If they tax/legalize it, so many people will run out to buy it that I won’t be able to get any.
It sure would be nice if I got a lot more than that, but at the very least, a response to that question that was even ambiguous would have been welcome. And ordering the DEA not to do this would have been very welcome, not taken a hell of a lot of effort, and sent a positive message to a fairly large percentage of the American people who have been ignored, harassed, and imprisoned for far too many years for no good reason, and in accordance with laws directly rooted in racism and ridiculously wrong “science.” (Anslinger once testified to Congress that he tried marijuana once, and it literally made him turn into a bat and fly around the room. I’m not making that up.)
Fuck. the. DEA ?
Oh hell no!
Do you know where that agency has been ?!
As long as the taxes would probably less than the bail…
That’s the problem I have. People, abiding by the laws of the sovereign state of California, are having their lives ruined by overzealous Federal prosecutors on the basis of an insanely rigid interpretation of Federal law (interstate commerce, my ass).
Gfactor’s illuminating post upthread made me realize that the situation was more complex than I’d imagined and it’s far from straightforward for a President to interfere in federal prosecutions, but surely there has to be something Obama can do to rein in the DEA until the new guy takes over.
That’ll do, pig.
Thanks.
Amen, brother.
I’d rather pay $10 in taxes than $100 bail and gamble on court penalties, fees, and probably probation fees and the personal invasion of my privacy.
Once you’re in the legal system, it’s tough to get out.
Well, man, like, ya gotta have, like, priorities, dude. Ya know?
Who ate the last Twinky?
And there’s the problem. Easier to tax .60 cents on cigarettes, a legal product, than to legalize and tax $10 and lose the incentives they already get due to it being illegal ($100 bail, court penalties, fees, etc…). What’s a better income stream for the government, $10, or $100 to 1,000’s+? Of course there’s overhead, it’s not all profit. Get rid of the DEA you say? Not today. The govmit is all about saving jobs in this current enviroment. They’re not going to axe the DEA, even though they desperately need to be cut down in droves and put to work in other more useful areas of government.
Looks to me like he did give an answer to that question about marijuana. The answer was “No”.
Ed
I said “a reasonable answer (or hell, even an answer with some sort of explanation).”
Just plain no isn’t a reasonable answer, and I guess I must have been foolish for thinking I could hope for a little bit more than that from Obama. 
Seriously. Am I supposed to be shedding a tear because the people running the pot shops in California got busted? In the raid, was 90% of the nation’s pot confiscated? Are the passionate pot smokers going to be completely unable to score a bag if they really want one?
I don’t understand what the problem is. Maybe the people who got busted should have either a) sold drugs “the old fashion way,” by having individual clients whom they would meet, or b) get an honest job. Sure, pot is still illegal; I truly doubt that will ever change. But, unless you’re moving pot by the pound (which you wouldn’t do unless you’re a big-time drug dealer), you don’t have much more to worry about than a slap on the wrist. And if you’re smart about your habit (if you have one), you probably don’t need to worry at all.
I haven’t smoked pot in nearly three years, but when I did, I smoked a lot. Still, in spite of being a dumbass teenager at the time, I was still smart enough not to put myself in a position where I would be caught by the cops.
What the order: stop enforcing the law?
“Okay, some of you have questioned my decision earlier this month to devote all of the manpower of this precinct to a jaywalking sting operation at the corner of 4th and Elm. In response I say to you: would you prefer that we just stop enforcing the law?”
It’s the War on Drugs, man. The DEA are the front-line soldiers in the combat and their generals are determined to bomb Drugs into submission. They obviously need billions and billions of dollars to do this and nobody should question their financial needs. I mean, that would be arguing for Drugs! And Drugs are Evil! No matter that they’re inanimate substances, they’re wicked and evil!
Ah, the eternal War on Drugs, unending, unendable, ours not to reason why, ours just to foot the enormous and ongoing bill.
I really do hope and pray that Obama can bring some grown-up thinking to this area, but I’m not hopeful.
White House: DEA Raids in Medical Marijuana States Will Stop
Patience, young Jedi. It’s been fewer than 3 weeks.
Why blame the DEA? Congress passed the Laws.
Hmmm, you have a point.
OK, fuck Congress too.
I’m giving this thread a bump because, to some extent, I may have spoken in haste.
DEA to End Medical Marijuana Raids
Wow! This is awesome news!
Psst… it was awesome news on February 7, too. 