Davis Sweet

Davis Sweet

Posted March 27, 2009 | 06:13 PM (EST)

Simple Question for the Past Three Guys in the Big Chair in the White House

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How do you think your life -- and society in general -- would have benefited if, during your admitted past drug use, you were subject to the same criminal penalties as other Americans?

(Or, if your fig leaf is "I was in England, man!," then replace the last two words with "...other citizens of the selected-drug-hysteric country where you toked, snorted, gobbled magic mushrooms, or whatever.")

 
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i thought the President was an admirer of Lincoln. i guess he missed this, while studying him:

"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
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Abraham.Lincoln.Quoten.Quote.
563D

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

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:42 AM on 03/30/2009
- djindie I'm a Fan of djindie 2 fans permalink
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Is there an American rule book somewhere that defines freedom.. Because while this is a great country to live in.. It isn't the land of the FREE.. Though I will give it up to all our BRAVE soldiers..

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:58 PM on 03/29/2009
- YeahDonkey I'm a Fan of YeahDonkey 7 fans permalink
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For all the anti-legalization people out there I have just one hope for you, I hope the child molesters and the rapists and the violent felons who are being released early so they can make room for people convicted of growing or selling pot, I hope you never meet those people in a dark ally.

Because I will take the pothead in the dark alley any day of the week.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:35 PM on 03/29/2009
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of all the issues the President is dealing with making it easier for you stoners is not a 'high' priority.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:10 AM on 03/29/2009
- BusGreg I'm a Fan of BusGreg 40 fans permalink
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"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?"

This was the question asked and the response by President Obama skirted the issue. As far as your comment, is it also NOT a priority to put an end to 72 years of documented failure? The drug war is not working, quite the contrary. It is the problem. As far as cannabis not being able to provide jobs and revenue are alsdo false. The same government also keeps telling us that cannabis ius the largest cash crop in the US and that argument is a welcome one when it comes to special interests and the prison business asking to ratchet up this idiotic failure. Cannabis is here to stay and the time for reform is now. Not another seven decades of waste and failure from now.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:46 AM on 03/29/2009
- nomobull I'm a Fan of nomobull 50 fans permalink
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no he didn't just because you disagree with his answer.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:33 PM on 03/29/2009
- YeahDonkey I'm a Fan of YeahDonkey 7 fans permalink
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Making it "easier" for us stoners? Your ignorance concerning this issue is pretty much summed up in your moronic statement.

Any other pearls of wisdom you can fit in one line?

Idiot

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:05 PM on 03/29/2009
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Jake, try smoking some pot. Might make you smarter.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:14 PM on 03/29/2009
- SJBrown I'm a Fan of SJBrown 14 fans permalink

You mean he'll think he's smarter. Pot doesn't make you smarter.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:26 PM on 03/29/2009
- maxgen I'm a Fan of maxgen 6 fans permalink

How about making breathing a felony? Then we could arrest anyone who didn't agree with us and throw them in jail, torture them and put them in penal labor camps if they survived.

Actually, we now make a common behavior a crime, and lo and behold! A lot of black center city youths get rounded up, are labeled with a criminal record, are denied employment and can't vote to change the system.

We even make using cocaine a much less severe crime than smoking crack, so the penalties are less severe in the suburbs than in the city.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:33 PM on 03/28/2009
- livesimply I'm a Fan of livesimply 27 fans permalink
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If everyone that ever smoked pot or tried cocaine was prosecuted, our courts would be way overloaded. Bush got caught and it was mysteriously wiped from his record. Obama, like most college students, never got caught. If he were using drugs now or in the recent past, it would be an entirely different issue. Our marijuana laws are silly and in my state it has been a misdemeanor for a very long time. If our presidents were prosecuted, then so should at least a quarter of the population of the US over 30.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:05 PM on 03/28/2009
- sviolette I'm a Fan of sviolette 100 fans permalink
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Our jails are overloaded now because of this war on drugs. Legalize it and release all of the non violent drug offenders we are housing and keeping from their families.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:57 PM on 03/28/2009
- minerva117 I'm a Fan of minerva117 10 fans permalink
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Not to mention the expenditure of $30,000 to $45,000 per year to pay for the incarceration of these people (mostly people pf color). Jails and prisons are crammed with twice as many or more people than they were designed to hold. Shameful!!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:24 AM on 03/29/2009
- ClarcKing I'm a Fan of ClarcKing 34 fans permalink

Why is this issue so important? The U.S. is in the middle of a monetary financial derivative debt based global economic collapse. We need every brain in the game of survival. Do we need pot legalized now? Do you see the consumer brain deficiencies in terms of perspective, priorities, focus, the tunnel vision, the absolute commitment to get high while the debt based economic engine is contracting the population's capacity to sustain itself. Hypocrite? It would be wrong to promote a consumption and/or a lifestyle that has unrealized repercussions: it is injurious to the user, family, community, general health, the economy etc.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:07 PM on 03/28/2009
- fumes I'm a Fan of fumes 89 fans permalink
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ck, r u talking about bill gates and his ilk?

then looky here: http://www.veryimportantpotheads.com/index.html

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:28 PM on 03/28/2009
- sviolette I'm a Fan of sviolette 100 fans permalink
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Are you saying that these people can't do several things at a time? It would take less effort to legalize than it took to pass TARP. You don't give these people much credit. We pay them enough to do more than one thing at a time. They aren't republicans after all.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:44 PM on 03/28/2009
- sviolette I'm a Fan of sviolette 100 fans permalink
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People are going to get high no matter what the dept based economic engine is doing. So legalize it and take advantage of it. There are no good arguments not to. It is only injurious to the user, family, comunity, general health, the economy ect. because it is illegal. You arguments are not based on fact.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:20 PM on 03/28/2009

There are good reasons not to legalize pot, not to mention other harder drugs. We already have enough trouble due to alcohol, we don't need even more goofs running around mentally impaired. My family has already been impacted by a drunk driver. Face it, too many humans can't handle drugs in a responsible manner. Sure there will always be some drinkers and drug users who function and even excel in life. But for every one of them there is a crowd of losers, who not only bring down themselves, but the people around them.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:07 PM on 03/28/2009
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http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/

Cannabis doesn't make you stupid, being stupid makes you stupid.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:30 PM on 03/28/2009
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Seriously, with respect, you have absolutely no understanding of this issue. You're just spewing lies that you heard somewhere. Take some time to educate yourself because essentially everything you said was 100% backward.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:19 PM on 03/29/2009
- Citizen54 I'm a Fan of Citizen54 19 fans permalink

This is why we call Clinton, Obama, and the rest hypocrites.

(Meanwhile, Obama is huffing the nicotine.)

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:52 PM on 03/28/2009
- sviolette I'm a Fan of sviolette 100 fans permalink
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Not to mention Wednesday night "Drinks" he invites all of the important people over for!!!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:28 PM on 03/28/2009
- livesimply I'm a Fan of livesimply 27 fans permalink
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Not to mention GW and his cocaine use?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:06 PM on 03/28/2009
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Well, if it was Bush pere et fils who were thrown in the slammer for 30-odd years, the entire world would be a lot better off right now!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:43 PM on 03/28/2009
- slowtono I'm a Fan of slowtono 5 fans permalink

Ah the delusional pot head. Hey man you did it!!! Yeah when I was young and dumb and gonna live for ever. Say there pot man do you hope your planes pilot smokes, or train operators who hall chemicals that could wipe out city blocks, or the mid wife who delvers your child into the world, or the health inspector who checks your meat and bread. You know it's not a high it's actually flying low. It's depressing pain and heart rate, blood flow. It's a God given drug for pain. Your not up your down. And the desirer? Well thats the illusion that your really cool or better stoned, your not!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:52 PM on 03/28/2009
- drumz I'm a Fan of drumz 59 fans permalink
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Talk about delusional.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:58 PM on 03/28/2009
- davidly I'm a Fan of davidly 19 fans permalink

I don't want any of those people drinking either, but that's no reason to imprison people who consume alchohol.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:59 PM on 03/28/2009
- MajorKong I'm a Fan of MajorKong 405 fans permalink
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I'm not allowed to fly within 8 hours of drinking alcohol or while taking most over-the-counter cold medications either.

If pot were legal that doesn't mean that airline pilots would be smoking it on the job. It would presumably be regulated just like other mild depressants (alcohol).

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:13 PM on 03/28/2009
- fumes I'm a Fan of fumes 89 fans permalink
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12 hours toke to yoke is how i was taught.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:08 PM on 03/28/2009
- Citizen54 I'm a Fan of Citizen54 19 fans permalink

Slowtono, dude, if YOU'RE going to lecture people, at least do so with proper spelling and punctuation, or stop taking the high-and-mighty ground.

It's not "Your not up..."
It's "You're not up...."

Even a stoner proofreader knows that.

Oh, also, an apostrophe in "that's."

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:50 PM on 03/28/2009
- iblogleft I'm a Fan of iblogleft 88 fans permalink
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Foolish comment.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:22 PM on 03/28/2009
- Gdebs I'm a Fan of Gdebs 7 fans permalink

displayed 1 - 25 of 289 next> last>>
Obama and Clinton on Drugs: Just Say No. . . Sometimes?
We have now had two Presidents in a row, who used drugs and if they had been caught and tried and convicted would have had a felony conviction which undoubtedly would have precluded their election as President. I like Pres. Obama but it is hypocritical for him to answer as he did when he is President and many no less innocent than he is are in prison or have a criminal record.
posted Mar 27, 2009 at 17:24:26

I posted this on Huffpost yesterday. Do I deserve a nod?
gdebs

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:47 PM on 03/28/2009

Nod.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:35 PM on 03/28/2009
- Davis Sweet - Huffpost Blogger I'm a Fan of Davis Sweet 6 fans permalink

Nod. Good on you.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:14 PM on 03/28/2009
- livesimply I'm a Fan of livesimply 27 fans permalink
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No nod from here. Sure, the drug trade is a very bad thing, but Obama admitted to doing cocaine in college. That was over 20 years ago and possession or use should never have been a felony in the first place.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:23 PM on 03/28/2009
- hollace I'm a Fan of hollace 4 fans permalink

Why do Americans need the Government and police to solve a Health Issue? Whether there is benefit

to certain drugs,or they create an addiction, that needs the use of Health Services, cops, courts and

Politicians have vested interests not always the same as an individuals.

The fact that people think Urban users are street people who need to go to jail, and Suburban people with better lawyers are just self medicating and need a Vacation shows uneqaul treatment by justice system.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:39 PM on 03/28/2009
- BusGreg I'm a Fan of BusGreg 40 fans permalink
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I'm tired of hearing that politicians have vested interests. While in office the only interests they are entiteled to are ours! Just because special interest are running the show does not mean we have to obey the machine and follow like sheep. It is time that we the people demand that our interests and not those of big pharma, the often privately operated yet tax payer funded Prison Industrial Komplex, the correction workers unions, the police unions or the media that choses to pander to the aforementioned. Have 72 years of utter failure taught the voters nothing?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:17 PM on 03/28/2009
- Malkin71 I'm a Fan of Malkin71 26 fans permalink
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Just an idea-

What about a defense fund (NORML could do it maybe) that people can donate to a la barackobama.com to put money into hiring top attorneys to defend people in simple possession cases?

If prosecutors knew they were going to consistently face top lawyers and likely lose a much higher % of their cases, they and the police will have to stop wasting resources on it.

Obama's refusal to follow the science here is very disappointing.

Obama is very quickly losing his chance to be more than a Clinton caliber president.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:32 PM on 03/28/2009
- canobserv I'm a Fan of canobserv 34 fans permalink

The President said it himself................we are the change..........it would be political suicide for him to tackle this right now.........................but that doesn't mean we can't........

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:43 PM on 03/28/2009
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I find comments like yours SO perplexing.

It would be political suicide . . . but apparently it is the #1 most important issue in the minds of a majority of his supporters . . . and it would greatly help the economy if he legalized it because it is the #1 cash crop in America . . .

It seems like some people stay stuck in a political tarpit of their own making.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:30 PM on 03/29/2009
- bud812 I'm a Fan of bud812 9 fans permalink
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Great idea imo!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:52 PM on 03/31/2009
- Dwight5 I'm a Fan of Dwight5 4 fans permalink

To show support for the status quo and "not send the wrong message", Clinton, W. Bush, and Obama should all turn themselves in. While they're at it, maybe they should recruit Newt Gingrich, Mayor Mike Bloomberg, John Kerry, and Al Gore to join them. Check out www.veryimportantpotheads.com for a list of toking celebs, and the list on the site, while extensive is so, so, so, far from complete.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:52 PM on 03/28/2009
- PerryWhite I'm a Fan of PerryWhite 12 fans permalink

G. W. Bush has never said publicly that he used illegal drugs. Many of the stories about his alleged drug use are demonstrably false.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:51 PM on 03/28/2009
- Dwight5 I'm a Fan of Dwight5 4 fans permalink

Right on count one. Wrong on count two. In taped conversations with an old friend that were made public, W said that he didn't respond to questions of whether or not he toked because, "If children knew that the President smoked pot, they might think it was OK for them". Sounds like an admission to me.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:02 PM on 03/28/2009
- PerryWhite I'm a Fan of PerryWhite 12 fans permalink

Protocol says that private conversations with the president are not to be quoted,
so taping the president, presumably secretly, is not something that a "friend" would do.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:32 PM on 03/28/2009
- Dwight5 I'm a Fan of Dwight5 4 fans permalink

Right on count one, wrong on count two. In taped conversations with an old friend, (who apparently is no longer considered a friend), W said that he never responded to questions concerning whether or not he ever smoked pot because, "If children knew that the President smoked pot, they might think it was OK for them". Sounds like an admission to me. If the answer was no, he could have just said so. And of course, it's a matter of record that he got at least one DWI in the 1970's. Dude, do you know how drunk you had to be to get a DWI in the 1970's?
George W Bush is a frat boy, and when he was in college, cocaine and marijuana use were rampant among frat boys in colleges across America. Yale was no exception.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:12 PM on 03/28/2009
- PerryWhite I'm a Fan of PerryWhite 12 fans permalink

So, chances are that John F. Kerry (whose tenure at Yale overlapped GWB's) was a pot and coke user? I don't recall him being asked.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:44 PM on 03/28/2009
- livesimply I'm a Fan of livesimply 27 fans permalink
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from wiki: “I wouldn’t answer the marijuana questions,” Bush says. “You know why? Because I don’t want some little kid doing what I tried.”[15] When Wead reminded Bush of his earlier public denial of using cocaine, Bush replied, "I haven't denied anything."[16]

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:15 PM on 03/28/2009
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