Obama Opposes Legalizing Marijuana
By Wyatt Earp | March 27, 2009
Hey bud, let's party!
Did you hear that? That was Obama’s kook hippie base jumping off the bandwagon.
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama had some fun with at least one question at his online town hall, saying he doesn’t think legalizing marijuana is a good strategy for turning around the economy.
Obama told the audience Thursday that one of the most popular questions was whether legalization of the illicit drug would help pull the nation out of the recession. The president jokingly said: “I don’t know what this says about the online audience.”
In a serious response, he said he didn’t think that was a good economic policy. (H/T - Drudge)
Americans think that legalizing marijuana will pull us out of the recession? What are you people, on dope?!!
Topics: Evil = Funny |
March 27th, 2009 at 3:05 am
[...] Well, this is one thing I had hoped President Obama would do… Obama told the audience Thursday that one of the most popular questions was whether legalization of the illicit drug would help pull the nation out of the recession. The president jokingly said: “I don’t know what this says about the online audience.” - Support Your Local Gunfighter [...]
March 27th, 2009 at 10:02 am
The anwser is yes they are on dope.
March 27th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Oh…My…God… Are you telling me that he actually is doing the RIGHT THING? Faint
Marijuana won’t help the economy, but planting flowers in Chicago with the stimulus money will?
March 27th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Considering that marijuana is probably the largest cash crop in America, taking a small portion for state and local governments (i.e a tax), as well as pulling the profit out from criminal enterprises, would be a good thing. It’s not like corn is illegal because you can make moonshine from it. By the way Rick, don’t criticize people for being on dope when you spell “answer” wrong.
March 27th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Go ahead and legalize it. Who gives a crap? Alcohol’s legal and that kills way more people each year than weed.
March 27th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Rick - Or at least ’shrooms.
Elm - Or a “kitchen garden” on the White House lawn.
SFGoth - But would it pull the nation out of the recession, as the questioners alleged? I highly doubt it.
Randal - Not my primary point. My primary point was that people think its legalization will get us out of the recession. That’s idiocy.
And we should outlaw alcohol, too. Work has been stagnant lately, and we could use some bootlegging arrests.
March 27th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
SFGoth
Consider also that industries surrounding the prosecution, incarceration, rehabilitation, state-mandated “classes” and “counselling” of those caught with marijuana are multibillion dollar industries, all told. The immediate consequences would be devastating, as countless people work in these industries. Their jobs, billions of dollars worth, depend on marijuana being illegal. Judges, cops, attorneys, jail security companies (Wackenhut, etc), state-employed or -cliented psychologists and counsellors. People who print anti-marijuana materials and run anti-marijuana programs for use by schools.
You’d have to charge $10,000 a joint to make up for the resulting loss. People who think we can “just legalize and tax it” display the height of naivety.
March 27th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Ever been in a courtroom during arraignments? Every 10 minutes, every hour, in every courtroom in every county in the nation, five days a week, 8 hours a day, a gavel comes down with a fine of at LEAST $500, for possession of a small amount of MJ. Add to that the court costs and fees for each and every case.
Ain’t no tax gonna recoup this. Prohibition itself is a cash crop.
March 27th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Dems always side with the lawyers. And lawyers like that marijuana is illegal, becuase it makes them a lot of cash.
Note to potheads and other libertarians: Marijuana will never be legal. Wake up.
March 27th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Taqiyyotomist - Cannot agree with you more. And I enjoy arraignments for the pure fun of them. It’s better than Comedy Cental!
March 27th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Didn’t Hussein used to smoke da Ganja for years? How can he stand there and make fun of his fellow potheads?
March 27th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
To all those who want to legalized marijuana, and for that matter other drugs:
Ignoring the societal changes (good or bad) that will result from those actions, I have one question.
What do you think the gangs and cartels that now provide the illegal druges will do? Do you think they will say, oops, now I have to do something legal or do you think they will find some other means (which would probably be more harmful to society) to keep their incomes?
March 27th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Save us from recession? No.
Deflect and alter the course of history? Maybe.
Consider that a large majority of cartel profit comes from weed. Legalize it, license the growers and tax the product, and you accomplish a couple of things:
- reduce the funds available to the smugglers and their organizations. By DEA estimates, the removal of weed profits would remove THE major portion of their industry. Gone in nothing flat. This alone at a time of crisis might shift the balance of power back to the authorities.
- The redirection of law enforcement to more critical areas. Right now no one worries. We get hit big again, and there will be no time or money for the foolish war on drugs. There’s a real one we should be fighting now.
- The reduction of prisoner levels across the board. Once weed is legal, there are a lot of non violent people that can be freed. This will lift the burden on prison budgets and make room for more worthy offenders.
- Increased tax revenue. Legalize, tax it, and they will pay. How much? A lot.
But, above all other issues, this is actually a states rights issue, and that fact needs to be stated clearly.
The feds should not be deciding this issue, period.
Last thought. I always felt the medical weed movement was a false front, until medical issues of someone close to me played out over the course of years. I will NEVER see the Medical Weed issue as a false front again. It is not, god help us all.
Agree, disagree, feel any way you wish about pot smokers. But understand this IS a states rights issue, and absolutely nothing else.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
wackenhut, heh.
March 28th, 2009 at 3:17 am
To hell with “legalize it and tax the hell out of it”. Legalize it and tax it a reasonable amount. It can still be a crime to drive while intoxicated- regardless of whether it’s a liquid, solid or a gas that caused the intoxication- so there will still be marijuana-related crimes to send to the busy, busy courts.
Personally I find stoned people to be far more pleasant than drunks, and the odor of pot smoke far less offensive than cigarettes. Not that I’d inhale it. O_O