Felony Friday: When It Comes to Pot Prohibition, Obama’s Rhetoric Confuses
In David Remnick’s recent New Yorker interview with President Obama he quoted the President as saying:
I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol.
Is this the same guy that had his federal cronies’ raid legal medical marijuana dispensaries in Washington and California? This statement seems to imply that he has changed his attitude. Last time I checked alcohol and cigarettes are legal throughout the land.President Obama’s rhetoric appears to aim at loosening the noose placed around the neck of those serving time for non-violent drug “crimes”. Maybe the President has miraculously decided to use the remaining two years of his presidency to right the wrongs of his predecessors and allow individuals to choose if they would like to ingest cannabis. Perhaps a light bulb has gone off and President Obama now realizes the inhuman behavior of the State which infringes upon the liberty of individuals and locks them in a cage due to possession of a plant.There is no doubt that it is a positive for liberty that the President of the United State would make such a statement regarding a federally prohibited substance. The President must have left his guard down for a moment allowing his long subdued common sense to make an appearance. As the interview continued Obama tried hard to reel-in his strong pro pot declaration.Remnick followed up the President’s comments by asking point-blank if marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol. To put it mildly, President Obama’s answer was not a ringing endorsement for liberating cannabis on a federal level.The President began with a self-aggrandizing claim that he told his daughters smoking weed is a “waste of time, not very healthy.”Obama continued to appear open to ending marijuana prohibition later in his response. Perhaps he was feeling guilty for the copious amounts of pot he smoked without repercussions as part of his "Choom Gang" in high school when he said:
We should not be locking up kids or individual users for long stretches of jail time when some of the folks who are writing those laws have probably done the same thing.
As he continued, the President proceeded to forfeit any equity he had built with legalization activists by invoking the mysterious “line” that must be drawn by the government, because if the State didn’t prohibit some activities or products we would all surely perish. The President said ,
I also think that, when it comes to harder drugs, the harm done to the user is profound and the social costs are profound. And you do start getting into some difficult line-drawing issues. If marijuana is fully legalized and at some point folks say, well, we can come up with a negotiated dose of cocaine that we can show is not any more harmful than vodka, are we open to that? If somebody says, We’ve got a finely calibrated dose of meth, it isn’t going to kill you or rot your teeth, are we O.K. with that?
In case you got lost in the political translation of the Presidents views on marijuana, the President basically said pot is no worse than alcohol or cigarettes, but he does not want his daughters to smoke it, because it’s a waste of time and unhealthy. This must mean that Obama also refuses to allow his daughters watch television, play video games, eat fast food, or drink sugary beverages because these activities are all unhealthy or a waste of time.The President also reveals that he feels a bit guilty about locking people in a cage with felony convictions that essentially extinguish the opportunity for a productive life. There's no doubt his sympathetic view is rooted in his past. As I mentioned previously, he was no stranger to pot in his younger days. Obama’s response also indicates that other legislators who dabbled with weed before should feel guilty as well.President Obama then quickly calmed any enthusiasm from the beginning of the interview when he issued a warning that legalizing marijuana could lead to the legalization of cocaine, that is “less harmful than vodka” and meth that “doesn’t kill you or rot your teeth.”This begs the question: what the heck are you smoking Barack?The nation is at a tipping point in the battle to legalize marijuana. Two states have legalized recreational use and two more could pass laws to legalize recreational use this year. In addition, at least eleven states have legislation in the works to legalize medical marijuana, decriminalize the drug, or legalize the recreational use. History is happening around us.Carpe Diem President Obama! It is time to stop with the wishy-washy answers and end the political double-speak that pretends to appease both the growing majority that favor legalization and the minority special interest at the pharmaceutical companies that pay to keep cannabis out. The American people are going to win this battle with or without President Obama’s help. It would be politically hard-headed for Obama to miss an opportunity to go down as the President that pushed through the legislation that ended marijuana prohibition.Check out our past editions of Felony Friday!Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
