Obama: We will not go after marijuana users in states that legalized it.

[Landslide Lyndon]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/president-obama-marijuana-users-high-priority-drug-war/story?id=17946783#.UMsghaxirsM

 President Obama says recreational users of marijuana in states that have legalized the substance should not be a "top priority" of federal law enforcement officials prosecuting the war on drugs.

"We've got bigger fish to fry," Obama said of pot users in Colorado and Washington during an exclusive interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters.

"It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it's legal," he said, invoking the same approach taken toward users of medicinal marijuana in 18 states where it's legal.

[danny]

makes sense.

[Dave from Michigan]

good. Hopefully he keeps his word. Obama should come out in favor of Marijuana legalization although probably not till after the midterm elections.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

So why not push for repeal overall?

[Franzl]

Very good.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Very good.

[memphis]

Only in states that have legalized it? How can the feds apply a law unequally against citizens of different states?

[Marokai Backbeat]

Talk is cheap. And what about medical marijuana? Not a mention about that, even though plenty of states determined that should be legal. What's the difference? In my optimistic moments I suspected Obama might go federalist on this issue in his second term, but I'll wait and see actual actions before I applaud him.

[DemPGH]

If the federal government ever decided to drop the lunacy that is the "war on drugs," particularly with regard to marijuana, I'm not sure what I will think, because it will mean that the government will have done something based on logic and information rather than money.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Only in states that have legalized it? How can the feds apply a law unequally against citizens of different states?

They can make it so it's not a point of emphasis.  I'm sure there are lots of federal crimes that end up on the backburner of enforcement efforts.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Besides, it's not as if the DEA worries about low level drug users anyway.  At most they use the Federal laws against using as a stepping stone to bigger crimes such as dealing.

[Donerail]

A broken clock...

[Maxwell]

If the federal government ever decided to drop the lunacy that is the "war on drugs," particularly with regard to marijuana, I'm not sure what I will think, because it will mean that the government will have done something based on logic and information rather than money.

[Meeker]

I don't think this is really surprising. No one expected the feds to start enforcing federal possession laws on recreational users. Such an effort would be completely impractical.

The important question is whether the feds will go after the production and distribution systems that are to be set up in Washington and Colorado over the next year.

[Blue3]

Well, he said it wouldn't be a "top priority"

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

C'mon you don't think Obama toked in his college days?

[Paul Kemp]

C'mon you don't think Obama toked in his college days?

See: The Choom Gang.

[minionofmidas]

Hooray!

[CatoMinor]

Uhm......He said literally the same things about medicinal users...before becoming 4X (<--- fact) worse than Bush in his crack down on medical marijuana. This is an issue where he has already completely betrayed cannabis activists, and people who believe him here must only be doing it out of sheer party hackery.

[Lief 🗽]

Obama can't win with you people. Even when he explicitly says he won't do something, he's still a monster because you just know he's lying.

[CatoMinor]

Obama can't win with you people. Even when he explicitly says he won't do something, he's still a monster because you just know he's lying.

"I'm not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue." ~Senator Barack Obama, 3/22/08 on medical cannabis


Lief, your blind leftist hackishness gets really annoying sometimes.

[Boris]

The important question is whether the feds will go after the production and distribution systems that are to be set up in Washington and Colorado over the next year.

Exactly. There is literally no point in legalized marijuana if those distribution systems are shut down. You can already defacto smoke marijuana in the privacy of your own home anywhere in the United States without any fear of repercussions - the only real difference would be that you can be an idiot in Washington and Colorado (i.e. get pulled over with marijuana visible in your vehicle) and avoid legal charges.

[Sbane]

Obama can't win with you people. Even when he explicitly says he won't do something, he's still a monster because you just know he's lying.

Dude, the feds don't go after low level Marijuana users in any states. And that is all Obama promised, basically what is current policy anyways. Is he going to crack down on the shops that sell the product? That is what the big question is. Same goes with Medicinal Marijuana. He promised he wouldn't go after medicinal users and technically he has kept that promise.

[badgate]

Talk is cheap.

Yes, in fact, it's free in this country.

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He wasn't asked about that.

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Well, medical marijuana is prescribed by doctors and purchased at dispensaries that can only be entered by patients seeking to fill their prescriptions. Recreational marijuana is...not.

[pbrower2a]

Well, he said it wouldn't be a "top priority"

Keep the federal War on Drugs focused on the very dangerous drugs -- heroin, cocaine, meth...