President Stoner...

[Spike89]

4. A little reality might help

I get that our drug laws (especially pot) are seriously flawed. However, it really isn't a topic that I expect Obama to come at "fairly". He is, as you have noticed, our first black president. You can throw all the other details into the mix (a fiscal meltdown, partisan deadlock, health care...) but really it boils down to race and perceptions.
Just like it took a republican to go to communist China, it will take someone you don't expect to reform pot laws. Obama can't, in my opinion, seem to be soft on the failed drug war. He couldn't really get big changes through congress anyway, but even trying, or appearing lax on pot would make it way too easy for the right to make a case that the President is a stoner, favors "his own" people, and other racial garbage.
Of course, they'll keep trying to do it anyway, but Obama simply can't afford to make it easier for their sick arguments to sway the middle/soft left. It is sad, but the truth is that race still very much affects the upcoming elections. It is possible that as a lame duck president, given a neutral or pro-reform congress, he could very well surprise everyone in a second term.
It might be hypocrisy, but it is also realistic politics.