# Heard the Rumor that Obama Is Putting Pot Legalization on the Table? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 18, 2012, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-the-rumor-that-obama-is-putting-pot-legalization-on-the-table/625519 "2012-06-18T14:38:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-the-rumor-that-obama-is-putting-pot-legalization-on-the-table/625519/21 "2012-06-18T19:45:54Z")
All the quote from the Fallon show says is that “there’s talk”. Well, yeah, of course there is. Some of it is going on right in this thread. You need to get a lot more substantive than “there’s talk” in order to mean anything. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-the-rumor-that-obama-is-putting-pot-legalization-on-the-table/625519/22 "2012-06-19T00:36:32Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > I’m an Obama fan, will vote for him again, but…this is an election year. His comments about being in support of gay marriage were personal, and for the press; he can’t really do anything about it. Last week’s bit about not deporting anyone under 30, same. He can SAY whatever he wants, but it’s actions that matter. So even if the pot thing is true, it really doesn’t matter. > > Believe it when you see it. He can and has supported gay marriage. The Justice Department will not argue in favor of the defense against marriage law. This angered congressional Republicans and led them to mount their own defense of the law. Not that it will matter. The court no longer pretends to interpret the constitution, but is just another partisan body basing their decisions on personal preference. BTW, I include both the liberals and conservatives in this. Much as I approved of the Roe vs. Wade decision, I see no warrant for it in the constitution and the decision led women’s groups to relax and, sometimes get involved in peripheral issues (was Mileva Maric really responsible for relativity?) ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-the-rumor-that-obama-is-putting-pot-legalization-on-the-table/625519/23 "2012-06-19T00:50:09Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > During the '08 election campaign he scored points (with me) when he promised that under his administration the DEA would not be wasting time going after dispensarys or med marijuana patients. That turned out to be a lie. Fool me once. . . To be fair, Obama didn’t promise to be nice to dispensaries and MMJ patients (caregiver/growers mostly) growing tons of pot and shipping most of it out-of-state where it sells for three or four times the price, illegally. MMJ patients and dispensaries brought the crackdowns on themselves, largely. Small private grower/patients don’t get messed with much here in Colorado, generally speaking. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-the-rumor-that-obama-is-putting-pot-legalization-on-the-table/625519/24 "2012-06-19T01:11:04Z")
Ohio is working on two different Medical Marijuana ballots for this fall. In this article, it says that 16 states are going to have Marijuana related ballots [http://www2.ohio-votes.com/news/2012/jan/26/5/medical-marijuana-proposals-may-be-november-ballot-ar-911151/](http://www2.ohio-votes.com/news/2012/jan/26/5/medical-marijuana-proposals-may-be-november-ballot-ar-911151/) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-the-rumor-that-obama-is-putting-pot-legalization-on-the-table/625519/25 "2012-06-19T04:09:24Z")
Obama can do whatever he wants to have the legislation introduced in Congress. It will never get out of committee. ---
**Author:** ![gunnergoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e95f7d/32.png) [@gunnergoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gunnergoz)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-the-rumor-that-obama-is-putting-pot-legalization-on-the-table/625519/26 "2012-06-19T07:49:45Z")
I find it hilarious how people think that Obama is supposedly secretly planning to take away our guns, put marijuana in everyone’s hands and force us all into death camps. I also have no doubt that, somewhere in the USA, someone is staying awake at night worrying that Obama will make Kenya the 51st state in the Union, right after which he will move our Capitol to the UN. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-the-rumor-that-obama-is-putting-pot-legalization-on-the-table/625519/27 "2012-06-19T11:04:30Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > To be fair, Obama didn’t promise to be nice to dispensaries and MMJ patients (caregiver/growers mostly) growing tons of pot and shipping most of it out-of-state where it sells for three or four times the price, illegally. MMJ patients and dispensaries brought the crackdowns on themselves, largely. Small private grower/patients don’t get messed with much here in Colorado, generally speaking. “I’m not going to be using Justice Department resources to circumvent State laws on this issue”. Those were his words. Those words secured my vote for the guy. He lied. [How many cites are needed?](http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/obamas-war-on-pot-20120216) [Another](http://www.phawker.com/2012/04/03/going-rogue-obamas-dea-puts-lie-to-campaign-promise-raids-oaksterdams-cannabis-university/). [Washington Post](http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/05/dea-led-by-bush-continues-pot-raids/). [A human rights petition from Change.org.](http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-medical-marijuana-raids) ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-the-rumor-that-obama-is-putting-pot-legalization-on-the-table/625519/28 "2012-06-19T16:12:37Z")
I think it’s impossible before the election, possible after. If the New York decriminalization effort goes through, and other states follow suit, and things keep developing in the same general trend they have, I say about a 70% chance by the end of Obama’s 7th year. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-the-rumor-that-obama-is-putting-pot-legalization-on-the-table/625519/29 "2012-06-19T16:16:34Z")
The town I live in (Evanston, IL) has decriminalized pot, mostly because too many rich white kids and Northwestern students were having their future career prospects sullied w/ arrest records. They framed it as a way to help disadvantaged minority youths from ending up in jail but that was only a side benefit to their real intent. Not that I’m complaining. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heard-the-rumor-that-obama-is-putting-pot-legalization-on-the-table/625519.md?page=1)