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Obama Ignores Pot-Related Questions In Monday's Online Chat

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by Hightop, Jan 30, 2012.

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  1. Hightop

    Hightop Member

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    Obama is a complete joke.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/30/obama-mar1juana-online-chat_n_1242907.html?ref=tw

    01/30/2012 9:08 pm

    WASHINGTON, DC -- President Barack Obama in an online "conversation" with American voters on Monday, failed to answer a barrage of questions about mar1juana legalization or the drug war.

    Although 18 out of 20 of the most popular questions submitted by voters via YouTube were about the drug war or pot, the president in his 45-minute post-State of the Union chat didn't address a single one.

    "It is disappointing that, yet again, the administration has declined the opportunity to discuss the very serious issue of ending mar1juana prohibition," Erik Altieri, spokesman for National Organization for the Reform of mar1juana Laws, wrote in an email. "For the ninth time, the White House has solicited the American people for direct input on the issues they cared about and then, when the resulting answers called overwhelmingly for mar1juana law reform, President Obama ignores the will of the American people on this burning issue."

    Google, which moderated the event from 5:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m., did not immediately respond to a query about why such questions were excluded. YouTube, a division Google, allowed users until Saturday midnight to designate a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" on questions submitted ahead of Monday's chat. Questions with the most thumbs up were deemed the most popular.

    While the president did find time to talk about a whole host of less weighty questions, including ones about late-night snacks, dancing and his tennis skills, a response to a top-rated question submitted by Stephen Downing, the retired deputy chief of police in Los Angeles, was conspicuously absent.

    Dowling's question, which garnered more than 4,500 votes, ranked first in popularity among questions submitted via video and second out of all questions. He asked the president to address a growing voter constituency that wants more changes to drug policy than he has delivered in his first term. "From my 20 years of experience I have come to see our country’s drug policies as a failure and a complete waste of criminal justice resources," Dowling had said in his video.

    Later commenting on his question's being ignored in Monday night's chat, Downing, a board member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, wrote, "It's worse than silly that YouTube and Google would waste the time of the president and of the American people discussing things like midnight snacks and playing tennis when there is a much more pressing question on the minds of the people who took the time to participate in voting on submissions."

    "A majority of Americans now support legalizing mar1juana to de-fund cartels and gangs, lower incarceration and arrest rates and save scarce public resources, all while generating new much-needed tax revenue," Downing added. "The time to discuss this issue is now. We're tired of this serious public policy crisis being pushed aside or laughed off."

    This isn't the first time the issue of drug policy has dominated online contests soliciting questions from the president only to be ignored. In last year's "Your Interview with the President" competition, Obama did discuss the issue, however, calling legalization and regulation of mar1juana and other drugs "an entirely legitimate topic for debate" and adding that he remained opposed to legalization of medical mar1juana.

    Medical mar1juana activists are wondering what happened to the candidate who promised to maintain a hands-off approach toward pot clinics' adhering to state law.

    "I will be voting in the Republican primary in California, and I will be voting for one of the candidates who supports our position on medical cannabis," said Steve DeAngelo, executive director of California-based Harborside Health Center told The Huffington Post in a recent interview. "I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of other medical cannabis patients join me."

    "There's a real opening here for Republicans," he said.

    A White House spokesman, when asked for comment about why no mar1juana-related questions were addressed on Monday, noted that the event had been moderated by Google and the president was merely answering questions posed to him.

    Watch Downing ask his question below.

    <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/J0IpiATxdR4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
     
    #1 Hightop, Jan 30, 2012
  2. CCorn

    CCorn Member

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    Obama was for legalization of drugs earlier in his career, but someone behind the scenes got him to change his views. Best for him to just ignore the questions and let someone else discuss it.
     
    #2 CCorn, Jan 30, 2012
  3. MoonDogg

    MoonDogg Member

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    [​IMG]
     
    #3 MoonDogg, Jan 30, 2012
  4. Bandwagoner

    Bandwagoner Member

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    No I think it was David Axelrod. He knew that Obama's stance in this and gun control would major problems politically. It is pretty bad that Obama has came so far off his original stance on this though since he was talking about it in his campaign.
     
    #4 Bandwagoner, Jan 30, 2012
  5. rimbaud

    rimbaud Member
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    Not that this is in any way what is going on, but if I were running for a second term as a Democrat I would never talk about legalizing pot until after I was re-elected (and I also would not bring it up my first term if I wanted two). It would be jumped on so fast by conservatives during the presidential race as a way to show how much of a commie I was that it would be too much of a risk.

    I would guess that Obama's opinion is still that legalization is better but he will probably never bring it up because he is too concerned with being middle-right.
     
    #5 rimbaud, Jan 31, 2012
  6. DonnyMost

    DonnyMost Member
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    Disappointing, but considering every politician in the US would do the same thing, I can't say I'm surprised, nor am I going to single Obama out for it.
     
    #6 DonnyMost, Jan 31, 2012
  7. Rashmon

    Rashmon Member

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    What? Are you trying to be rational in a hightop thread?

    Don't you know that he is sick and evil and assassinating babies and imprisoning puppies and poisoning angels and building a death star?
     
    #7 Rashmon, Jan 31, 2012
  8. B-Bob

    B-Bob "94-year-old self-described dreamer"
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    Lost in all of this is how cool it is to have a president who actually has press conferences and on-line chats, etc. You know, love him or hate him, he talks to the citizenry.
     
    #8 B-Bob, Jan 31, 2012
  9. QdoubleA

    QdoubleA Member

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    This is how you know the president is going to get a second term, this is the kind of stuff these guys are complaining about. He didn't answer the online question???? "Obama is a JOKE"!
     
    #9 QdoubleA, Jan 31, 2012
  10. jo mama

    jo mama Member

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    "every politician"? last time i checked there was a politician who happens to be running for president who says mar1juana should be legalized.

    and remember, it was obama who was making fun of people for bringing up this issue.

    <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vg95RiBPsRM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

    he didnt answer the online question that generated the most votes and instead talked about what he eats for lunch and other pointless fluff.
     
    #10 jo mama, Jan 31, 2012
  11. rimbaud

    rimbaud Member
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    Yeah I didn't really know the history of the poster before replying. Just trying to be rational before people try to get too hyperbolic. Obvious mistake, I know but personally that is how I would handle such a situation if I wanted to be prez. Of course, I would lie a ton during the campaign and then start a libertarian socialist utopia once in office. I am cool that way.
     
    #11 rimbaud, Jan 31, 2012
  12. thadeus

    thadeus Member

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    I hope Obama does what G.W. Bush did - get re-elected, and then go hogwild trying to implement all the stuff he didn't think he could get away with during his first term.
     
    #12 thadeus, Jan 31, 2012
  13. CCorn

    CCorn Member

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    I think it will be another 15 years until legalization is taken seriously. The old school elites need to be gone and baby boomers completely in their place. When the people that grew up in the 70s are the rich old people with all the money and influence I think it will happen.
     
    #13 CCorn, Jan 31, 2012
  14. MoonDogg

    MoonDogg Member

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    That's what we said 15 years ago and it hasn't happened yet. The problem is the beer, pharmaceutical and other lobbyists. It's all about money. Even the old time pot growers in cali helped vote prop 19 down awhile back, because they didn't want prices to drop. Same ****, different decade. Although Colorado already has one legalization measure on the ballot this year and is looking to add another. So maybe they can do what cali couldn't'...kick down the damn door. I don't think it will ever come from the federal level until enough states legalize it first.
     
    #14 MoonDogg, Jan 31, 2012
  15. SuperBeeKay

    SuperBeeKay Member

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    That is what JFK intended to do from what I've read
     
    #15 SuperBeeKay, Jan 31, 2012
  16. Dairy Ashford

    Dairy Ashford Member

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    I doubt it; bigger cities have practically banned public, office and even some residential consumption of tobacco: not sure how mar1juana would get de-regulated in the process.
     
    #16 Dairy Ashford, Feb 1, 2012
  17. Mathloom

    Mathloom Shameless Optimist

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    Once he's sealed the re-election, we'll hear him speak up about this. He still won't do anything. But he'll take questions at least. That's what happens when Being President takes precedence over Doing What Presidents Should Do.
     
    #17 Mathloom, Feb 1, 2012
  18. da_juice

    da_juice Member

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    Maybe something similar to tobacco, you can do it in your home, and in certain places, but you can't smoke it in public, there's an age limit, and the government hands out pamphlets saying nnot to do it.

    So pretty much decriminalizing what most people do.
     
    #18 da_juice, Feb 1, 2012
  19. CCorn

    CCorn Member

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    My senior political science seminar professor was talking about the conspiracies about all the money tied up in the illegal drug business. Said he heard that the banking industry might make big $$ laundering money for drug dealers. 50 billion a year is quite a bit haha. When I have spare time I want to jump into some CATO articles and read more about it.
     
    #19 CCorn, Feb 1, 2012
  20. GladiatoRowdy

    GladiatoRowdy Member

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    http://stopthedrugwar.com has a wealth of articles going back years. Their newsletter is awesome.
     
    #20 GladiatoRowdy, Feb 1, 2012
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