Obama President! will he legalize the weed?

[beejun]

will Obama legalize marijuana?

[cantona7]

probably not

[LeviInAtl]

Pipe dreams

[geoffk]

No way. I don't think any prez would do that. Although maybe a prez could lay off harassing the dispensaries.

[NirvanaEJ]

yeah not going to happen but the voters of Massachussets passed a cannabis decrim bill for possession of an ounce or less, taking away threat of arrest and and replacing it with a $100 fine. so now the east coast has a new vacation spot.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaki ... p_Emailed4

A medical cannabis law was also passed in Michigan making it the 12 or 13th state with such laws, up next, NY.

[rks0]

Most definitely not.

[courtjester]

Legalize? Probably not.

Decriminalize through reclassification or outright elimination under the federal drug schedule, thereby leaving cannabis as a state's-rights issue? If Obama is a two-term president, I would bet money that there will be a Democrat-led effort in that very direction. I also would bet that you won't hear a peep about any such effort before Nov. 6, 2012.

My second Jimmy Carter reference of the day, but here goes: Other than an economy ravaged by inflation and a mishandled Iranian hostage crisis, his other big political mistake was declaring that cannabis is essentially benign and should be decriminalized. His reasoning, you may recall, was that punishment for use of an illegal drug should not be more harmful than the drug itself.

It was brilliantly simple reasoning -- and the country absolutely wasn't ready for it. He was pilloried for it, though his real blunder was not waiting until after the 1980 election to voice his views. Carter is old guard by age but was always new guard by thinking. Any of us who graduated college with the help of grant money provided by his vision is eternally grateful for him.

Give it four years, guys. Look at the progress of the last decade. Of the last three decades. And don't say no president would ever do this, because never and always are two very difficult thresholds. In time, this will happen, and people will look back upon this draconian approach to drugs and wonder what the hell was wrong with us. No different, in that way, than how we look at slavery or prohibition.

[sonicblue]

Obama went to Harvard Law School so he understands how to "use" laws. He will not "legalize" but he has mentioned a preference for a top down approach to the "War on Drugs". He intends to shift focus away from marijuana to other drugs like "Meth" which he specifically mentioned.

Shifting DEA responsibilities away from marijuana to other hard drugs allows Obama to remain "tough" on drugs while removing the greatest harm from using marijuana - arrest.

Plus:

Republican Ron Paul and several other Democrats have already proposed a States Rights bill regarding marijuana laws. The new government will likely support this bill and other States Rights initiatives. Oddly with the shift of power to the left, the right wing will support States Rights issues to create pockets of conservatism. So it will probably still suck for marijuana smokers in the "Red" states while us "Blue" states like California will see something that you could call legalized.

Current penalty in California for 28.5 grams or less = $100 fine.

[chopitup]

Two amusing (to me) quotes often repeated during the campaign on a local youth radio station (in Australia), which parodied the election, came from Mr Obama.

The first was, "I like pie".

The second went something like "yes I inhaled frequently, that was the point".

There's a link to Obama's views on cannabis reform on you tube (in case it hasn't already been highlighted) here;

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=9flhDmz7K ... ent_717121

[SourDLoveR]

That's not what Obama believed in. He wanted world peace and he won this election because everyone hated bush and Mccain was another bush so no way was he going to win over this election.

I myself voted Obama but don't think he ever made a statement about marijuana if he did idk if he would be president

[NirvanaEJ]

I myself voted Obama but don't think he ever made a statement about marijuana if he did idk if he would be president

dude, go on youtube and look it up, ive seen the videos of obama talking about recreational and medical pot use, the further back in time you go, the more vocal he was. but im sure his ppl told him to stop talking about it once he became the nominee.

[islandgurl]

Two amusing (to me) quotes often repeated during the campaign on a local youth radio station (in Australia), which parodied the election, came from Mr Obama.

The first was, "I like pie".

The second went something like "yes I inhaled frequently, that was the point".

There's a link to Obama's views on cannabis reform on you tube (in case it hasn't already been highlighted) here;

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=9flhDmz7K ... ent_717121

Great stuff, chop, thank you. First time seeing that for me, quite informative.

[Twitch]

Not only did Tuesday's election produce two major marijuana policy victories — MPP's sweeping wins in Michigan and Massachusetts — but we also saw signs of progress in Congress and the White House.

President-elect Barack Obama has said — often in response to questioning from MPP — that he does not support the federal government arresting medical marijuana patients in states where medical marijuana is legal.

As recently as Monday of this week, his campaign said: "Many states have laws that condone medical marijuana, but the Bush Administration is using federal drug enforcement agents to raid these facilities and arrest seriously ill people. Focusing scarce law enforcement resources on these patients who pose no threat while many violent and highly dangerous drug traffickers are at large makes no sense. Senator Obama will not continue the Bush policy when he is president."

The congressional landscape also changed for the better. With several contests still undecided, the Democrats are likely to pick up at least 23 new seats in the House of Representatives — 21 of which belonged to medical marijuana opponents in the last Congress. And three senators who opposed medical marijuana were replaced with newcomers who have already voted or spoken out in favor of protecting medical marijuana patients.

Some of Congress' most outspoken medical marijuana opponents lost their seats, like Congressman Tom Feeney (R-Fla.), Congressman Ric Keller (R-Fla.), and Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.). In fact, on the Democratic side, every single incumbent who lost Tuesday consistently opposed protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest and jail.

And candidates who are close allies of MPP won spots in the House of Representatives, like Nevada state Sen. Dina Titus (D), a strong supporter of medical marijuana access.

There is still more work to do in coming election cycles, of course. MPP's team on Capitol Hill will be working to ensure that presidential appointees (like the head of the DEA and the drug czar) are aligned with the commitment to marijuana policy reform that President-elect Obama expressed on the campaign trail. And we expect that medical marijuana legislation will be introduced in 2009, presenting an enormous opportunity to protect medical marijuana patients at the federal level.
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[Puffin13]

Good info in your post, Twitch! Thanks.

[islandgurl]

the Democrats are likely to pick up at least 23 new seats in the House of Representatives — 21 of which belonged to medical marijuana opponents in the last Congress. And three senators who opposed medical marijuana were replaced with newcomers who have already voted or spoken out in favor of protecting medical marijuana patients.

Woohoo! ::::::::::::::: doing the Snoopy Dance.

Thanks for the cool info., Twitch.