Cannabis Legalization #1 Question for Obama

pray4pistils · Feb 2, 2010

MostHigh said:
75% of the US is on the internet, upwards of 228 million surfers...YouTube being one of the more popular destinations for their activities.

I'd say that's more than an ample cross section of US citizens to muster popular opinion from.

Well, I flatly disagree as do the numbers when one looks slightly further. Internet usage is as widespread as you just mention. However, users are disproportionately young, male, affluent, and educated. Furthermore, a YouTube survey is not a scientific poll. On top of that, young people are more enthusiastic about MJ reform than the elderly (who by FAR are the largest share of the voting population). Thus, even if YouTube was a decent cross section of America (and it isn't), the survey response would be dissimilar to a National vote or National scientific poll.

Look at Internet usage statistics here:
http://www.resourceshelf.com/2009/0...atistics-from-the-2009-digital-future-report/

-and here:
http://techcrunchies.com/distribution-of-affluent-internet-users-by-age/

YouTube 2009 Demographic report:
http://youtubereport2009.com/research/

USA voting statistics:
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/voting/004986.html

Again... this YouTube response is out of step with National political reality. Obama is the country's President and must answer to ALL voters. -not just us grower types. Please poke any holes in my arguments that you see fit. Debate is great for separating fact from fantasy. :yes:

sweetpoison · Feb 2, 2010

Let Google/Youtube know that your disappointed

Let Google/Youtube know that your disappointed

The event that google/Youtube solicited questions from you the public and failed to relay your questions or concerns about marijuana reform. If google/You Tube want to be taken seriously they must consider the votes of its participants.
Let Google/Youtube know how you feel about their failure to ask the most voted upon questions.
Feedback & Suggestions - YouTube Help
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/youtube/label?lid=31a878cd44b81c60 &hl=en

Keep in mind however that The decision to legalize, deregulate marijuana rest with the congress not the president. Write them with your concerns, and respond with your vote according to any answers or non-responsiveness from your representative.

10jed · Feb 2, 2010

Lots of good points here. keep in mind, that nobody was asking Obama to legalize it... just talk about it. He should be willing to talk about it. Granted he may well be thinking that picking a side in the matter could really heat things up and maybe that just isn't good right now. Obviously he wants our attentions on more important things. I don't think this is our most important issue by any means but it isn't one he is going to talk about unless pushed too. Healthcare, his student loan stuff, our economy and those types of things he is going to talk about anyways. MJ will take a lot of pushing.

Youtube may not be a full cross section but it isn't a fluke. There was a similar situation when Barney Frank talked on CNN a few months ago about his decrim bill, and the email responses to the segment were OVERWHELMINGLY in favor of it. do you know a lot of stoners that watch CNN?

We are being heard I think... There is a growing majority of people, smokers and non, that are asking themselves why on earth we aren't reaping the economic benefits and being done with the blackmarket and crime aspects. Most working people in the country have either used MJ or know somebody who is a user and realize they are not like a meth adict, or haroine junky or a crack head. Those who don't know any smokers DO know smokers but don't know they're smokers! As more people see this as an income/spending/crime issue, they will be calling out for this too. Look at popular media. Many Seth Rogan movies start out glorifying MJ use and then usually have a "use responsibly" message at some point. Ben Stiller movies too. Ben is casually lighting up in a lot of his movies without turning into Cheech or convulsing on the floor! These are great things for our cause because they show people it isn't the evil drug that it has been made out to be for so long, and that it is fairly mainstream.

As for medical states... I think we have only seen a small part of the opposition for that. Schedule 1 means no medical use, and after enough states adopt it as medical they will pretty much have to drop the scheduling. then what? Decriminalization? I don't think the government wants that. that makes it a free for all for the black market and crime issues will get worse. Decrim isn't an option I don't think! it sounds nice, but then the question "where do they get it" comes up and now you have to look at legalizing it. I have heard it said in political interviews about my local MMJ bill, that they aren't sure they want social acceptance of MJ through an MMJ program. Are states starting to think this way that "if we let this bill through, is that as good as putting in a state vote for legalization/decrim"? Gotta wonder!

Only way for Obama to get this through without being completely fried over it is popular vote or a huge popular outcry. They will HAVE to talk about it soon, and they will have to start doing more testing to give people real information. If our economy is back on track in a year, many people will probably start to shut up about it, but if not then you can be sure that people will be gaining steam on this.

The people already incarcerated for this is also going to be an issue. From what I have read, many of the people in for simple posession are only on posession because it was a plea bargain. If you say "all possession charges are free to go" does that include people who only got that because of a plea bargain? Do they then have to review all these cases? Do we then have to deal with those people suing the government for unjust imprisonment? I bet we see people trying that! This part of it will be a clusterfuck for sure. Are they going to take the charge completely off peoples record, or hope that new found social acceptance will keep them as viable employee's and respectable members of society.

I also think he might be waiting on this for the next election... if the economy isn't better then this is an answer for sure and one that will need to be investigated realistically for once. At some point he is going to need to ask the people what they want, or just do what every other administration has done and pass it off as the greatest evil of our society. I can see this as a reelection stance... maybe not saying were going to do it, but saying that we want to look at it and see if it is viable.

Overall I think this looks good, but I guess we will see!!!

Jed

Hydrosun · Feb 2, 2010

pray4pistils said:
I'm talking about scientific polls conducted Nationally -the sort of research that academia, the media, and politicians takes seriously. A YouTube sample absolutely does not represent a true cross section of America. Therefore it is interesting but not statistically significant. People in power don't pay attention to YouTube surveys.

It was my understanding that this administration had pre-sanctioned an internet poll as one method to get questions to the great leader.

I understand that there are hundreds of blogs and polls everyday and their value is highly questionable. However if this poll was conducted in accordance with the administration's desire to get feed back from the American people, and then the administration completely ignored the top three questions, we need to seriously question the honesty of this administration and their motives.

Why lie to our faces about wanting feed back and being pro mmj if you are just going to turn around and laugh at us on national TV?

Peace, :joint:

pray4pistils · Feb 2, 2010

10jed said:
Youtube may not be a full cross section but it isn't a fluke... We are being heard I think... Only way for Obama to get this through without being completely fried over it is popular vote or a huge popular outcry. They will HAVE to talk about it soon... Overall I think this looks good, but I guess we will see!!!

Jed

YESssssss! Sorry if my paraphrasing here takes your statements a bit out of context, but I'm in complete agreement. I'd like to see the Pres. demonstrate that he takes this top question seriously. I'll bet that right now he's shrugging it off in public while figuring out how to incorporate it into his politics. It's a seriously complex issue with tons of legal and economic ramifications to sort through. That there's a lag between us speaking up and him responding properly is unfortunate, but... this is full frontal politics. It isn't always pretty or decent.

10jed · Feb 2, 2010

pray4pistils said:
YESssssss! Sorry if my paraphrasing here takes your statements a bit out of context, but I'm in complete agreement. I'd like to see the Pres. demonstrate that he takes this top question seriously. I'll bet that right now he's shrugging it off in public while figuring out how to incorporate it into his politics. It's a seriously complex issue with tons of legal and economic ramifications to sort through. That there's a lag between us speaking up and him responding properly is unfortunate, but... this is full frontal politics. It isn't always pretty or decent.

No worries friend! I should probably just send my book-like posts to you for condensing! Sorry about that...

But yes, I think it is reasonable for there to be a lag. The societal views of MJ and MMJ are rapidly changing and it is probably catching our government off guard. For us it is nothing new, but for people outside of the culture it is probably shocking. Like in that CNN Barney Frank interview the newscasters who reported the responces were genuinely stunned. I can hardly wait until after it is legal and they start touting all the new smokers because of the atrocity of legalization. Of course we will know that although there are some new ones, most were smoking all of the time and just under the radar... Little do they know!!!

Jed

Trichgnomes · Feb 2, 2010

I just read through the thread, and didn't see anyone mention this, but I could have overlooked it. I came across an article yesterday which stated that YouTube neglected to present Obama with any of the cannabis questions at all! Kind of ironic because pray4pistils mentioned the starbucks thing being a farce a few posts ago.

http://blog.mpp.org/tag/citizentube/

10jed · Feb 2, 2010

Trichgnomes said:
**snip** I came across an article yesterday which stated that YouTube neglected to present Obama with any of the cannabis questions at all! Kind of ironic because pray4pistils mentioned the starbucks thing being a farce a few posts ago.

http://blog.mpp.org/tag/citizentube/

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pray4pistils · Feb 2, 2010

REALITY! It's what's for dinner! :woohoo:

Ahh.... See there? A little research reveals these situations for what they really are. We DO have enemies out there and we need to take the time to target them specifically. We DO have allies and need to be patient while they handle business.

We also need to get this damned message to Obama and other leaders. If YouTube was too cowardly to do it, then we must do so ourselves. I'm going to send some letters out this weekend.

Budweaver · Feb 3, 2010

pray4pistils said:
Again... this YouTube response is out of step with National political reality. Obama is the country's President and must answer to ALL voters. -not just us grower types. Please poke any holes in my arguments that you see fit. Debate is great for separating fact from fantasy.

Two holes that I see.

1. Even if the YouTube questions aren't an entirely acurate cross-section of the entire American public, neither are they a statistically insignificant portion of American opinion that should, or indeed, can be simply trivialized and ignored.

2. The president must indeed answer to ALL voters, which, incidentally, happens to inculde us grower types.

It's the trivialization and the pushing to the side that I think most Pro-MJ folks are most upset about.

Budweaver · Feb 3, 2010

Trichgnomes said:
I just read through the thread, and didn't see anyone mention this, but I could have overlooked it. I came across an article yesterday which stated that YouTube neglected to present Obama with any of the cannabis questions at all! Kind of ironic because pray4pistils mentioned the starbucks thing being a farce a few posts ago.

http://blog.mpp.org/tag/citizentube/

Well, hellfire and damnation.

smokefrogg · Feb 3, 2010

lol, check out what citizentube has to say about it on their twitter account

http://twitter.com/citizentube

"For all who wanted cannabis Q asked at YT chat w/ President yesterday, see last forum we had w/ him: http://bit.ly/EUTL2"

iSmokeTrees · Feb 3, 2010

pray4pistils said:
So, what's this guy to do??? -make our stoner activism his priority and call US his base? Yeah, riiiight....

You do realize Obama promised homosexuals equal rights and marriage he specifically said "no more waiting!" He won damn near 100% of the homosexual vote. After he was elected, he told homosexuals "just wait, it will happen" and has stalled out completely. He relied on them to get elected, why can't he rely on us?

At least when a Republican tells a homosexual no, they are honest and mean it.

Totah Sam said:
I voted for him because I thought he was fucking OVERqualified for the job. He is a brilliant charismatic individual

Less than 10 years political experience makes you overqualified? Your next sentence just summed up how he got elected, being charismatic, not being qualified. He didn't even serve the 4 years of his senatorship, his first real political place (state senate doesn't count when you run for President). He spent 3 years of it running for president.

xfargox · Feb 3, 2010

Hmm...I think iSmokeTrees and I are gonna get along very well here...

Agreed 100%. You don't get your constituents to give you a vote then ignore them for your presidential term. We didn't vote you in so you could be president. We voted you in so you'd help get us shit done.

I think people think the president can do much more than he can when it comes to making laws and stuff, but his stance on things has been rather...laughable...since he's come into office.

He said he strongly supported decriminalization of marijuana and said it should be left to the doctors. Then he got elected. Now we're really starting to get annoyed. Unfortunately, we'll probably have to re-elect him in 2012 unless we can find a republican candidate that supports marijuana (and for myself, gay rights, stem cell research, net neutrality, and abortion...HAH!).

JacuzziSplot · Feb 3, 2010

lol you have 2 choices the lying hypocrites or the honest thieves. I actually think Obama is alot better than the rest of the Democrats. From my point of view the things he wants to do and has tried to do are right. The problem is he has been too sheepish to get anything done. With healthcare, cap & trade, and anything else he has done, he starts from a moderate position thinking things will pass easy. Then everyone starts negotiating and by the time its over we are left with nothing. If on his healthcare bill he started with allowing the import of prescription drugs from India and Canada he coulda easily got everything he asked for in his first bill.

Ever since the state of the union address it looks like he finally gets that hes the boss and cant be friends with congress anymore. We will see. If only he had half of Bush's balls that guy would just say and believe, if you dont do as I am telling you your a traitor. Even though I disagree with Bush philosophically and morally I cant help but respect him as a man and leader. The Republicans wanted McCain even his father wanted Jeb to run over him and he still got elected.

xfargox · Feb 3, 2010

JacuzziSplot said:
lol you have 2 choices the lying hypocrites or the honest thieves. I actually think Obama is alot better than the rest of the Democrats. From my point of view the things he wants to do and has tried to do are right. The problem is he has been too sheepish to get anything done. With healthcare, cap & trade, and anything else he has done, he starts from a moderate position thinking things will pass easy. Then everyone starts negotiating and by the time its over we are left with nothing. If on his healthcare bill he started with allowing the import of prescription drugs from India and Canada he coulda easily got everything he asked for in his first bill.

Ever since the state of the union address it looks like he finally gets that hes the boss and cant be friends with congress anymore. We will see. If only he had half of Bush's balls that guy would just say and believe, if you dont do as I am telling you your a traitor. Even though I disagree with Bush philosophically and morally I cant help but respect him as a man and leader. The Republicans wanted McCain even his father wanted Jeb to run over him and he still got elected.

Yeah, but in my eyes, if he doesn't get results, it doesn't matter what his intentions are. We elected him for a bunch of civil rights (right to personal freedom being the main one [marijuana, gay rights, etc]), and he had a democratic powerhouse in congress. However, he hasn't produced.

I understand the president's power on laws and stuff isn't as great as most think, but if you're running a campaign for this kind of stuff and the people who voted for you did so on the contingency that you'd fix these problems (which have rather simple solutions), carry out what you stated or else fuck you.

smokefrogg · Feb 3, 2010

citizentube is totally trying to distract the public

they have a new article up titled "The Colorful Questions We Could Have Asked President Obama"

http://www.citizentube.com/2010/02/colorful-questions-we-could-have-asked.html

of course there are all kinds of wacky questions, NOTHING about the marijuana related questions

censorshiptube for sure

smokefrogg · Feb 3, 2010

hmmm, you could email [email protected]

here's what i had to say to them

hello,

i wanted to express my disappointment in regards to the censorship that citizentube took it upon itself to dole out

specifically in regards to the marijuana related questions that so many american citizens wanted our president to answer

i have read comments from citizentube that they felt the questions were irrelevant due to the same questions coming up when this was done last year

that is far from the truth! this solidifies the fact that it is very much relevant, an issue that many americans have serious questions about

i have had several friends and family members die from cancer, due to this simple herb being outlawed, my dead friends and family (most of them) suffered a great deal during their last months on this planet, 1 was able to procure marijuana and it helped ease her pain much more than the pills her doctor had subscribed, it even brought an appetite on, she actually wanted to eat and was able to hold the food down too

i won’t even get into how much of a drain on the economy this faux “war on drugs” has been

i am very disappointed that citizentube felt this issue was not important

i do not feel i can trust citizentube at all, it is very clear now that they are not out to help the citizens, but to help themselves with what they feel is important instead

i will continue to spread the word to all whom will listen in regards to citizentube’s blatant censorship

this is not an issue about pothead stoners, this is a much larger issue than that, citizentube neglects the citizens of the united states of america

a concerned citizen that is sick and tired of seeing the sick and tired denied access to effective and safe herbal remedies,

{my real name went here, sent from my work email as i have a high position at a very well known company, maybe it'll sound more authoritative haha}

JacuzziSplot · Feb 3, 2010

xfargox said:
Yeah, but in my eyes, if he doesn't get results, it doesn't matter what his intentions are. We elected him for a bunch of civil rights (right to personal freedom being the main one [marijuana, gay rights, etc]), and he had a democratic powerhouse in congress. However, he hasn't produced.

Agreed guess my point is I am still hopeful AFAIK he is the least experienced politician ever elected president. I am Hopeful he is still getting his "sea legs" and is not completely corrupted yet.

xfargox · Feb 3, 2010

JacuzziSplot said:
Agreed guess my point is I am still hopeful AFAIK he is the least experienced politician ever elected president. I am Hopeful he is still getting his "sea legs" and is not completely corrupted yet.

Being an optimist at heart, I do too. I'm hoping he really is just playing it cool for now until he knows he can win, and decrim/legalization is his goal.

I'm just growing impatient with this. It's not a hard decision. Once you learn even a few facts (personal freedom being one of them), I really don't see it as a controversy. It's like the heliocentric theory or freeing slaves. There's no two ways about it, and this controversy is due to a misconception.

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