Obama supports legalization!!!

[Natural]

This is one of the parts I liked :)

"it's important for it to go forward because it's important for society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished."

You can't have 30 to 40% of your citizens breaking the law! :p

He also said Poor kids get punished and middle class kids dont..

Same goes for Adults right?

Set them all free!
make room for bad people

Ya..that's some good shit right there.
I like the part where he said, "we should not be locking up kids or individual users for long stretches of jail time when some of the folks who are writing those laws have probably done the same thing.”

Glad he's trying to do something about a largely racist, hypocritical war on Cannabis..and I think Holder is more-or-less on the same page. It would be nice to hear more from the other heads of office as well. They can't be the only well funded egos in law enforcement that can see a more relaxed view towards cannabis being not only morally right, but inevitably the will of the majority. It's despairing though, to know that the vast majority of government officials have become pseudo-elite positions..brought on by Corporate sponsors. Separating them further from the realities of middle and lower class peoples. They've become a breed of bad actors with fat pockets and tall-shiny tales. I don't trust the lot of them..the realities of the quality of law-makers is blood curdling and has spoiled the mood of everyone here. Until we can take-the-money-out-of-politics and try and cap corruption..nothing will really ever get better in terms of how the government operates and enforcement of unjust laws.

 

[Darth Fader]

This is one of the parts I liked :)
"it's important for it to go forward because it's important for society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished."

I know! Even when he gets it right, he gets it wrong. The problem isn't an unequal distribution of injustice. You don't solve injustice, by distributing it more equally.

If only more white people went to jail it would all be ok.:finger:

 

[Natural]

Ha..that cracked me up DF.
I think it's a smart position though..maybe not a yoda-ish wise one..but I'd rather hear what he said instead of what Canada is laying down. Surely that would end in Corporate Welfare and more jail for us here in the US. It's like Indiana Jones and a bag of sand..legalization..a tough trick to pull off just right. I think his conscience is getting to him..largely because more than likely he and most lawmakers he knows chief it up..and he pretty much outright just said that. Every politician and cop I have ever known puffs or has puffed. It's high time our laws quit living in the '50's.

 

[masshole61]

This motherfucker will say anything to boost his poll numbers...

 

[fishwhistle]

Show me one MMJ operation that was DEMONSTRABLY following the law and the guidelines put forth by the justice department, which was then raided by the DEA. Show me ONE such case wherein charges were leveled of any kind.

You make a claim, but do not provide the evidence.

Here are the facts:

DOJ said: follow these guidelines (including state law), if you don't its your ass.
State said: follow this law.

So a bunch of people grow pot. Some follow the law, some do not.

The DEA raids some folks, and you say: See?!?! The government are a bunch of LIARS!

The problem with that is that the government didn't ever promise carte blanche to grow as much pot under whatever conditions any citizen might wish to dream up. The state government didn't promise that and the federal government didn't either. They set forth a very specific set of guidelines which had to be followed to the letter and semicolon. They made that ABUNDANDTLY clear.

To believe everyone who grew followed those guidelines is perhaps the most foolish thing I've ever heard, and your outrage here PRESUPPOSES that every single one of these folks were following the law and that the man just chose to keep them specifically down. Does that make sense? Or does it actually sound incredibly paranoid?

Be reasonable, or at least provide an ounce of evidence to back up the claims you make.

I know, personally, a guy who moved product from Colorado to Illinois--facilitating, with their knowledge, a grower from that state. I doubt quite highly he's the only dude making some bank on the high conversion rate.

Tell me again how everyone is following the law. Lol.

Heres one squigg;http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/c...er-gets-10-years-in-prison-130109?news=846694

Im on my phone or i could list tons of these if you want,I remember one guy up on the cali central coast that they just roasted and he was a great guy,sold meds reasonably,clean cut,but they were pissed because he was providing medical mj to parents who were using it to treat their sick children so they took him out.Literally hundreds of dispensaries have been shut down by the feds in cali over the years and yeah some deserved it and some did not but all were treated the same,badly.The DEA does not look at people and say is this guy following the rules set forth for marijuana?They say this dirtbag is a drug dealer and we will do whatever we have to to get him off the streets.

 

[Darth Fader]

Ha..that cracked me up DF.
:D
It's like Indiana Jones and a bag of sand..legalization..a tough trick to pull off just right.

I like that, and you're right. So much so that ... well, just look at the penalties in Legal states when they go over an ounce. Freaking draconian. In CA they can give only you a $100 fine for 1 or less (thx Governator!), & anything over ... well, better to be here in CA than in one of the "legal" states.

 

[fishwhistle]

• 
  On May 19, 2011 Patricia Albright and her 26-year-old son Jordan Wirtz of Nevada City (pictured above) were indicted by the federal government for growing 89 plants for 10 patients on Albright's property, which is now the object of a forfeiture action. Albright is facing a prison sentence of 7 1/2 years and Jordan 6 1/2 years. They are scheduled to go to trial on February 3, 2014.
  
  
  
  
  Albright's oldest son Trevor (pictured right) was diagnosed at age 15 months with bi-lateral retinoblastoma (eye cancer). After losing both of his eyes, he developed bone cancer at the age of 8. Medical marijuana, recommended by his doctor, was a great relief in the days before he died. Understandably diagnosed with anxiety, depression and hypervigilance, Albright has a recommendation for medical marijuana, as does Jordan, who has had a dozen broken bones, with steel pins inserted into his humerus to hold his arm together.
  
  Read a letter Albright wrote to President Obama about her case here and here.
  

 

[fishwhistle]

The letters to president obama did not link squigg but i think their important so ill link them here;
http://www.canorml.org/images/albrightletter1.jpg
http://www.canorml.org/images/albrightletter2.jpg

Here is a good link for you to research with many more of these federal cases all brought under the obama administration.

 

[Darth Fader]

Oh, he's probably just waiting for his 3rd term to pardon them.

 

[squiggly]

You don't pardon someone until they've stood trial. Welcome to how it's always been.

What you've done is to show what the defendant in a federal drug trafficking trial has said is the case--what we haven't seen is the evidence being presented against them. Sob stories are great, but without detail this doesn't tell you much in a legal sense. I'm just saying that lady's son looks like someone I could buy some pot off of if I was looking. Who's to say that's not what was going on?

If we doled out justice by taking the defendant's word for it, we'd have a pretty fucked up system dontcha think?

 

[Natural]

Plenty of Drug War victims..endless list of lives and families ruined. Time to try a different approach as the old one hasn't worked and only lends to filling up over-loaded prisons. Particularly when it comes to "something less harmful than alcohol"!
sad.

 

[caregiverken]

stfu squigg

:rolleyes:

 

[Capulator]

The best part, whether he is lying or not, is that he mentioned all of these things publicly and they are getting national media attention. This is in a time when 2 states LEGALIZED. The country is moving in a different direction.

When something gets national MEDIA attention, people (the majority of people) who love their television and radio, will hear it. And we all know that many people think "if the president says it it MUST be true!".

So regardless it is a step forward when it comes to the reclassification of MJ. Down the road the public opinion will win. Corporations will still find a way to take advantage of the situation.

@fractal it's all part of the plan.. :writing:

 

[squiggly]

I know! Even when he gets it right, he gets it wrong. The problem isn't an unequal distribution of injustice. You don't solve injustice, by distributing it more equally.

If only more white people went to jail it would all be ok.:finger:

The problem is you're speaking on ethics as though they are just "out there" in the ether for all of us to download and know. The reality is that ethics are discovered, hammered out, agreed to, disagreed with, rehashed, and ultimately they are imperfect. They always will be.

Politically speaking, he's addressed this the right way. He's grabbed hold of the issues that EVERYONE can agree on, not just supporters of legalization.

You don't win a side over who opposes you by parroting all the shit they don't agree with and have heard until they randomly accept it some day. Republicans try this. Ask them how that's going for them.

No.

You have to find common ground, and wouldn't ya know--we use the same process to come by our laws in the first place.

stfu squigg

:rolleyes:

No.

The best part, whether he is lying or not, is that he mentioned all of these things publicly and they are getting national media attention. This is in a time when 2 states LEGALIZED. The country is moving in a different direction.

When something gets national MEDIA attention, people (the majority of people) who love their television and radio, will hear it. And we all know that many people think "if the president says it it MUST be true!".

So regardless it is a step forward when it comes to the reclassification of MJ. Down the road the public opinion will win. Corporations will still find a way to take advantage of the situation.

@fractal it's all part of the plan.. :writing:

Sense is a wonderful thing

Plenty of Drug War victims..endless list of lives and families ruined. Time to try a different approach as the old one hasn't worked and only lends to filling up over-loaded prisons. Particularly when it comes to "something less harmful than alcohol"!
sad.

I have NOTHING to add to that. Is the president perfect on this? No. Not even approaching it. I wanted action DAY ONE for exactly the reasons Natural pointed out here. I was disappointed not to see it (though I didn't get my hopes up as much as some). I always predicted that this day would come in time, though. I even did so publically on this board. I was derided for that.

We need more action, and we'll need to keep saying that and acting on it for a long time coming--but as Cap says this imparts momentum. Anyone who doesn't see that has a poor grasp on the weight of the president's words. Just because you didn't vote for him and don't like him doesn't mean half the country didn't vote for him twice and don't still want to give the guy a chance.

 

[kolah]

you people actually believe what that bozo says? ???

 

[kolah]

You guys are drinking the Kool-Aid. This is what his advisers are telling him to say and do. HE NEEDS public support right now because a LOT of people want to see him impeached. He PROMISED to keep the DEA out of MMJ...yet there have been more raids on MMJ than when Bush was in office. He is a puppet. A politician, and as corrupt as they come.

I had hope for Obama...I really did.....but when he hired Monsanto's chief lobbyist to head the FDA....I knew he was a BOUGHT AND PAID FOR politician just like the rest of them.

This is akin to the saying "Let them eat cake"!

I'm calling bullshit.

THIS.

 

[fishwhistle]

you people actually believe what that bozo says? ???

For sure some of them do kolah,maybe they dont have the wisdom/experience that some of us older folks do,shit we have been getting lied to over and over for years,1o 0r 11 presidents for me,lol.Remember some of these rabid obama supporters werent even born til the mid to late 80s or early 90s.My kids are older than they are,give it 10-20 years and they will be saying WTF was i thinking!

 

[Black Lab]

Like him or not, it is most definitely a positive step in the right direction. I suspect he might be more down with legalization but I think his wife is the exact opposite, a lot of mothers are. For those who are married I don't have to tell you what the wife thinks makes a difference.
Plus, Holder and Obama are black. I always thought they would punt this one. America finally gets a black president and he legalizes weed, maybe he wants to leave a different legacy. I know this is an important issue for many of us on this site but I don't know if it is that important to him. And, do you really think he can put a leash on the multiple federal agencies headed up by anti MMJ conservative zealots who are determined to stay the course on the drug war. We still have a long way to go.

 

[caregiverken]

you people actually believe what that bozo says? ???

its not a matter of Believing him...Yeah, he is a fat lier ..rarely tells the truth..and still didnt tell the truth.

I think Cap summed it up nicely.
and i think the tide is turning...

 

[squiggly]

For sure some of them do kolah,maybe they dont have the wisdom/experience that some of us older folks do,shit we have been getting lied to over and over for years,1o 0r 11 presidents for me,lol.Remember some of these rabid obama supporters werent even born til the mid to late 80s or early 90s.My kids are older than they are,give it 10-20 years and they will be saying WTF was i thinking!

Your version of "experience" sounds a lot like my version of "bitterness".