Why The Next President May Have To Support Marijuana Legalization

[Jhhnn]

So all the raids were just to be a dick so he could later show us how cool he was? Not really my idea of a good leader. Seems more like a clever ruse to me.
Holy goal post shift! Romney was never president. You can't compare actual policy to campaign promises made to the base and if you do then you're going to be doing even bigger backflips defending all of the promises Obama welshed out on. And I say that as someone who voted for him the first time. Hope and change? Nope, business as usual just from the other side of the aisle.

Do I think Obama is better for legalization than Romney would of been? Yes? Do I think his actual in the field policy is any different than the last president before him? No, not at all.


Please explain how he's holding the door open? He's not doing shit except passing the buck by saying congress needs to re-schedule when it's fully within their authority to do enforce it from with the executive like he did with immigration.

Colorado is left alone because Colorado is a swing state in which legalization is one of the 2 biggest political topics not because Obama is awesome. Conversely CA gets fucked with because we are so far left that no policy from either side of the aisle is going to change an election. They can do whatever they want to us and the election day result will still be the same.

*except for the ACA the first term of Obama's presidency was a complete reversal of what he campaigned on and I don't care what Mc Cain would of done. I believe in holding the politicians I voted for accountable for their actions along with the ones I didn't. Way too many people today excuse the BS coming from their own side while simultaneously pointing a finger at the other.

The sour whining in that is pretty much par for the course among libertopians.

If Obama's field policy is the same as GWB's, why are there 2 retail pot shops within a few blocks of my house? Why is there non-enforcement of federal marijuana statutes in the nation's Capital? Putting it off to the Red/Blue divide is absurd, considering that DC is more Blue than CA. The notion that any president would beat down his own supporters isn't exactly rational, either.

Given the level of irrational Obama hate whipped up by the right wing, I see his handling of legalization as extremely shrewd & constructive. He made it not about him at all, but about the People and about States' Rights. He has deliberately shirked his duty to enforce federal law, refused to enforce it in states having coherent policy wrt cannabis.

California does *not* have coherent state law at all, so when residents quit whining & get their shit together they'll likely enjoy the same treatment as CO, WA, OR, AK & DC.

Anybody with a lick of sense, including Obama, knew full well that legalization would work well and that all we needed to tip the whole sorry load of horseshit over center was the opportunity to prove that, *which Obama has enabled entirely*.

Here in CO, we'll never go back & more states join us every election thanks to Obama's non-enforcement of federal law. Had he directed the DoJ to file what would be a slam dunk lawsuit there would be no retail cannabis anywhere in this Country.

Reference Gonzales v Raich.

 

[ECtraveler]

He made it not about him at all, but about the People and about States' Rights. He has deliberately shirked his duty to enforce federal law, refused to enforce it in states having coherent policy wrt cannabis.

California does *not* have coherent state law at all, so when residents quit whining & get their shit together they'll likely enjoy the same treatment as CO, WA, OR, AK & DC.

Only when it's politically convenient. 100% of the raids and closures in California have come with the signatures of Obama appointed DA's enforcing federal laws. The same laws CO is violating. It's almost never about our state laws(and they are screwed up). It's the federal ones. San Diego-violation of federal laws, Oakland-violation of federal laws, And pretty much any issue in the triangle since 2009-violation of federal laws. Where is the respect for state's rights in those cases?

 

[ECtraveler]

Reference Gonzales v Raich.

I did. It appears there were both more arrests in 2011 for home cultivation than any other year in US history and more marijuana related arrests in general under Obama than any other president.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/17/marijuana-possession-arrests_n_2490340.html

It has nothing to do with state rights and everything to do with retaining power. Notice anything unique about Colorado and maybe why Obama didn't want to press the issue there? Weren't the 2014 senate races back and forth the entire campaign season with Udall narrowly losing? Because that race wouldn't have been nearly as close as it was if Obama treated CO like he did CA.

or how about the letters from the Dept of Justice warning governors that raids will continue. Where is the respect for state's right here
http://mic.com/articles/20299/marijuana-legalization-obama-warns-states-to-abide-by-federal-law-on-marijuana

Until now, the Obama administration had instructed federal officials to use their limited resources to focus on large trafficking organizations, largely ignoring the small-time recreational user. This had the unintended consequence of increasing federal raids on legal medical marijuana dispensaries. However, the Department of Justice has signaled to the states that they will continue the raids. The New York Times reported that the Department of Justice sent letters to governors encouraging them to “revise or back away from plans to make the medical marijuana industry more mainstream.”

 

[Jhhnn]

I did. It appears there were both more arrests in 2011 for home cultivation than any other year in US history and more marijuana related arrests in general under Obama than any other president.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/17/marijuana-possession-arrests_n_2490340.html

It has nothing to do with state rights and everything to do with retaining power. Notice anything unique about Colorado and maybe why Obama didn't want to press the issue there? Weren't the 2014 senate races back and forth the entire campaign season with Udall narrowly losing? Because that race wouldn't have been nearly as close as it was if Obama treated CO like he did CA.
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or how about the letters from the Dept of Justice warning governors that raids will continue. Where is the respect for state's right here
http://mic.com/articles/20299/marij...s-states-to-abide-by-federal-law-on-marijuana

Desperate Obama hate, huh?

The 2011 arrest stats are state + federal, So blaming Obama isn't accurate at all.

The memo you're waving around is from 2012, prior to the 2013 Cole memo I linked earlier.

Voter initiatives in Co & WA put the Admin in the position where they had to choose. They came down on our side, thus prompting other states to follow suit, also prompting some rather grudging change from Congress as well. I figure that the process is now irreversible & greatly accelerated from what would be happening had they gone the other way. I'm confident they've taken a lot of bureaucratic flak as well. Read between the lines & tell me this woman looks happy-

http://blog.mpp.org/prohibition/eri...as-position-on-marijuana-sentencing/05162014/

And, uhh, say what you want about Mitt's campaign promise being meaningless, but I figure it's one a straight laced Mormon would have kept rather easily. Like I said, it's a slam dunk lawsuit. Just file it & win.

But that's not what happened, is it?

 

[thesloppy]

It's a bit of an exaggeration, but I'd argue that Obama was bad for pot for 6 years, and has been good for pot for the last 6 months. Trying to stick entirely to one side or the other ignores evidence, one way or the other. I'm an Obama hater, and was greatly disappointed with how he handled MMJ in his first term, but they've made some decent moves in recent months, including addressing mandatory minimum sentences and all the states issues, as well as (finally) reducing raids. That said, anybody trying to paint Obama as an MJ saint should acknowledge he pretty much threw everybody under the bus for his first term, and he's pretty much doing the equivalent of cramming the night before the test to come up good on a lot of the promises he made to his constituents.

 

[ECtraveler]

Desperate Obama hate, huh?

The 2011 arrest stats are state + federal, So blaming Obama isn't accurate at all.

The memo you're waving around is from 2012, prior to the 2013 Cole memo I linked earlier.

Seriously? You tell me to reference Gonzales v Raich (2005) then say everything prior to 2013 is meaningless because it doesn't support your premise of Obama being good for marijuana? The arrest numbers were state + federal for bush and Clinton too and they correlate with what was happening in CA at the time at least so I'm going to have to say it's fairly accurate for what was going on. And correct the memo I linked is from Dec 2012, a month after he was re-elected. If a president doesn't attempt to act on something their entire first term then it's not something they believe in.

Not everybody who is critical of Obama is a hater. I don't hate everything he's done I just don't see him as a hero regarding marijuana rights when my town was shut down twice for violating federal law. It's great that things are better in CO now but I personally believe the tide of public opinion combined with you being a swing state is what's responsible for the recent change in policy.

http://blog.mpp.org/prohibition/eri...as-position-on-marijuana-sentencing/05162014/

Speaking of dates. Notice the date of your link of when Holder tells the DEA to "tone it down" regarding Colorado. May 2014; which is coincidentally when the 2014 campaign season swung into full gear and after Gardner had been slamming Udall as being the deciding vote for Obamacare. A senate seat that according to every news outlet in the free world the democrats could not afford to lose.

 

[Snook]

Ut O! here we go..

 

[Jhhnn]

Seriously? You tell me to reference Gonzales v Raich (2005) then say everything prior to 2013 is meaningless because it doesn't support your premise of Obama being good for marijuana? The arrest numbers were state + federal for bush and Clinton too and they correlate with what was happening in CA at the time at least so I'm going to have to say it's fairly accurate for what was going on. And correct the memo I linked is from Dec 2012, a month after he was re-elected. If a president doesn't attempt to act on something their entire first term then it's not something they believe in.

Not everybody who is critical of Obama is a hater. I don't hate everything he's done I just don't see him as a hero regarding marijuana rights when my town was shut down twice for violating federal law. It's great that things are better in CO now but I personally believe the tide of public opinion combined with you being a swing state is what's responsible for the recent change in policy.

Speaking of dates. Notice the date of your link of when Holder tells the DEA to "tone it down" regarding Colorado. May 2014; which is coincidentally when the 2014 campaign season swung into full gear and after Gardner had been slamming Udall as being the deciding vote for Obamacare. A senate seat that according to every news outlet in the free world the democrats could not afford to lose.

Sigh. You argue & obfuscate in circles all around the central point, avoiding it at all costs in standard conspiracy theory fashion.

Whether we characterize it as being provided with an opportunity or confronted with a choice, Obama & Holder came down firmly on the side of state level legalization. Mere fact.

Their reasons for doing so are largely immaterial. Results are what matter. It was clear at the time & is even clearer today that national prohibition is now fatally wounded. Colorado's success is beyond obvious. It wouldn't be that way had Obama taken the other direction.

That doesn't make him a hero at all.

 

[ECtraveler]

All I'm saying is that your first statement isn't true and when you say "he enables us entirely" you conveniently disregarded all the legal medical shops he did have raided the entire first term of his presidency. Unless we're only talking about recreational users he enabled and the cancer patients who were arrested got what deserved?

You say Obama hate among cannabis users is not rational. So please tell me exactly what is irrational about being upset his justice department shut down my town twice in 3 years? How do you think you would you feel if you personally saw peoples livelihood's destroyed? People you care about.

Yeh, that's obviously why the DEA isn't raiding legal pot shops in CO & WA, huh?

Obama hate among cannabis users is not rational. He's done more for us than any previous President except perhaps Clinton who initially allowed MMJ in CA. He enables us entirely.

 

[MJPassion]

if bary o has anything to do with legalization, it will be attached to some antigun positions.. like: you get high?? no guns. dats how that backdoor MOFO operates..

EDIT: they are all backdoor.

Miranda v Arizona...
According to the US Supreme court...
Right cannot be taken by legislation.

 

[MJPassion]

Well before the Feds can get control with the change in classification. is to have every legitimate tax paying properly licensed Marijuana business in line. So when the FDA and the Banking FDIC, interstate Commerce Agreements can be worked out. It's coming probably before the big primaries to get momentum. I love Rahm Emanuel quote "Never let a crisis go to waste" after they all get shut down Banking rules are going on now. Lets save this crisis stop the raiding change the classification. These raids are in direct unlawful conflict to a Congressional Directive the Republicans have stopped funding the DOJ is a government of it's own

M.A. Rothschild said "Give me control of a nations money and I care not who makes it's laws."

well, they tried that. that was where we got organized crime from. but they LIKE alcohol, that is THEIR poison. they don't like what WE like, and the hypocrisy around that argument (we don't NEED another alcohol/tobacco) is so thick that you can cut it with a knife & wrap it up in aluminum foil...stupid motherfuckers.

Their children like what we like...

I want the next president to stand up and say "I'm strong on States Rights and this is a States Rights issue and the federal government will not interfere." Then back it up. That's the candidate that I would vote for. That's my swing vote.

ok then I'll put in one more issue to vote on. A law that you can't hold the bong while you tell a rambling story instead of passing. Now I'm a two issue voter.

Hahaha... I do that shit at least once a session.

 

[Jhhnn]

All I'm saying is that your first statement isn't true and when you say "he enables us entirely" you conveniently disregarded all the legal medical shops he did have raided the entire first term of his presidency. Unless we're only talking about recreational users he enabled and the cancer patients who were arrested got what deserved?

You say Obama hate among cannabis users is not rational. So please tell me exactly what is irrational about being upset his justice department shut down my town twice in 3 years? How do you think you would you feel if you personally saw peoples livelihood's destroyed? People you care about.

I spoke in the present tense, didn't bother whining about the past.

Get over it, and yourself, too. Move on. Embrace the opportunity to change the future.

 

[ECtraveler]

Not wanting to discount the thousands of lives that were needlessly ruined (some of which were personal friends) is whining?

 

[Jhhnn]

Not wanting to discount the thousands of lives that were needlessly ruined (some of which were personal friends) is whining?

The past is immutable. Dump that bitter baggage if you want to make much out of the future. It'll drag you down.

 

[genedigger]

imo the next president is going to be a woman,and no politicaly active woman running for president will ever support legal bud.

 

[Jellyfish]

imo the next president is going to be a woman,and no politicaly active woman running for president will ever support legal bud.

Why not, pray tell us?

 

[Boyd Crowder]

look - both clinton and paul support reforms , now , like today.
Bush can only win the primaries with his daddyss influence which has waned immensely in the last 8 years, ted cruz will be the perot of his generation and wont be a factor.
sadly , hillz just doesnt seem to be presidential material - i mean jeezuz , shes past her prime - and Im a Lib/Dem by default - I just wish there was another Dem candidate out there that didnt represent the boomers, but my gen X - and the millenials (who just dont understand how much power theyre refusing to wield).

 

[Jellyfish]

Maybe somebody will come out of left field and beat Hillary like Obama did eight years ago. Hillary kills them because she's a celebrity and a tabloid star. Then Obama stole the show by being black and articulate. That's why Ted Cruz and Rubio are going for it- be the first Latino-American el presidente. Maybe if the Democrats roll out a Japanese woman, that would trump everybody. I'm not saying American voters vote along these lines, they are much too intelligent and informed. haha. The Republicans could come back with some blonde haired, blued eyed Aryan ideal candidate and now we got a race. Get it, race?

 

[Jhhnn]

look - both clinton and paul support reforms , now , like today.
Bush can only win the primaries with his daddyss influence which has waned immensely in the last 8 years, ted cruz will be the perot of his generation and wont be a factor.
sadly , hillz just doesnt seem to be presidential material - i mean jeezuz , shes past her prime - and Im a Lib/Dem by default - I just wish there was another Dem candidate out there that didnt represent the boomers, but my gen X - and the millenials (who just dont understand how much power theyre refusing to wield).

If elected, she'd be the same age as Reagan when he took office.

 

[RetroGrow]

Hillary is a lying bag of sh*t, just like her husband.

Now, if for once in our lives, we could elect an honest/competent President, it should be Elizabeth Warren, with Bernie Sanders as her vice President. That would end our system of bribery and corruption, and give power back to the people, instead of big banks and big pharma, lobby, etc. And she's a female, which seems to be the next barrier people want to knock down. We really need Elizabeth Warren.