Posted on 01/28/2015 10:52:45 AM PST by balch3
President Barack Obama continues to speak out against mass incarceration, the devastating impact of our drug policies on communities of color and his expectation that marijuana legalization will continue to spread.
Obama's comments came today during his YouTube interviews with YouTube bloggers, Bethany Mota, GloZell Green and Hank Green.
Some Obama nuggets from today's interview include this on marijuana:
"What you're seeing now is Colorado, Washington through state referenda, they're experimenting with legal marijuana," the president said in response to a question from host Hank Green.
"The position of my administration has been that we still have federal laws that classify marijuana as an illegal substance, but we're not going to spend a lot of resources trying to turn back decisions that have been made at the state level on this issue. My suspicion is that you're gonna see other states start looking at this."
Obama also addressed how we should treat people who are not violent drug offenders.
"What I am doing at the federal level," Obama responded, "is asking my Department of Justice just to examine generally how we are treating nonviolent drug offenders, because I think you're right."
"What we have done is instead of focusing on treatment -- the same way we focused, say, with tobacco or drunk driving or other problems where we treat it as public health problem -- we've treated this exclusively as a criminal problem," the president said. "I think that it's been counterproductive, and it's been devastating in a lot of minority communities. It presents the possibility at least of unequal application of the law, and that has to be changed."
(Excerpt) Read more at huffingtonpost.com ...
THAT'S where you are WRONG! Drugs being illegal creates a black market which artificially inflates the price of them. If they were legal, they would be FAR less expensive. How often do you hear of people breaking into houses to steal property to sell so they can buy tobacco or alcohol? I'd wager, VERY FEW. Their illegality is 50% of the "drug problem".
As always, I give the disclaimer that I don't, and have never used illegal drugs, before you or anyone else calls me a pothead, or whatever...
I just apply common sense, and have no ideological reason against people using drugs; if they're adults and that's what they wanna do, as long as they aren't harming anyone else - and pay for their own mistakes.
The evidence is not "weak" the evidence is quite strong. We know about the tonnage of Opium shipped into China because the British East India company kept very good records of it. We also know how Zurich's attempt to legalize drugs worked out. Both are very good evidence and quite compelling.
Let's just say this: I admitted the war on drugs was a failure. I suggested two possible alternatives on both extremes of the spectrum, one of which even has a proven track record.
What's your proposal?
“Addiction”, gets you into Public Housing that used to be for Senior Citizens and Veterans.
if cocaine isn’t addictive
Who said that? not me.
Deleterious effects
Smoking tobacco, staying up too late, or regularly eating fast food have deleterious effects - that's up to adults to choose for themselves. To tell adults we-won't-let-you-do-that-because-it's-not-good-for-you is the definition of nanny-statism, like it or not.
And once again, you have to be an IDIOT to believe that cocaine infused beverages would not have caused any problems. Either an Idiot, or a Liar who won't tell the truth.
Instead of arresting people for using and selling drugs, the government could poison the supply of drugs, and let people essentially suicide themselves, letting Darwin thin out the herd.
A low cost solution without expanding the police state. No need for jails. Might need some more body bags and morticians.
Including alcohol and tobacco?
Already too late. The damage to the constitution, 4th|5th|7th Amendments is already complete and repeal (of any law) is unlikely. He’s sucking up to hoi poli (47%).
KYPD
” No, because there will be no “other” states for homeless to move from.”
LOL!
No sir, it means by your OWN reasoning, drug addled homeless will be EVERYWHERE, you IDIOT!
Post #131 : )
That would explain all the DEA raids on Cali med shops!
He LIES!
Colorado’s loss is the other 49’s gain.
But if we legalize all drugs, like you desire, according to your reasoning, the WHOLE COUNTRY LOSES.
No, because there will be no “other” states for homeless to move from.
by your OWN reasoning, drug addled homeless will be EVERYWHERE,
Which part of "moving in" did you not understand?
you IDIOT!
Thanks for the laugh.
You aren’t funny, troll.
When you get the ZOT this time, you won’t get a third chance.
The point in contention is not the well being of the other 49, we are debating the consequences to Colorado. For Colorado it has so far been a debacle. Even the Governor said it was a mistake.
meanwhile, Colorado traffic fatalities have dropped.
They were already dropping. CHP claims it is because of better enforcement and more seat belt compliance.
So? Each penny of that is one more than they were getting before legalization.
And I expect they will be paying more than ever on the flip side in welfare.
I've seen no evidence that the black market has "surged" - at worst, not displaced as quickly as it could have been with lower taxes.
I'm sure you've seen the same articles that I have regarding people growing their own instead of patronizing the state ran stores.
Like we aren't already doing just that?
Incarceration aint cheap! Socially nor fiscally!
A child is caught with drugs. Would you rather treat him and educate him, or have criminals treat and educate him?
Either way it's happening, and we're gonna pay for it. Legal or not!
And continued to drop when pot was legalized. Some "debacle."
Each penny of that is one more than they were getting before legalization.
And I expect they will be paying more than ever on the flip side in welfare.
Your expectations are worth every penny I paid for them.
I've seen no evidence that the black market has "surged" - at worst, not displaced as quickly as it could have been with lower taxes.
I'm sure you've seen the same articles that I have regarding people growing their own
Don't recall that one - and it's not a "black market" I can see any reason to worry about.
I wish people who think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence would actually *LOOK* at the grass on the other side of the Fence. Back in the Early 1900s, we criminalized drugs. Back in the 1840s, China Legalized drugs. China got wrecked 60-70 years later. We are still going strong.
Drug usages skyrocketed until by the early 1900s, half her population was addicted to opium.
I don’t know if I’ve ever agreed with the Administration on anything, but this might come close, because it makes sense.
I disagree. This Administration has a near perfect record of idiocy, and this is just more of the same idiocy they are good at. This opinion is based on a superficial understanding of the issue, and the claims don't hold up when subjected to rigid scrutiny.
If you bet Obama is always wrong, you won't go far off.
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