frusciantecedricomar1
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Process of Marijuana Legalization in 2009 America
A. Interview of President Obama March 11 2009 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Interview-of-the-President-by-Regional-Reporters-3/11/09/)
Q Mr. President, I wanted to follow up on the border question and the violence in Mexico. President Calderón recently decided to send an additional 5,000 of his troops to the border. The Texas governor has asked for a thousand U.S. troops or Border Agents to reinforce the border on our side. What is the tipping point in you mind, where the violence gets so bad that you need to act?
And related to that, you named a new drug czar today. You've taken that position out of the Cabinet. You in the past have talked about decriminalization of marijuana. Are we still engaged in a war on drugs?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, let me first start on the troop issue. We've got a very big border with Mexico. And so I'm not interested in militarizing the border. I am interested in providing the kind of -- in creating the kind of partnership with the Mexican government that ensures the safety of U.S. citizens, the safety of Mexican citizens, and allows for the continued cross- border trade that's so important to the region.
If we're going to examine whether and if National Guard deployments would make sense and in what circumstances they would make sense as part of this overall review of our border situation -- I haven't drawn any conclusions yet. I don't have a particular tipping point in mind. I think it's unacceptable if you've got drug gangs crossing our borders and killing U.S. citizens. I think if one U.S. citizen is killed because of foreign nationals who are engaging in violent crime, that's enough of a concern to do something about it.
With respect to -- what was the second question?
Q If decriminalization of the marijuana laws --
THE PRESIDENT: I think what gave me pause on that question was I think you -- I'm not sure it's accurate to say that I -- well, the implication was somehow that I think we should weaken our drug laws. That's never been my position. I think that what we do have to -- I think the approach that we do need to take is to make sure that we have a both/and approach as opposed to an either/or approach.
I think traditionally the debate is either interdiction, criminalization, longer drugs -- longer prison sentences for not only dealers, but users; that's one approach. And then the other approach would be sort of a public health, decriminalization approach.
My attitude is we do have to treat this as a public health problem and we have to have significant law enforcement. And, you know, if we can reduce demand, obviously that allows us to focus more effectively where interdiction is needed, where we've got to go after serious drug dealers and narcotrafficking.
Right now I think that we're fighting with one hand tied behind our back because our effort to lower demand is grossly underfunded, not as effective as it needs to be. The average person who is seeking serious substance abuse treatment in a big city, like Dallas or Chicago, typically has a three-, four-, six-month waiting list to get enrolled in a program. I think that's a problem and most law enforcement officials I think would agree that it is a problem.
This question was obviously batted away by the President. It was disregarded completely. Not even the word marijuana was mentioned in the answer, which was definitely the main basis of the question. I do believe that since hes taken office, his views on marijuana have changed. For some unknown fucking reason, our government feels that putting away thousands of people for a harmless crime is necessary. For some unknown fucking reason, our government feels that it should go against the majority of The People, (the people being the population of America) and keep marijuana illegal. For some unknown fucking reason, our government believes that prescription pills, alcohol, cigarettes, and any other legal items that do kill human beings here in the States should be kept legal, while marijuana that has not killed one person should be kept illegal.
B. Town Hall Conference with President Obama - 3/26/2009 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-Open-for-Questions-Town-Hall/)
THE PRESIDENT: Can I just interrupt, Jared, before you ask the next question, j ust to say that we -- we took votes about which questions were going to be asked and I think 3 million people voted or --
DR. BERNSTEIN: Three point five million.
THE PRESIDENT: Three point five million people voted. I have to say that there was one question that was voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy -- (laughter) -- and job creation. And I don't know what this says about the online audience -- (laughter) - - but I just want -- I don't want people to think that -- this was a fairly popular question; we want to make sure that it was answered. The answer is, no, I don't think that is a good strategy -- (laughter) -- to grow our economy. (Applause.)
So -- all right.
DR. BERNSTEIN: Thank you for clearing that up. (Laughter.)
I honestly dont think that President Obama doesnt know his facts. Or if he does, he refuses to acknowledge them. What shocks me is the 3.5 million people voted for that question, and it was immediately shot down as a joke. Dont you think it shouldve been taken at least a little bit more seriously? We all know that it would help out the economy a great deal, and also create a shit-load of jobs.
So thats my research for the night ahh, what budless nights do to you!
A. Interview of President Obama March 11 2009 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Interview-of-the-President-by-Regional-Reporters-3/11/09/)
Q Mr. President, I wanted to follow up on the border question and the violence in Mexico. President Calderón recently decided to send an additional 5,000 of his troops to the border. The Texas governor has asked for a thousand U.S. troops or Border Agents to reinforce the border on our side. What is the tipping point in you mind, where the violence gets so bad that you need to act?
And related to that, you named a new drug czar today. You've taken that position out of the Cabinet. You in the past have talked about decriminalization of marijuana. Are we still engaged in a war on drugs?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, let me first start on the troop issue. We've got a very big border with Mexico. And so I'm not interested in militarizing the border. I am interested in providing the kind of -- in creating the kind of partnership with the Mexican government that ensures the safety of U.S. citizens, the safety of Mexican citizens, and allows for the continued cross- border trade that's so important to the region.
If we're going to examine whether and if National Guard deployments would make sense and in what circumstances they would make sense as part of this overall review of our border situation -- I haven't drawn any conclusions yet. I don't have a particular tipping point in mind. I think it's unacceptable if you've got drug gangs crossing our borders and killing U.S. citizens. I think if one U.S. citizen is killed because of foreign nationals who are engaging in violent crime, that's enough of a concern to do something about it.
With respect to -- what was the second question?
Q If decriminalization of the marijuana laws --
THE PRESIDENT: I think what gave me pause on that question was I think you -- I'm not sure it's accurate to say that I -- well, the implication was somehow that I think we should weaken our drug laws. That's never been my position. I think that what we do have to -- I think the approach that we do need to take is to make sure that we have a both/and approach as opposed to an either/or approach.
I think traditionally the debate is either interdiction, criminalization, longer drugs -- longer prison sentences for not only dealers, but users; that's one approach. And then the other approach would be sort of a public health, decriminalization approach.
My attitude is we do have to treat this as a public health problem and we have to have significant law enforcement. And, you know, if we can reduce demand, obviously that allows us to focus more effectively where interdiction is needed, where we've got to go after serious drug dealers and narcotrafficking.
Right now I think that we're fighting with one hand tied behind our back because our effort to lower demand is grossly underfunded, not as effective as it needs to be. The average person who is seeking serious substance abuse treatment in a big city, like Dallas or Chicago, typically has a three-, four-, six-month waiting list to get enrolled in a program. I think that's a problem and most law enforcement officials I think would agree that it is a problem.
This question was obviously batted away by the President. It was disregarded completely. Not even the word marijuana was mentioned in the answer, which was definitely the main basis of the question. I do believe that since hes taken office, his views on marijuana have changed. For some unknown fucking reason, our government feels that putting away thousands of people for a harmless crime is necessary. For some unknown fucking reason, our government feels that it should go against the majority of The People, (the people being the population of America) and keep marijuana illegal. For some unknown fucking reason, our government believes that prescription pills, alcohol, cigarettes, and any other legal items that do kill human beings here in the States should be kept legal, while marijuana that has not killed one person should be kept illegal.
B. Town Hall Conference with President Obama - 3/26/2009 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-Open-for-Questions-Town-Hall/)
THE PRESIDENT: Can I just interrupt, Jared, before you ask the next question, j ust to say that we -- we took votes about which questions were going to be asked and I think 3 million people voted or --
DR. BERNSTEIN: Three point five million.
THE PRESIDENT: Three point five million people voted. I have to say that there was one question that was voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy -- (laughter) -- and job creation. And I don't know what this says about the online audience -- (laughter) - - but I just want -- I don't want people to think that -- this was a fairly popular question; we want to make sure that it was answered. The answer is, no, I don't think that is a good strategy -- (laughter) -- to grow our economy. (Applause.)
So -- all right.
DR. BERNSTEIN: Thank you for clearing that up. (Laughter.)
I honestly dont think that President Obama doesnt know his facts. Or if he does, he refuses to acknowledge them. What shocks me is the 3.5 million people voted for that question, and it was immediately shot down as a joke. Dont you think it shouldve been taken at least a little bit more seriously? We all know that it would help out the economy a great deal, and also create a shit-load of jobs.
So thats my research for the night ahh, what budless nights do to you!
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