Did Obama Just Screw Weed Legalization by Supporting It?

[snooper2]

I just left a thread with people arguing about RT not being "propaganda" LOL....


Well, here is a real news outlet for you



VICE




The Obama administration's relative silence on the issue of marijuana legalization has been good for the cause. But in a recent New Yorker article the president's stated position on the topic evolved. “I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol,” he said, adding, “It’s important for [state-level legalization] to go forward because it’s important for society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished.” He tempered this support by gingerly detracting from legalization advocacy, saying that those who claim marijuana to be a panacea are “overstating the case.” He also referred to “some difficult line-drawing issues” between weed and other illicit drugs, paying homage to the classic, perhaps arcane argument often wielded by conservatives. As cautious as he was in stating it, Obama’s support for legalization, and more strongly decriminalization, may actually be more damaging to the effort than his silence. If we’ve learned one thing from the past six years of Obama, it’s that conservatives find it easiest to irrationally rally against him on social issues like this one.

Until now, the state-level legislative efforts to legalize weed have not included retroactively reducing the sentences of those currently imprisoned on marijuana-related charges, as pointed out by a recent LA Times piece: “It’s far easier to sell voters on the financial benefits of creating a lucrative new marijuana industry than it is to persuade them to open up the prison gates and set convicts free,” writes Matthew Fleischer.

more-

http://www.vice.com/read/did-obama-just-screw-weed-legalization-by-supporting-it

[tridim]

1. Let's impeach him for it!!!!11

EVERYONE is over-analyzing what the President said.

His statement is 100% positive to the ending of Cannabis prohibition.

[snooper2]

2. did you read the whole article?

[tridim]

5. Yes, I was mostly reacting to the title

We all know the conservatives are going to continue opposing everything he says. They have been doing that since day one.

The regressives are weak, there is no need to be afraid of them.

If Nancy Grace is representative of our "expert" opposition, we're going to get this done sooner than expected. Thankfully the President is on our side.

[randome]

3. Legalize but discourage, same as for tobacco and alcohol.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_cannabis
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
Leonard Cohen, Anthem (1992)[/center][/font][hr]

[RainDog]

4. LOLOL!

This is the statement conservatives are hearing

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024370289

[frazzled]

6. Yeah, he should just shut up about the people who are incarcerated

especially those pesky darker skinned youths who have born the brunt of harsh penalties, because conservatives might find them unpalatable (and it might bring down our high, you know).

All we do here on DU is yell at Obama for not speaking up on things, and then when he does, we yell at him for speaking out. For heaven's sake, except for the unfairness of people rotting away in jails, this is not an issue of criticality.

Actually, this article is completely wrong about decriminalization: it's a HELL of a lot easier to sell than legalization. My own city (Chicago), which decriminalized small amounts of marijuana more than a year ago, passed it overwhelmingly. Black legislators especially have been less enthusiastic about legalization: there are a hundred more pressing issues than getting people access to pot in their communities, like getting good performing schools and jobs for citizens, getting supermarkets in food deserts, getting guns off the streets.

[bemildred]

7. The argument presented seems implausible, at best.

Specifically the notion that Obama's tepid comments will lead to some sort of effective race-based counter-attack on pot reform. Like his being black can be used to besmirch pot, or sentencing reform, or prison reform.

There will be many attempted counter-attacks on cannabis reform, there is boatloads of money at stake.

[tridim]

10. A big problem for the race-baiters, legalization is supported by all races.

And once again the GOP is opposing a very popular issue. Their loss, literally.

[bemildred]

11. Yes, they would do better to own it instead of oppose it.

It is perfect for yelling about the nanny state and big government.

And Obama, if anything, was quite cautious about it. He left it open for them.

[Warren Stupidity]

8. What a crap argument. It is the usual "tone trolling".

We need more politicians to speak up, not more timidity and caution. And you know what? Too bad if openly discussing the massive racist injustice of the drug war incarcerations of hundreds of thousands gets in the way of suburban white males being able to legally buy their weed for a little while.

[appleannie1]

9. If he was for breathing they would all put duct tape over their nose and mouth.