Obama Takes Pot Legalization Question During Townhall (VIDEO)

The White House's innovative Open for Questions forum has produced plenty of substantive questions on wonky issues. But roughly midway through, the president preemptively took one of the more popular and provocative questions of the bunch.

The query, which received more than three million votes, was: "With over 1 out of 30 Americans controlled by the penal system, why not legalize, control, and tax marijuana to change the failed war on drugs into a money making, money saving boost to the economy? Do we really need that many victimless criminals?"

Obama actually interrupted the M.C of the event -- Jared Bernstein, chief economist to the Vice President -- in order to tackle the topic. He kept his answer brief.

"There was one question that voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation," he said. "And I don't know what this says about the online audience, but ... this was a popular question. We want to make sure it's answered. The answer is no, I don't think that's a good strategy to grow our economy. All right."

Responded Bernstein: "Thank you for clearing that up."

Watch:

Jack Cole, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), said in response:

"Despite the president's flippant comments today, the grievous harms of marijuana prohibition are no laughing matter. Certainly, the 800,000 people arrested last year on marijuana charges find nothing funny about it, nor do the millions of Americans struggling in this sluggish economy. It would be an enormous economic stimulus if we stopped wasting so much money arresting and locking people up for nonviolent drug offenses and instead brought in new tax revenue from legal sales, just as we did when ended alcohol prohibition 75 years ago during the Great Depression."

Comments

[crayola 08]

04:46 PM on 03/30/2009

interesting. read below.

Speaking to Northwestern University students in 2004, Obama said, "The War on Drugs has been an utter failure. We need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws."

source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQr9ezr8UeA

seems he's suddenly done an about face on this one. i wonder why?

[Zofomofo]

05:26 PM on 04/03/2009

Please read the article again. This is 2 different topics, Christ?!!

Here he said, "POT WON'T SAVE THE ECONOMY!!!!"

Not that it should NOT be de-criminalized.

[SunflowerPipes]

03:15 PM on 03/30/2009

I respect Obama he is a talented politician, President Obama seems to posse’s insightful, reasonable judgment on many issues, although in the case of marijuana prohibition laws I find Obama’s choice to answer with mocking humor to be lacking. Smoking marijuana is an easy thing to laugh about, it seems there is something about being stoned that brings a smile to people’s faces, however marijuana prohibition is not a joke. We should not be making jokes as millions of Americans are arrested for being caught on the wrong side of moral politicking, we should not laugh as we spend over 30 billion dollars a year going after Americans for smoking weed, we should not giggle and poke fun as we watch billions of dollars in tax revenue slip through our fingers each year, and should we not be jolly as thousands of people are murdered by cartels profiting from America’s moral hypocrisy. I believe there are profound latent consequences in prohibition that are not even factored in to our assessments of the effects of illegality, such as how we view the rule of law and the role of law enforcement in the community, the divisiveness between users and non users, the stigma of mental shock of incarceration. I say pot prohibition is no joke it has real costs paid for in real lives. Freedom is achieved in a country by placing responsibility in the hands of the citizen and not by the state legally enforcing morality.
http://SunflowerPipes.com

[Ganja-Rebel]

12:30 PM on 03/30/2009

Somehow, when someone goes against the beliefs ,of the author, below, I begin to think that someone is UN-american ,and a disgrace:

"Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts
to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime
out of things that are not crimes."
Abraham Lincoln
Source:http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Abraham.Lincoln.Quote.
563D

"A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which
our government was founded."
Abraham Lincoln
Source:http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Abraham.Lincoln.Quote.410A

[Baldran]

11:43 AM on 03/30/2009

Oh come on, Mr. President. You like the stuff just as much as we do.

[PatrickforO]

09:10 AM on 03/30/2009

Remember when Bill Clinton used up all his political capital on the gays in the military issue, then lost his majority a mere two years into his first term? I'm all for legalizing marijuana, but right now there's bigger fish to fry. I'd like to see true healthcare reform, for instance. And us out of Iraq. I do agree that legalization would provide some jobs, but there are too many right wing whackos out there who would chew up Obama and spit him out if he came out for it now.

[Ganja-Rebel]

12:37 PM on 03/30/2009

that's a sorry excuse for denying the people their rights, dontcha think? why do you think so many folks, who never bothered to vote before, came out and voted for barack? they want change, and they are tired of waiting. if he keeps dissing folks like LGBTs, anti-drug war advocates, and anti-war advocates, then he will lose support and become a one-termer. i ,for one, will NOT vote for him ,again, unless he issues a public apology to those who participated in the townhall, and begins an honest and open dialogue on the subject.

[listentome]

07:45 PM on 03/29/2009

There are a bunch of hypocrites commenting that they are upset at the way President Obama scoffed at the idea of legalizing marijuana.
Here is the problem that I have with those folks. The media has made an issue of the President not admitting that he has completely given up smoking cigarettes. Jake Tipper even commented that he reeked of cigarette smoke. So, let's say that marijuana is legalized. This means the President has as much of a right as anyone to purchase it and smoke it. Let's go ahead and say he does. The first person who smells the aroma on the President will call the press who will then devote 24 hours out of the day covering the story and once again a world wide discussion will begin to consume the time of the President who has way too many other important issues that he should be concentrating on.
So, to those hypocrites I say keep your self righteous and condemning remarks to yourself and ask our President to do more important things.

[entheogensmurf]

07:32 AM on 03/30/2009

Well, I'm not a hypocrite or self righteous, however, even if we disregard the irrefutable suffering caused of the legal status of cannabis:
-It will decrease the drug cartel revenue
-Allow for more room in prison for real criminals
-Decrease availability for minors
-Provide jobs
-Give people a reason to actually believe the USA is worth something
-Give the DEA and related task forces to deal with other fun (I'd rather have them deal with meth)
-It's ridiculous that it's illegal!

There are more surely; enough for the moment though.

You should really think about what you said. You are worried about the media! Sheesh. We are well aware that a president can ignore almost anything that is thrown at them. If Obama can't handle the media, then why exactly is he pres?

[Ganja-Rebel]

12:44 PM on 03/30/2009

at least "ABE was HONEST":

"A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which
our government was founded."
Abraham Lincoln

are you an american?

[NightsideEclipse]

07:17 PM on 03/29/2009

We might consider having Obama revisit the issue at the next town hall from the angle of this question:

"The prohibition of marijuana was largely rooted in racism. William Randolph Hearst had stories published in his newspapers about 'savage blacks and Mexicans' smoking marijuana and then having the desire to rape and kill white women. Harry J Anslinger, the drug czar during the 1930s, admitted that he wanted marijuana to be illegal because he thought it would make life harder for blacks and Mexicans. The results today of the prohibition seem no less racist than the intentions which brought it about, with young African-American men being disproportionally subjected to marijuana arrests. Because a major theme of your presidency has been to eliminate any remaining vestiges of Jim Crow, would you consider taking measures to eliminate the marijuana prohibition?"

Is there anything you'd add to or change about the phrasing of my question?

[Ganja-Rebel]

12:47 PM on 03/30/2009

what? and let him scoff at my efforts,again? i'll participate when i get a public apology, for the public humility he imposed on thousands who have participated in all 3 online forums.

[hypathia]

03:49 PM on 03/29/2009

Some issues are too hot for a president to openly embrace. Anyone running for president knows you have to at least give lip service to Christianity to have a chance at winning an election, even if you're an atheist. Pot is another suicide issue for a president, even if they secretly support it. Obama would get slaughtered by the MSM and right wing squares if he said he supported legalization, and right now that could undermine his chances to make other more realistic changes, like health care. His popularity must remain high if he's going to get much of his agenda done. It's probably best to focus legalization efforts on the state level for now, like in California, and allow the prez to focus on more pressing issues, like slowly digging the world out of the hole of death the Bush Reich tossed us into. I'm choosing to be realistic and give Obama a break on this one.

[fumes]

05:31 PM on 03/29/2009

no-brainer

[Ganja-Rebel]

12:50 PM on 03/30/2009

that's a sorry excuse to keep denying people their rights. many of us wanted real change, and not just what is 'expected'. expectations are fed by history, and yet history has shown things are constantly changing. to not take a stand for freedom at every opportunity, is a disgrace.

[oldjoe77]

11:00 AM on 03/29/2009

My young friends (I'm 67) all were urging me to vote for Ron Paul in the last election. They were right, and I was wrong in voting for Obama. So in 2012 I'm going to follow their advice and support someone who doesn't desert his base. . . . As they say in Texas, "You ought to dance with the ones who brung you Mr. President."

[suetiggers]

01:29 AM on 03/29/2009

My husband and I are seniors. My children are adults. This question about legalization of marijuana and the flippant way Obama fielded it are extremely upsetting.
We STRONGLY support the legalization of marijuana for many reasons: a. because the phony war on drugs has not worked and is an abysmal failure
b. because it would help the economy a great deal..
c. Because too many of our citizens are in prison for a victimless crime of drug use and we are contributing to a system that makes the penal system a BUSINESS !!!
d. Because marijuana, unless other drugs does NOT lead to the use of other dangerous drugs and the propaganda about it has not been bought by thinking Americans; only the most closed-minded, reactionary fanatics buy into that
e. Marijuana DOES have medically useful use, esp. for cancer patients dealing with chemotherapy but also for glaucoma and other illnesses.

We supported Obama, I campaigned for him and when he glibly comments about who is on the net, he should wake up and learn that many, many Americans do not buy into this terrible abuse of our legal system monetarily and morally to punish people who at the worst hurt themselves, not others. And most use a drug much much less harmful than our acceptable, respectable, more popular and dangerous drug, alcohol.
When will our government leaders "GET" this ???

[Ganja-Rebel]

12:30 PM on 03/28/2009

he's a hypocrite just like the rest of the elitists. i guess he liked the coke better.

[Malkin71]

08:18 AM on 03/29/2009

Maybe Obama regrets his drug days, but that is still no excuse for allowing others' lives to be ruined for something he himself did, and for something he himself knows the punishment far outweighs the "crime".

It's sad. It's hypocrisy. It's cowardice. It's politics as usual.

Mr. Obama was an atheist who claims to have found god when it was politically convenient. I wasn't sure whether this was true or just pure politics. He has said that it angers him when someone questions his faith. Oh well...

His faith is about as sincere as his opposition to marijuana...which is to say very sincere, except that it is 100% pure politics.

He knows better.

[egaeus]

10:03 AM on 03/28/2009

Having posted several questions for the Town Hall, I wasoutraged at the selfish stupidity of people squandering the opportunity to ask the president about real issues in order to blabber about pot. People who argue about pot's "medical uses" and use as hemp are only using socially acceptable arguments to cloak the simple fact that they want pot legalized so they can get high. Period. Otherwise the argument would be for the gov't to legalize pot, but only with a prescription, or to legalize hemp, but only as a substance for manufacturing.

There are actual, real problems in the world that need to be dealt with. Being preoccupied with a personal desire to smoke grass demonstrates what's worst in America -- in the face of a crisis, we can remain solipsistic blobs, interested in our own pleasure. Pot is relaxing? So is deep breathing. Pot kills pain? So do many drugs. So does hypnosis. Marijuana also ranks third in drugs that lead to emergency room visits, may have an 8% chance of inducing schizophrenia in users under 15 and a 2% chance of doing so in adults, mimics schizophrenia in the brain, and may be psychologically addicting, if not chemically. Pot also leads to more stupid behavior. Cigarettes cause health problems, but they do not impair judgment and lead to idiocy. We already have alcohol to make people behave stupidly; we don't need more self-indulgent, mentally impaired dimwits so intent on pleasuring themselves that they impose their behavior on others.

[bonze]

01:51 PM on 03/28/2009

Ahhh, I get it... what we need are more self-indulgent, mentally impaired dimwits so intent on sanctimony that they impose their moralistic credos on others through criminal sanctions, even when there's abundant evidence that they're causing more harm than good.

[Nicon]

05:08 PM on 03/28/2009

As an American Citizen i have the right to put anything i wish in to my body, and that includes a cheese burger and that includes a bullet, and you better believe that includes Cannabis. Cannabis having been proved by science to be the single most valuable plant to humans, causing no know ill effects other than risk for bronchitis.

The reason this question keeps coming in at number 1 is simple, everyone who has done any investigation on Cannabis or our National Drug Policy realizes that the whole system is morally wrong, and unjustifiable. We elected Obama to fix many of the great wrongs in our great nation, this is simply the largest.

[fredamae]

09:30 AM on 03/28/2009

Watch:
Cannabis Oil Cancer CURE
http://www.youtube.com/chrychek

What IF?
In 1974, the US Gov't Hid a report Demonstrating the Cancer Fighting Qualities of Cannabis and HID the report!

Watch:
Marijuana; It's Time For A Conversation from the ACLU
http://www.marijuanaconversation.org/

[SousioXXX]

08:26 AM on 03/28/2009

Three great sites to understanding the marijuana issue. Time to end prohibition, it is destroying the U.S. and Mexico: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1657827965975839596&hl=en and http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php and http://www.veryimportantpotheads.com/main1.html

[me4you]

07:52 AM on 03/28/2009

The best thing I guess people can do is to visit their STATE WEBSITES and look into local gov pages. I was able to check the roll call there to see what reps had voted for which side on the med MJ here in NH. I was surprised to see a few (R) voted yes and a couple (D) voted against it, to investigate the politicians down to the lowest level and putting pressure on them for their votes is a powerful and underutilized tool. I plan on voting for those who voted with compassion, regardless of party.... if they voted how I would have they WILL have my attention and respect.
It starts at the local level :0)