http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/01/19/obama-says-marijuana-no-more-dangerous-than-alcohol/
Washington (CNN) – Marijuana, which is still placed in the same category as heroin, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms by the federal government, is no more dangerous than alcohol, President Barack Obama said in an interview published Sunday.
Speaking to New Yorker editor David Remnick, Obama said he still viewed pot smoking negatively – but that on the whole, the drug wasn’t the social ill that it’s been viewed as in the past.
“As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol,†Obama told the weekly magazine.
The president said pot was actually less dangerous than alcohol “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer.â€
“It’s not something I encourage, and I’ve told my daughters I think it’s a bad idea, a waste of time, not very healthy,†he said.
Two states, Colorado and Washington, have legalized recreational marijuana use. Another 18, along with the District of Columbia, allow some legal pot use, primarily for medicinal purposes. But when it comes to federal law, marijuana remains a schedule 1 controlled substance – a drug with high potential for abuse but no accepted medical use – and the White House has said that Obama doesn’t support changing that status.
Instead, Obama said in the New Yorker interview that he’s focused on making laws that treat users fairly.
“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,†he told Remnick.
In August, Obama’s Justice Department announced it would not challenge legalization in Colorado and Washington, and instead focus federal enforcement on trafficking cases and preventing pot from getting in the hands of kids. Prosecutors are now required to focus on distinct enforcement priorities that also include preventing driving while high and forbidding the cultivation of marijuana on public lands.
In the New Yorker, Obama said Colorado and Washington’s laws were “important†since they decriminalized a commonly used substance. But he also said the laws could raise questions for other illegal substances.
“If marijuana is fully legalized and at some point folks say, Well, we can come up with a negotiated dose of cocaine that we can show is not any more harmful than vodka, are we open to that?†Obama wondered. “If somebody says, We’ve got a finely calibrated dose of meth, it isn’t going to kill you or rot your teeth, are we O.K. with that?â€
The truth is weed is FAR safer than alcohol….
Don’t Date Robots! The world is trained to ignore everything unless it comes from the church, their TV, celebrities, or the media.
Obama is an idiot, I did meth for 7 years and I quit in 97-and it never rotted my teeth, in fact I still have all of my teeth. I did cocaine in small doses for 8 months
and lost almost 100 pounds, and most of that weight has stayed off, been 4 years now. Even heroin is likely a safer drug than some of big pharma’s poor excuses
for medicine have been. Ditto for shrooms, lsd and prolly whatever I have missed too.
Thanks for the post, Swish.
I sure as hell don’t agree with Obama on many topics, but he’s mostly right on this one – for now. Of course, we still have to keep an eye on him. This is the guy, after all, that stepped up raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in his first term. If he’s really serious, then I believe he has the power to change MJ’s control status. We’d win the war at that point! :Smokey:
far safer, I wish he had not kind of dumped it on the same shelf as alcohol. I think alcohol is much worse.
But this is a step in the right direction to undemonize Mary to the politicians..
Alcohol is far worse for you than Marijuana. And if you want to live long smoking MJ
DO WHAT WILLIE NELSON DOES!
He now Vapes all his MJ!
AT LEAST THIS PRESIDENT IS MORE WITH IT, WHEN IT COMES TO THIS SUBJECT THAN SOME PREVIOUS PRESIDENTS!
:weed:
AT LEAST THIS PRESIDENT IS MORE WITH IT, WHEN IT COMES TO THIS SUBJECT THAN SOME PREVIOUS PRESIDENTS!
:weed:
Actually, he’s really not. He raided more medical dispensaries than Bush did.
With Obama, you have to watch what he does, not what he says. There’s a reason folks call him the ‘Liar in Chief.’ Anyway, this guy does not do anything that is not politically motivated. The good news for us is that the winds of legalization are in our favor now, and I suspect that is why he is coming out with a pro pot message (somewhat.) He’s knows the 14 elections ain’t looking so good for the dems right now, so he’s looking for anything that might buy his side some votes.
Personally, I could give a rat’s what his motivation is as long as the result is legal ganja! :weedspin :joint :weedspin
AT LEAST THIS PRESIDENT IS MORE WITH IT, WHEN IT COMES TO THIS SUBJECT THAN SOME PREVIOUS PRESIDENTS!
:weed:
Actually, he’s really not. He raided more medical dispensaries than Bush did.
With Obama, you have to watch what he does, not what he says. There’s a reason folks call him the ‘Liar in Chief.’ Anyway, this guy does not do anything that is not politically motivated. The good news for us is that the winds of legalization are in our favor now, and I suspect that is why he is coming out with a pro pot message (somewhat.) He’s knows the 14 elections ain’t looking so good for the dems right now, so he’s looking for anything that might buy his side some votes.
Personally, I could give a rat’s what his motivation is as long as the result is legal ganja! :weedspin :joint :weedspin
Speak the truth brutha, I am like you just legalize it and you politicians can go back to doing what they do best and that is fucking over the rest of us.
AT LEAST THIS PRESIDENT IS MORE WITH IT, WHEN IT COMES TO THIS SUBJECT THAN SOME PREVIOUS PRESIDENTS!
:weed:
Actually, he’s really not. He raided more medical dispensaries than Bush did.
With Obama, you have to watch what he does, not what he says. There’s a reason folks call him the ‘Liar in Chief.’ Anyway, this guy does not do anything that is not politically motivated. The good news for us is that the winds of legalization are in our favor now, and I suspect that is why he is coming out with a pro pot message (somewhat.) He’s knows the 14 elections ain’t looking so good for the dems right now, so he’s looking for anything that might buy his side some votes.
Personally, I could give a rat’s what his motivation is as long as the result is legal ganja! :weedspin :joint :weedspin
In that case he should let the head democrat shoot him in the head, then the dems can take credit for saving America!
Speak the truth brutha, I am like you just legalize it and you politicians can go back to doing what they do best and that is fucking over the rest of us.
So true. That really is all that these asshole career politicians are good at – screwing over the folks that they are supposed to represent. We need term limits across the board in the worst way.
Free da weed! :Smokey:
In that case he should let the head democrat shoot him in the head, then the dems can take credit for saving America!
I think they’re going to need to firebomb all of congress in order to save America – and the SCOTUS and the pres. If it’s a career politician (or perhaps even just a lawyer in many cases – why so many damn lawyers?), then it is a liar and a thief by definition. Doesn’t matter what party they claim to represent. I say purge them all! :flamer:
I just can’t wait till they bring back opium dens
I always wanted to give that a good try
I want auto erotica morphine nude dens to come back into style.
and mullets