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President Obama: What Is So Funny About Taxing And Regulating Marijuana?
Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:34:32  By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
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Speaking live moments ago President Barack Obama pledged “to open up the White House to the American people.”

Well, to some of the American people that is.

As for those tens of millions of you who believe that cannabis should be legally regulated like alcohol — and the tens of thousands of you who voted to make this subject the most popular question in today’s online Presidential Town Hall — well, your voice doesn’t really matter.

Asked this morning whether he “would … support the bill currently going through the California legislation to legalize and tax marijuana, boosting the economy and reducing drug cartel related violence,” the President responded with derision.

“There was one question that was voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation, and I don’t know what this says about the online audience,” he laughed.

“The answer is no, I don’t think that [is] a good strategy.”

Obama’s cynical rebuff was short-sighted and disrespectful to a large percentage of his supporters. After all, was it not this very same “online audience” that donated heavily to Obama’s Presidential campaign and ultimately carried him to the White House?

Second, as I’ve written previously in The Hill and elsewhere, the overwhelming popularity of the marijuana law reform issue — as manifested in this and in similar forums — illustrates that there is a significant, vocal, and identifiable segment of our society that wants to see an end to America’s archaic and overly punitive marijuana laws.

The Obama administration should be embracing this constituency, not mocking it.

Third, will somebody please ask the President: “What is it that you think is so funny about the subject of marijuana law reform?”

Since 1965, police have arrested over 20 million Americans for violating marijuana laws, yet nearly 90 percent of teenagers say that pot is “very easy” or “fairly easy” to obtain. That’s funny?

According to this very administration, there is an unprecedented level of violence occurring at the Mexico/US border — much of which is allegedly caused by the trafficking of marijuana to the United States by drug cartels. America’s stringent enforcement of pot prohibition, which artificially inflates black market pot prices and ensures that only criminal enterprises will be involved in the production and sale of this commodity, is helping to fuel this violence. Wow, funny stuff!

Finally, two recent polls indicate that a strong majority of regional voters support ending marijuana prohibition and treating the drug’s sale, use, and distribution like alcohol. A February 2009 Zogby telephone poll reported that nearly six out of ten of voters on the west coast think that cannabis should be “taxed and legally regulated like alcohol and cigarettes.” A just-released California Field Poll reports similar results, finding that 58 percent of statewide votes believe that regulations for cannabis should be the same or less strict than those for alcohol.

Does the President really think that all of these voters are worthy of his ridicule?

Let the White House laugh for now, but the public knows that this issue is no laughing matter. This week alone, legislators in Illinois, Minnesota, and New Hampshire voted to legalize the use of marijuana for authorized individuals. Politicians in three additional states heard testimony this week in favor of eliminating criminal penalties for all adults who possess and use cannabis. And lawmakers in Massachusetts and California are now debating legally regulating marijuana outright.

The American public is ready and willing to engage in a serious and objective political debate regarding the merits of legalizing the use of cannabis by adults. And all over this nation, whether Capitol Hill wants to acknowledge it or not, they are engaging in this debate as we speak.

Sorry Obama, this time the joke’s on you.

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Cannabischarlie said:

hey, dont knock President Obama for this, clearly at the end of the article it mentions "listen to obama"

if the DEA decides to go AGAINST the president, he is not necessarily powerless to stop it, but he isnt a czar either.

I do hope he speaks out on this, so that the mentality WONT be that he is a flip flopper.

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Neuron said:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/03/26/obama-marijuana-is-not-a-good-strategy-to-spur-economy/#more-45366

In terms of thinking politically; I agree with Obama's decision. 40% of the country(right wing nuts) already hate his guts and want the president to fail. Legalizing cannabis would kill the support of a lot of those traditional folks. And I think it would kill Obama's chances of getting re-elected in 2012. What's more important, legalizing cannabis or having Obama for 8 years?


However, although there are less controversial ways to generate revenue. It seems completely moronic not to legalize cannabis. However; cops need to make their quotas and continue to instill the fear of drugs upon the impressionable young minds of our society.

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Cannabischarlie said:

I do hope he speaks out on this, so that the mentality WONT be that he is a flip flopper.

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Rocker232 said:

Obama is a joke.

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citricacidx said:

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