Obama snuffs stoner dreams of legalization
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  Obama snuffs stoner dreams of legalization
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Author Topic: Obama snuffs stoner dreams of legalization  (Read 1745 times)
Saint Milei
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« on: March 16, 2015, 07:35:21 PM »

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/obama-snuffs-stoner-dreams-of-legalization-116125.html?cmpid=sf#ixzz3UalvNGxY

“First of all, it shouldn’t be young people’s biggest priority,” Obama chided. “You should be thinking about climate change, the economy, jobs, war and peace. Maybe way at the bottom you should be thinking about marijuana.”

“Legalization or decriminalization is not a panacea,” he added, questioning whether it would work for drugs like meth and crack. “There is a legitimate, I think, concern, about the overall effects this has on society.”

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Zioneer
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« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2015, 07:46:15 PM »

Dude, Prez, you're a lame duck. It does no political harm to you to say "yeah I smoked pot and it should be legal". Just give up this ridiculous notion that throwing pot smokers in jail makes American safer, please.
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angus
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« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2015, 07:57:38 PM »

Just give up this ridiculous notion that throwing pot smokers in jail makes American safer, please.

Actually, he seems to be doing just that.  In the article it says that not only is he concentrating on sentencing reform, but also that he supports the rights of states to decriminalize and "reverse the crackdown on nonviolent drug offenders."  He just wants to also point out that he is not encouraging drug use.

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Associate Justice PiT
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« Reply #3 on: March 16, 2015, 07:59:50 PM »

Dude, Prez, you're a lame duck. It does no political harm to you to say "yeah I smoked pot and it should be legal". Just give up this ridiculous notion that throwing pot smokers in jail makes American safer, please.

What?

     I think he is referring to Obama, not you. A little bit confusing there.
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Small Business Owner of Any Repute
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« Reply #4 on: March 16, 2015, 08:32:30 PM »

Ah, the old "we can only do one thing at a time" fallacy.
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IceSpear
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« Reply #5 on: March 16, 2015, 09:18:55 PM »

At least he supports decriminalization. That's a much higher priority than legalization.
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Deus Naturae
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« Reply #6 on: March 16, 2015, 09:34:52 PM »

At least he supports decriminalization. That's a much higher priority than legalization.
Not really. That's like saying "civil unions are a much higher priority than same-sex marriage."
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Atlas Has Shrugged
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« Reply #7 on: March 16, 2015, 09:39:56 PM »

At least he supports decriminalization. That's a much higher priority than legalization.
Not really. That's like saying "civil unions are a much higher priority than same-sex marriage."
One could argue that civil unions were an important step on the way to legalized gay marriage.
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IceSpear
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« Reply #8 on: March 16, 2015, 10:06:28 PM »

At least he supports decriminalization. That's a much higher priority than legalization.
Not really. That's like saying "civil unions are a much higher priority than same-sex marriage."

Bad analogy. Although I do support it, marijuana legalization is not a civil rights issue. Priority number one should be stopping hundreds of thousands of kids/nonviolent offenders from being thrown into jail for smoking pot.
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TheDeadFlagBlues
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« Reply #9 on: March 16, 2015, 10:08:11 PM »

I don't see what's so terrible about his statement? It's objectively correct that marijuana legalization shouldn't be a top priority for millennials.
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Deus Naturae
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« Reply #10 on: March 16, 2015, 10:12:21 PM »

At least he supports decriminalization. That's a much higher priority than legalization.
Not really. That's like saying "civil unions are a much higher priority than same-sex marriage."

Bad analogy. Although I do support it, marijuana legalization is not a civil rights issue. Priority number one should be stopping hundreds of thousands of kids/nonviolent offenders from being thrown into jail for smoking pot.
That wouldn't happen if marijuana was legalized. Legalization would include decriminalization.
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Cory
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« Reply #11 on: March 16, 2015, 10:47:32 PM »

Dude, Prez, you're a lame duck. It does no political harm to you to say "yeah I smoked pot and it should be legal". Just give up this ridiculous notion that throwing pot smokers in jail makes American safer, please.
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Comrade Funk
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« Reply #12 on: March 16, 2015, 11:11:22 PM »

He's right in saying it shouldn't be the #1 for anyone, but that doesn't dispute the stupidity of not legalizing. I know he's just another heartless politician, but It'd be nice to have a leader with balls to actually say what they believe.
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IceSpear
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« Reply #13 on: March 17, 2015, 01:00:54 AM »

At least he supports decriminalization. That's a much higher priority than legalization.
Not really. That's like saying "civil unions are a much higher priority than same-sex marriage."

Bad analogy. Although I do support it, marijuana legalization is not a civil rights issue. Priority number one should be stopping hundreds of thousands of kids/nonviolent offenders from being thrown into jail for smoking pot.
That wouldn't happen if marijuana was legalized. Legalization would include decriminalization.

Of course. But decriminalization is more politically feasible. Legalization can pass in referendums, but it would never pass our Congress full of old white people that are still spooked by Reefer Madness.
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« Reply #14 on: March 17, 2015, 01:10:48 AM »

At least he supports decriminalization. That's a much higher priority than legalization.
Not really. That's like saying "civil unions are a much higher priority than same-sex marriage."

Bad analogy. Although I do support it, marijuana legalization is not a civil rights issue. Priority number one should be stopping hundreds of thousands of kids/nonviolent offenders from being thrown into jail for smoking pot.

Civil unions are long obsolete because of opinions on gay marriage, and opinions on pot seem to be changing faster than gay marriage.



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shua
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« Reply #15 on: March 17, 2015, 01:22:02 AM »
« Edited: March 17, 2015, 01:23:39 AM by shua »

Decriminalization of mj should be a major priority, and in practice that tends to mean pushing for legalization.  If you are throwing the power of the state at something which is considered illegal, criminal approaches have a way of reasserting themselves. It's hard to know exactly what decriminalization without legalization entails, so legalization tends to be more politically potent since people have an idea of what it means.  And in the push for legalization, if it brings the argument against current policies to the fore, and what we get instead is more and more decriminalization, that is a measure of success also.

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Citizen (The) Doctor
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« Reply #16 on: March 17, 2015, 12:33:53 PM »

At least he supports decriminalization. That's a much higher priority than legalization.
Not really. That's like saying "civil unions are a much higher priority than same-sex marriage."

Bad analogy. Although I do support it, marijuana legalization is not a civil rights issue. Priority number one should be stopping hundreds of thousands of kids/nonviolent offenders from being thrown into jail for smoking pot.

Civil unions are long obsolete because of opinions on gay marriage, and opinions on pot seem to be changing faster than gay marriage.





Which is incredibly sad, if put into objective priorities.
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Beet
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« Reply #17 on: March 17, 2015, 12:57:24 PM »

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/obama-snuffs-stoner-dreams-of-legalization-116125.html?cmpid=sf#ixzz3UalvNGxY

“First of all, it shouldn’t be young people’s biggest priority,” Obama chided. “You should be thinking about climate change, the economy, jobs, war and peace. Maybe way at the bottom you should be thinking about marijuana.”

“Legalization or decriminalization is not a panacea,” he added, questioning whether it would work for drugs like meth and crack. “There is a legitimate, I think, concern, about the overall effects this has on society.”

Bu-bu-but marihuana is the most impor4nt issue evah!! Some DWS-hating Florida billionaire told me so!
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The Other Castro
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« Reply #18 on: March 17, 2015, 01:51:12 PM »

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/obama-snuffs-stoner-dreams-of-legalization-116125.html?cmpid=sf#ixzz3UalvNGxY

“First of all, it shouldn’t be young people’s biggest priority,” Obama chided. “You should be thinking about climate change, the economy, jobs, war and peace. Maybe way at the bottom you should be thinking about marijuana.”

“Legalization or decriminalization is not a panacea,” he added, questioning whether it would work for drugs like meth and crack. “There is a legitimate, I think, concern, about the overall effects this has on society.”

Bu-bu-but marihuana is the most impor4nt issue evah!! Some DWS-hating Florida billionaire told me so!

Nobody thinks like that or talks like that, and the whole problem here is Obama's argument that we shouldn't do anything about it because there are more important things to worry about. For example, the economy is more important than potholes, but that doesn't mean we can't or shouldn't do anything about potholes.
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bedstuy
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« Reply #19 on: March 17, 2015, 03:02:28 PM »

So, Obama can instantly get Congress and state governments to move on an issue?  Give me a break.  This is such a dumb article.

If President Obama came out in support of legalizing marijuana, it would only make it a more partisan issue.  And, we all know how Republicans love sabotaging social progress to spite President Obama.  Right, now the marijuana legalization movement benefits from an alliance between libertarians and liberals.  Obama's name could turn marijuana into more of a racial and partisan issue.

This is still a generational issue and some people just see marijuana as "drugs" and therefore on par with heroin and PCP.  That older crowd also actually votes unlike many of the marijuana legalization boosters. 
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Adam Griffin
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« Reply #20 on: March 17, 2015, 04:36:23 PM »

“First of all, it shouldn’t be young people’s biggest priority,” Obama chided. “You should be thinking about climate change, the economy, jobs, war and peace. Maybe way at the bottom you should be thinking about marijuana.”

Yeah but you already failed us on all of those other fronts so...
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« Reply #21 on: March 17, 2015, 04:39:15 PM »

“First of all, it shouldn’t be young people’s biggest priority,” Obama chided. “You should be thinking about climate change, the economy, jobs, war and peace. Maybe way at the bottom you should be thinking about marijuana.”

Yeah but you already failed us on all of those other fronts so...

he's playing off a false naivety, too.  he full well knows that drug policy is an issue of political economy (and also of foreign policy: we bomb "terrorists" in the Middle East; we used to bomb "Communists" in Latin America; but now that Communism is dead, we now bomb "drug traffickers" in Latin America.)
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badgate
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« Reply #22 on: March 17, 2015, 04:49:45 PM »

Obama isn't snuffing anything here. He's repeating what has always been his boilerplate rhetoric on this issue.
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Mercenary
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« Reply #23 on: March 18, 2015, 12:32:21 AM »

It should be a high priority. Not because drugs themselves, but because any such anti-drug laws are the same kind of nonsense as say sodomy laws. They are all about controlling what someone can do in the privacy of their own house. Don't obey? State sanctioned violence comes to your door and throws you into the cage for dissenters.

Victimless "crimes" shouldn't even be crimes at all. They are all just as important as anything the Obama said. It is all about the bigger element of privacy rights.
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shua
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« Reply #24 on: March 18, 2015, 12:48:07 AM »

So, Obama can instantly get Congress and state governments to move on an issue?  Give me a break.  This is such a dumb article.

If President Obama came out in support of legalizing marijuana, it would only make it a more partisan issue.  And, we all know how Republicans love sabotaging social progress to spite President Obama.  Right, now the marijuana legalization movement benefits from an alliance between libertarians and liberals.  Obama's name could turn marijuana into more of a racial and partisan issue.

This is still a generational issue and some people just see marijuana as "drugs" and therefore on par with heroin and PCP.  That older crowd also actually votes unlike many of the marijuana legalization boosters. 

I didn't see anything in the article criticizing Obama for not single-handedly legalizing pit. Maybe the headline is a bit hyperbolic, but it was trying to be clever. You are unfortunately correct that Obama pushing legalization would harm it by unwittingly turning it into a partisan issue, and he's smart not to take it on. But for him to say that the issue itself should not be of great importance to young people is unnecessary and suggests he doesn't fully grasp the harm of current drug policy.
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