Pres Obama, were you opposed to marijuana when a joint was hanging from your own mouth?

[Union Yes]

As you exhaled that scented mix of skunk, pine, and blueberry and developed a case of the munchies, were you thinking, damn I hope the feds show up and arrest me for sparking up a plant that grows naturally in almost all 50 states.

Yep, I'm saying that our President has gotten baked at some point in his life.

Just once Mr President, I'd like you to tell the American people the actual cost of incarcerating non-violent pot offenses. The cost of locking up people for non-violent pot violations.

Please, put a price tag on that Mr President. The cost to our federal govt. The cost to state and local govts. The cost of incarceration isn't just dollars. Daddy getting locked up in prison for buying a small bag of dope. Families get ripped apart because of this bullshit.

Please tell us the cost, Mr President.

Imprison war criminals, banksters, mass polluters. Not pot smokers!

Mr Pres, you hit-n-passed off a J. Then you went on to win several elections. Including President of the U.S.

It's time for a POT SUMMIT at the WH with the President and VP, marijuana, and peace activists. And yes, I'm 100% serious.

Drug test Washington D.C.

[Andy823]

1. It's all politics

The right is using all kinds of lies to try and make him look bad, if he came out and supported making pot legal, they would have field day attacking him on this. I don't think any president would back making pot legal, but when enough states do so, it will come to be, and that's the best way to do it. If you want it legal get it on the ballot in your state!

[Bullet1987]

20. They're having a field day attacking him NOW lol!!

[glitch]

26. If he came out supporting legalization the right would continue to smear him but he'd have support

from the left. As it is now his position is lose lose, because the right will never support him on anything.

Furthermore when he takes up their banner they just get madder.

[sabrina 1]

60. True regarding him having support from the left. But I think he'd

have a lot of support from the right also. One of the issues that many of the rightwingers I have fought with never argued with me about was the drug war. Most don't agree with it.

He'd have a lot of support and if Limbaugh dared to attack him for it, the entire country would have a good laugh.

At this point, I'm beginning to believe that the president is just an employee of whoever really runs this country. They give him a list of jobs he has to get done once he wins the election.

I don't believe a candidate will even make it to through the primaries unless it has been established that s/he will be willing to do the job asked of them.

We the people play no role in the whole process other than pick someone from among the already approved-of applicants, none of which were chosen by the people to begin with. That final choice gives the illusion of a democratic process.

There is no other explanation for the way Obama the Candidate morphed into the person who is now president.

[glitch]

62. Very true. The only "people" supporting the war on drugs are Corporate

and Corporate-controlled government agencies, whether it's pharma or prison industry it's all about taking PROFIT on the backs of taxpayers.

[MindandSoul]

2. This may come as a surprise to you, but many of us realize as we mature

that some of the actions or habits we thought were "cool" or perfectly fine when we were teenagers, were not exactly the best for ourselves or for society. . .I think that's call "growing up?"

[madmax]

4. +1

[meow mix]

6. fine, round up americans like dogs and throw them in cages.

for something thats less harmful than cigs and alcohol.

glad to know you have such "mature priorities" lol idiot

[ixion]

7. Uh, so you think that throwing pot smokers in jail is good for society and 'mature'?

You have an odd sense of the definition, if you think it's 'mature' and 'best' to ruin peoples lives for smoking a naturally-occurring, non-toxic, non-lethal plant.

[katandmoon]

8. So it's called growing up when Obama admin does it...what was it was called when BushCo did it?

[Union Yes]

9. Maturity has little to do with the issue.

I'm HIV+ and have a medical need. Incarcerating non-violent offenders is a disgrace.

This goes way beyond maturity.

[MindandSoul]

47. My post was mostly related to the childish attack on Obama

I realize that that subject is the focus of this thread, but it is the first, silly and insensitive remarks about Obama's past history with smoking pot that I found childish and not constructive at all.

But it seems that A LOT of people seem to be judging me without knowing anything about me.

The first thing I do know is that, in most States, as a person with AIDS, you do have access to medical marijuana. . .and many other legal drugs to help you with your symptoms.

I have worked with several people with AIDS (at a time when AIDS was still a death sentence . . .and when an average of 5 of my clients died every month). Even at that time (1995/96)the county where I was working for the AIDS project DID allow medical marijuana. . .so I do know a little about it.
I have also written an extensive research paper on marijuana. . .that came out mostly on the positive side.
I have "tried" smoking pot exactly twice in my life (didn't really affect me. . .but I am a non-smoker so I was probably not inhaling completely. . . so someone offered to bake "brownies" for me. . .and it made me sick!) and that was the end of my "experimentation."
I have also worked with the mental health population so I am quite familiar with psychotropic drugs. . .and their interactions with both alcohol and marijuana. . .and that many people with mental illness (either undiagnosed or with a diagnosis that is not accepted by the person) are self-medicating with either or both alcohol and marijuana.
Although I do not personally know any one addicted to alcohol (with the exception of some of my former mental health or AIDS clients), I and many of my friends/ family do enjoy a glass of wine several times a week, and I wouldn't like giving that up, although it wouldn't be a huge issue either.

And, I am a cancer survivor.

So. . .basically I am NOT necessarely against legalization of marijuana. . .But it is certainly true that marijuana often leads (especially in very young people) to harder drugs. . .so, where do we stop???

Should the next step be to legalize meth???
Where does "liberalization" of drugs stops? Or does it?

I don't have the answer, I am open to an intelligent discussion about it. . .but, give me a break. . .it is not because someone has been an occasional pot user at some point in his/her life that he/she cannot look at the negative side of it. . .without being called a hypocrite. . .even if he is President!

And, I believe that insulting or demeaning anyone who doesn't necessarely jump on the band wagon to legalize marijuana is certainly not the smartest way to proceed!

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

11. Apparently for you 'growing up' does NOT equal 'growing wise"

If you smoked cannabis to be "cool" you were an idiot....it appears as though not much has changed. Carry on with your bad self, you brave internet warrior....

Seriously, do you realize how ridiculous and self-servingly arrogant your reply is? Do you ever bother to read matrial that contradicts what you have been taught?

Some people seem to have a mind like a sphincter: it only opens for long enough to release a giant turd.

[Tsiyu]

42. +1000

Some of us don't need to be cool.

We need to have an appetite so that we can maintain a semblance of a healthy weight.

We need to have our flashbacks, anxiety and nightmares tamed.

We need to get a decent night's sleep without waking up all groggy.

And we need a substance which will help with these ( and many other conditions) which does not cause suicidal tendencies, extreme weight gain or explosive diarrhea.

Gosh, aren't we so immature? Why don't we just grow up and WISH all our health troubles away lalala?

Some people's ignorant cruelty really makes me dislike humans and their judgemental arrogance....

[MindandSoul]

48. From your reply, I would say that at the least, you are a living testimony that

whatever cannabis does. . .it doesn't make you brighter or more civilized. . .and it doesn't help with your spelling either!

[EFerrari]

16. What does that have to do with smoking pot?

[Oregone]

22. The older I get, the more I like pot

Hell, I was a square when I was a teenager compared to now. The pain and stress relief it brings me is invaluable...maybe we can talk about it over a beer sometime?

[patrice]

25. Do you, or anyone you respect, drink? nt

[glitch]

28. And then someone you love will get cancer or MS and you'll mature again.nt

[MindandSoul]

46. My comment didn't refer to whether pot should be legalized or not.

I realize that that subject is the focus of this thread, but it is the first, silly and insensitive remarks about Obama's past history with smoking pot that I found childish and not constructive at all.

And. . .I am a cancer survivor.
I have worked with several people with AIDS (at a time when AIDS was still a death sentence . . .and when an average of 5 of my clients died every month). Even at that time (1995/96)the county where I was working for the AIDS project DID allow medical marijuana. . .so I do know a little about it.
I have also written an extensive research paper on marijuana. . .that came out mostly on the positive side.
I have "tried" smoking pot exactly twice in my life (didn't really affect me. . .but I am a non-smoker so I was probably not inhaling completely. . . so someone offered to bake "brownies" for me. . .and it made me sick!) and that was the end of my "experimentation."
Although I do not personally know any one addicted to alcohol, I and many of my friends/ family do enjoy a glass of wine several times a week, and I wouldn't like giving that up, although it wouldn't be a huge issue either.

So. . .basically I am NOT necessarely against legalization of marijuana. . .But it is certainly true that marijuana often leads (especially in very young people) to harder drugs. . .so, where do we stop???

Should the next step be to legalize meth???
Where does "liberalization" of drugs stops? Or does it?

I don't have the answer, I am open to an intelligent discussion about it. . .but, give me a break. . .it is not because someone has been an occasional pot user at some point in his/her life that he/she cannot look at the negative side of it. . .without being called a hypocrite. . .even if he is President!

[G_j]

29. yep, full prisons are much better for society

[Forkboy]

33. Could non-pot smokers be just a little more sanctimonious?

[QC]

43. Not this one! n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

45. I haven't smoked it in years

and I'm more convinced than ever that it should be legal, regulated, and taxed.

And I have to say, I think the winds are blowing in that direction more than they have in my lifetime; that's why the drug warriors and their apologists are squealing so much.

[ZombieHorde]

74. I think MindandSoul was mostly disturbed by the attack on President Obama.

President Obama is obviously wrong on a handful of subjects and no real defense can be offered.

This means one has to either accept President Obama is a flawed human being, attack the messenger, or develop strange logic such as "keeping the powder dry."

But I guess if we all just agreed President Obama was wrong on the subjects of gay marriage; pot; and offshore drilling, while being excellent on the subjects of jobs; diplomacy; and science, DU would not be as much fun.

[Rex]

36. Well that is nice, but it has nothing to do with the OP.

Nice try at the teen crap, old people smoke weed...far older and wiser than you I would bet. What did you expect for posting such rubbish?

[MindandSoul]

72. I very much doubt that, Rex! . . .I wouldn't be surprise if we were close to the same age!

But flattery will get you (almost. .) anywhere! LOL

[RainDog]

37. there's nothing mature about upholding racist laws based upon lies

the prohibition of mj is based upon racism. the law stems from racism.

if racism is a sign of maturity, well, that's just another lie, isn't it?

police officers support legalization because the crime associated with this prohibition is CAUSED by the prohibition. NOT the thing itself.

it is stupid to support prohibition and thus crime.

this is one of the most ridiculous posts I've ever read about a reason to support prohibition. those who support prohibition and call it maturity are, in fact, uninformed and, frankly, stupid.

[patrice]

38. Do you, or anyone you respect, take psychoactive prescription drugs of any type?

[Warren DeMontague]

44. This may come as a surprise to you, but prohibition is FUCKING STUPID and DOESN'T WORK.

I say that as someone who "matured" out of pot smoking AND alcohol drinking- alcohol, mind you, being the far more dangerous, deadly and destructive of the two by any rational analysis...

nevertheless, I am fully convinced that alcohol AND pot should be legal, regulated, taxed and available to consenting adults.

[miscsoc]

49. clarify how pot prohibition benefits society

seriously.

[MindandSoul]

50. I am still undecided on this issue, as I said on a previous post. . .

But I do not believe that attacking anyone because they are not ready to jump on the bandwagon to legalize marijuana is NOT the way to go.

You asked a clear, intelligent question. . .much more effective than attempts to insult and belittle our President by using childish, immature remarks that bring NOTHING to the debate table!

If you are interested in how I feel about this issue and why. . .please refer to my earlier post.

[Romulox]

56. The default position when one is "undecided" is to NOT incarcerate people for a victimless "crime"

Arguing that you're "just not ready' to stop persecuting is not an acceptable argument, let alone one deserving respect.

[MindandSoul]

70. Where did you get that I was for incarceration of people using and/or growing marijuana

for PERSONAL use????

Or for supplying marijuana to registered medical clinics?


Do I believe that marijuana "merchants" should be punished? . . .yes, until the law clearly state that marijuana can be marketed and distributed as "cigarettes" or "alcohol." And this stil requires some talk about the "limitations" of such an open market!

[Romulox]

73. That's the status quo. You were speaking in defense of it just now.

Obviously pot isn't the only thing that contributes to a short attention span. Watch a lot of TV, do you?

[Mike K]

53. In case you believe that only adolescents use marijuana -

- and do so to be "cool" you are as mistaken as you are ignorant and deluded.

I am 74 years old and I resent the fact that I am prohibited from enjoying the tranquilizing benefits available from marijuana while most of the sonsabitches who facilitate this outrageous prohibition routinely enjoy drinking alcohol, which is infinitely worse in every way.

How "cool" is that?

[Romulox]

55. And then we jail young people for the "mistakes" that we got away scot free with?

That's called "hypocrisy", not "growing up". I have no idea what the basis of your confusion is.

[krabigirl]

61. lmao..I bet you are also against medical marijuana. Reefer madness, anyone?

[MindandSoul]

71. You have obviously not read my posts. . . and you are jumping to the wrong conclusion

but since I do not care to repeat myself again, and I do not mind what you think. . .I will leave it at that, Kraby!!!!

[sabrina 1]

69. I think that's true of most people when they mature. But

if we made everything young people do illegal, most would get to mature behind bars.

The drug war is a complete failure as far as stopping people from doing drugs.

But it's been a great success for the prison industrial.

Education works far better than prison as everyone knows.

Another sign of maturity btw, is being capable of disagreeing with the leader of your own team when s/he does something wrong, just as easily as you would if it was the leader of the other team who did it.

If the laws Obama is now apparently supporting had been in effect when he was young and not yet mature enough to make good decisions, he might never have made it in this life, as prison has a way of destroying young lives.

We should be protecting young peope from the horrors of our prison system and I find it appalling that a Democrat would even consider putting even more people in jail for doing something that most teenagers do as part of growing up.

One in every one hundred Americans now spend time in jail. Is this a mature society or a society badly in need of change?

[msongs]

3. America's police welfare industry would have to find something useful to do then nt

[Jennicut]

5. I am for legalization but does everyone have the same views they did at 20 as they

do in their late 40's? I am 34 now and smoked pot when I was 21, 22. I have two kids now and it would be really inappropriate to do it around them (and I take care of them by myself a lot).
It is either politics or he changed his mind as he got older.

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

13. what the hell does that have to do with anything?

Fer Chrissakes, how does your choice not to smoke around your kids mean we should continue to waste billions of dollars a year and lock millions of innocent people in federal prison?

What an incredibly asinine and myopic response. Try looking beyond yourself for once.

Pathetic.

[Jennicut]

19. Some people change their minds the older they get is my point.

And I am for legalization. I put that in my post. I am actually for legalizing all drugs though many people have a very reactionary stance on that...locking people up for it is moronic and does not help them if they need treatment for addiction. And with pot, well it is not the type of drug that people need treatment for.

I won't touch the stuff anymore now that I am older for various reasons. Perhaps Obama changed his mind further then that. I think his views on this are stupid, but some people do go further to the right on things the older they get. Not an excuse for him, just perhaps an explanation. You wanted to know why he is so different now then when he was a 20 something. That could be your answer. Or there is always the politics of the situation. Legalizing marijuana is still split in this country, not surprisingly by age. The older you are the more likely you are against it. My question is how to people go from not using it any longer as they get older to being totally against it. That happens a lot.

[glitch]

30. That's where I am coming from. I don't care for it recreationally, and I don't expect everyone to

share my views on that. But I saw how beneficial it was medicinally and I find the people who want to keep it criminalized very malevolent.

[stray cat]

10. Since I didn't vote one year do I have to be against voting?

[crikkett]

12. What crawled up your butt?

What prompted your rant?

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

15. my guess is the "rant" was prompted by a bit of light reading

Just a guess, though....

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/05/13/ap-impact-years... /

Updated May 13, 2010
AP IMPACT: After 40 years, $1 trillion, US War on Drugs has failed to meet any of its goals

Associated Press

MEXICO CITY

MEXICO CITY (AP) — After 40 years, the United States' war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of lives, and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence even more brutal and widespread.

Even U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske concedes the strategy hasn't worked.

"In the grand scheme, it has not been successful," Kerlikowske told The Associated Press. "Forty years later, the concern about drugs and drug problems is, if anything, magnified, intensified."

This week President Obama promised to "reduce drug use and the great damage it causes" with a new national policy that he said treats drug use more as a public health issue and focuses on prevention and treatment.

Nevertheless, his administration has increased spending on interdiction and law enforcement to record levels both in dollars and in percentage terms; this year, they account for $10 billion of his $15.5 billion drug-control budget.

[ThomThom]

67. yes and if we really want to keep it out of the hands of children

and teenagers we will legalize and sell it in a responsible way.

[Radical Activist]

14. You do know that Obama is already moving away from incarceration

as the focus of the drug war, right?
Nice overdramatic post though.

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

18. Totally! Hope! Change!

What this means is that young white people with medical cards will be able to medicate while young black and Latino men will continue to receive outrageously long federal prison sentences and emerge from incarceration as very real and dangerous criminals.

You believe the hype all you like, though. Some of us have been through all this bullshit too many times before.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ethan-nadelmann/why-endin...

Ethan Nadelmann

Why Ending Marijuana Prohibition Is a Racial Justice Issue

...Of all our drug law reform efforts, however, marijuana law reform should be at or near the top of our racial justice priorities. Why? Of the 1.8 million drug arrests made last year, 750,000 were for nothing more than possession of a small amount of marijuana. That represents more than 40% of all drug arrests. The best available national evidence indicates that blacks and whites use marijuana at similar rates - but that black people are three times more likely to be arrested for possessing marijuana.

Most of those arrested aren't immediately handed a lengthy sentence. But they are handcuffed, taken to jail, put into databases of criminal offenders, and often end up spending days, weeks, months and in some cases years behind bars. These arrests produce permanent criminal records that can disqualify people for jobs, housing, schooling and student loans. Those 750,000, I should note, don't include the untold thousands of people on parole and probation for other minor offenses who land in jail because they fail a drug test for marijuana or are caught with a joint.

[Radical Activist]

24. What "this" are you referring to when you type "what this means?"

Because the article you linked says the Senate just acted to reduce that inequality at Obama's request. It appears that Obama is doing exactly what you want, so your critical tone is confusing. Maybe going through "all this bullshit before" has left you too cynical to see what's happening?

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/may112010/drug-polic...

The Justice Department has played an important role in trying to reduce the absurdly harsh, and racially discriminatory, crack/powder mandatory minimum drug laws; Congress is likely to approve a major reform this year. DOJ also changed course on medical marijuana, letting state governments know that federal authorities would defer to their efforts to legally regulate medical marijuana under state law. And they approved the repeal of the ban on federal funding of syringe exchange programs to reduce HIV/AIDS, thereby indicating that science would at last be allowed to trump politics and prejudice even in the domain of drug policy.

[Mojorabbit]

39. He says that

but the funding does not match the words More for the cops and much less for treatment.

[Flaneur]

40. Funny, Obama's drug war budget looks just like Bush's drug war budget.

I will give him some credit for a change of tone and some tinkering at the edges, but no, Obama is still waging the war on drugs, even if he doesn't want to call it that.

[phleshdef]

65. We should still wage war on certain drugs.

Heroine, cocaine, crystal meth and black market pain killers all are drugs that I fully expect law enforcement to fight the spread of. I don't believe we should be locking up simple users. But we should definately be locking up dealers and traffickers.

My opinion has always been that if marijuana was decriminalized, all the resources wasted on fighting something relatively harmless to society could be focused on dealing with the stuff that people become physically dependent on and the stuff that people can easily overdose on.

[Mike K]

54. You do know that -

- Obama said he is moving away from incarceration. But do you know that Obama has said a lot of things, most of which has turned out to be bullshit.

You do know that -- right?

[SammyWinstonJack]

63. Almost ALL of what he said/says turns out to be bullshit.

[NNN0LHI]

17. Back when he smoked it was probably catnip leaves

Thats the way it was then.

Don

[Bluenorthwest]

21. Are you mad? He was a Hawaii local

They grew/grow the best there, and at the same time it was coming out in dribs to lucky mainlanders, and it was, to this day, some of the finest I have ever smoked. Back then, Oahu was dripping in it, and what the locals could access I can only dream of.
The west coast and Hawaii were filled with pot at that time, or 'back then' as you put it.

[Union Yes]

23. That rich, volcanic soil...

[meow mix]

32. maui wowie and puna go back to the early 60s, todays pot is the catnip leaf

to bad they believe so many of the govt lies

[Politicalboi]

51. You are sooooo right

The shit today doesn NOT compare to weed of the 70's and 80's. They give it fancy names and it smells good, but that's just about it. We had Thai, Maui Wowie, Skunk, and Columbian Gold. Kids today have no idea what it's like to get really blazed on kick ass pot.
I think they are trying to scare parents today who don't smoke anymore by telling them it's so much more powerful than it was 20 years ago. It IS a lie.

[Mike K]

59. That is absolutely true!

The first marijuana I ever smoked was on Okinawa when I was stationed there in 1957/58. Because I had no prior experience I couldn't appreciate it then, but it was amazingly potent.

It was grown by the natives in their rice paddies and we paid ten dollars (a U.S. greenback) and two cartons of Pall Mall cigarettes (that cost us a dollar a carton at the PX) for a #10 can packed to the brim with clean, seedless buds. Based on what I've been hearing from my son-in-law, who is a police lieutenant, the current street price of a pound of high quality marijuana ranges from $3,000 to $5,000, and a #10 can held at least a pound and a half.

And while I regularly used marijuana throughout the sixties and seventies, when it was decriminalized in New York City, I never came across any that came close to the potency of that incredible, purple Okinawa bud.

[MadBadger]

27. It is possible for people's views to change as they get older.

Nothing to do with maturity, just some people have a change of heart.

[G_j]

31. the heart to lock people up in prison

for a nonviolent "crime" that they once casually committed themselves. If he had been busted, we probably would never have even heard of Obama.

[glitch]

34. And change again when they get older still.

Quite a lot of the medical cannabis proponents are seniors.

[Romulox]

58. Then Obama must pay his debt to society. Time to turn himself in!!!! nt

[patrice]

35. Ha! Ha! Gidget Goes Hawaiian happens to be on TCM & guess what botanical motif is laminated

into the decorative lamps on the tables in the hotel dining room where Bobby Darren and his friends are having dinner with Gidget and her girl buddies?

You guessed it: leaves of Cannabis sativa.

[Greyhound]

41. K&R. Some of the comments on this thread have actually lowered the global IQ. n/t

[Fumesucker]

52. Clearly, Obama thinks it would have improved his own life to have been busted for pot..

And cocaine..

Because that is what he is advocating for today's young people, he wishes to improve their lives by giving them a police record which will keep them from ever following in his own meager footsteps.

I find it hilariously revealing that Obama remains a drug addict even today.

[Romulox]

57. We live in a "post-integrity" society--today's leaders feel no shame from hypocrisy

[Echo In Light]

66. Why should they?..it's not as if any of em are ever held accountable for anything

[Brickbat]

64. Error: you can only recommend threads which were started in the past 24 hours.

So I'll just kick it.

[ThomThom]

68. me too