outright.
14
I wasn't expecting him to say yes or anything, but I thought he'd at least segue into a discussion of his drug policy. Why is there such fear of talking about this issue?
15
Or it could have been worded more about the general failure of the War On Drugs to actually, y'know, reduce drug usage. Shit's not helping anyone but traffickers and prison corporations.
Remember Einstein's definition of insanity, repeating the same thing and expecting different results. They keep trying to prohibit drugs, expecting use to stop.
Remember Einstein's definition of insanity, repeating the same thing and expecting different results. They keep trying to prohibit drugs, expecting use to stop.
16
The orginal question was asked wrong. The movement is called "de-criminalization of weed", not "legalization of weed".
Obama is a lawyer... ergo, given to the parsings of language. Beer, technically, is not legal, not like, say by the same legal standards that make soda-pop legal. (For example) Alcohol is not per-se legal, but de-criminalized if and only if certain circumstances are meet. Those circumstances, like decriminalized weed would, include age restrictions (over 21), regulations on appropriate place to comsume (not in a moving car or public streets), tarrifs must be paid (no bootleg 'shine) .
17
@15: You know what makes me insane? Wrongly attributing that quote to Einstein over and over again, expecting people to believe it.
18
A few days ago, I learned that one of the conditions for which they perscribed medical marajuana was for anxiety.
This interested me because I've been self-medicating my anxiety with pot for three years.
And then I thought of something after I settled in after a good smoke with some mountain dew, doritos, and reading the Slog.
The presidency is probably the most stressful job in the world. If anyone should understand the need to chill with a bag of doritos, mountain dew, and a bowl, its that guy. Or gal.
And then I thought, if I were president, I would have a contest. Everybody in jail for growing will be given access to a little plot of land and seeds and grow a few plants and dry it out and send us a sample. Guys with the best shit work for me (I would totally have pot plants in the Rose Garden) everybody else is released and put to work growing for AIDS and cancer patients.
That would be some, "take a hit of this shit and you'll pass out with your eyes open" shit.
This interested me because I've been self-medicating my anxiety with pot for three years.
And then I thought of something after I settled in after a good smoke with some mountain dew, doritos, and reading the Slog.
The presidency is probably the most stressful job in the world. If anyone should understand the need to chill with a bag of doritos, mountain dew, and a bowl, its that guy. Or gal.
And then I thought, if I were president, I would have a contest. Everybody in jail for growing will be given access to a little plot of land and seeds and grow a few plants and dry it out and send us a sample. Guys with the best shit work for me (I would totally have pot plants in the Rose Garden) everybody else is released and put to work growing for AIDS and cancer patients.
That would be some, "take a hit of this shit and you'll pass out with your eyes open" shit.
19
Obama is a slave of World Zionism. All you white-guilt Seattle liberals who love him are a bunch of totally naive fools.
Remember this post in a couple of years and you will see just how totally accurate I am. When your Obasm wears off maybe you will wake up to reality.
Remember this post in a couple of years and you will see just how totally accurate I am. When your Obasm wears off maybe you will wake up to reality.
20
Pot will be legal. It's already legal in most Western states, and it is just a matter of time. Obama might say he's against it, but he won't fight it.
21
@6 - you're probably right. if he had sons instead of daughters, he might be in favor of decriminalizing it.
22
CNBC will be premiering Marijuana Inc. Inside America’s Pot Industry on Thursday, January 22nd at 9p ET / 10p PT. The marijuana trade has long been one of the country’s leading black market industries. What factors continue to help this taboo business thrive and how is the government profiting as a result? Join Trish Regan as she explores this growing industry and how it has expanded into a major business with its own sophisticated network of growers, workers, and quasi-legal retail outlets, in the form of medical marijuana dispensaries.
Web extras are coming soon to http://originals.cnbc.com.
Sneak preview on Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/watch/51204/cnbc-ori…
Thanks
Web extras are coming soon to http://originals.cnbc.com.
Sneak preview on Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/watch/51204/cnbc-ori…
Thanks
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