I don't give Obama a drop of credit for weed flourishing here in the Rockies, but under his lies, the weed scene has blown the fuck up!. Seeing as all politicians are liars, ill take it!
outwest
I don't think this is particularly fair.
If you had either Romney or McCain in office this WOULD NOT have happened. You can conjecture you all you like--but both of these men would've taken a hard line MJ policy and we ALL know it.
Let's not forget who the party of prohibition is and always has been.
Regardless of what Obama said/did--it's clear he did something which no one else would've done--which is limit the federal crackdown on MJ.
He didn't stop it, he didn't end it--but he SEVERELY LIMITED IT, moreso than ever before in history (EVEN IF it's not enough for
YOU--it is still
MORE)
Of this there can be no question.
Policy changes like this one are SLOW. I find it so incredibly short-sighted the way people have viewed this by and large. While it may be true he hasn't totally ended prohibition, or federal meddling in state MJ policy--what he has done, at the ABSOLUTE very least, is to be a placeholder for people who would've done
much worse.
Would you rather he came out as a champion of pot policy for four years, so that WHEN--not if--he lost the election it could all be swiftly reversed by his replacement?
Think about what's just happened here--states have now passed recreational laws. I don't give Obama credit for this, but I certainly think his policy of basically letting states mostly handle MJ policy helped to set the stage for it.
These are the important things that NEED to happen for this movement to succeed. It's about chipping away at the armor of that federal law, bit by bit (and don't be fooled--this has a nearly impenetrable armor made up of public opinion, christian legalism, and flat out misinformation and fear--and don't forget the sheer amount of jobs that are tied up in interdiction activities, we're talking entire branches of the government here and 80% of all law enforcement). That isn't going to happen so long as patients, dispensaries, and the like are demonized. Obama's administration has gone after some people it deemed as being illegitimate, but he's totally reversed the policy of the Bush years which was demonizing and demeaning to PATIENTS.
It's ALL about swaying public opinion. As a president, you don't do that by getting out there and saying wild and crazy shit--you do it by metering your speech and by being deliberate with it. You do it by building bridges, and adjusting standpoints.
These are all the opposite of what the GOP does, it should be noted--and there is a REASON for that. It's because THEY WANT THE OPPOSITE OUTCOME.
Sure 4 years of "do what the fuck you want" would've been nice, but it wouldn't have been lawful and it WOULD have been political suicide. It also would've guaranteed the failure of the legalization movement if you ask me.
People are so focused on what has happened and what he's done--that they forget to note probably the most important things:
What HASN'T happened, and what he DIDN'T do.
What he DIDN'T do was take this:
Here, on the mean streets of CO, pot has flourished during the Obama presidency.
and decide to shit in your Cheerios about it. He CERTAINLY COULD HAVE. Do you think shit would've flourished in CO if Obama had decided he didn't want to have that happen?
Not.
A.
Fucking.
Chance.
This shit isn't going to be solved during a single-term. In the white house, right now, you have the biggest advocate for MJ policy sitting in the Oval office who has
EVER sat there. That doesn't mean he's a hero for the cause, but what it does mean is that we've made
progress.
People are so, fucking, childish. They expect Rome to be built in a day, it's unrealistic. This shit is going to take time and sacrifice, and it's going to be a bumpy road.
It's been much less bumpy than it would've been the last 4 years--and it will be considerably less bumpy over the next four than it could've been under Romney.
It is not a secret the way the GOP feels about MJ policy. Don't be duped into believing that Obama in the office has been anything but a win for progress.
It was, is, and will continue to be the best case scenario--even if it's not
THE BEST (which is what everyone wants, immediately).
When I see people making these short-sighted statements, I just want to tell them to read a fucking book already (you know, those learny things--with the pages--tell your kids). Shit like this hasn't ever, isn't now, and won't ever happen quickly. It is a piece-wise and painstaking process.
If you honestly believe McCain or Romney would've been more conducive to this--I respectfully suggest that you've sampled too many of your wares (and that you should still probably read a book).
Beyond all of this, it's Congress' problem in the first place. They are the ONLY solution here--and as long as Obama hating moron-idiot-retard-southerners keep electing the GOP to congressional seats--we will NEVER, mark my words, NEVER see the federal policy change.
It's not in the cards for the GOP. A vote for the GOP is a vote against MJ policy progress. If you think otherwise--you are extra super special dumb.
