# What could Obama do to legilize pot? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-obama-do-to-legilize-pot/660499 "2013-06-08T20:52:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-obama-do-to-legilize-pot/660499/21 "2013-06-09T06:49:03Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Can he pardon away all federal marijuana offenses, each day from here through to the end of his term? Could the POTUS pardon offenses not yet committed or can he only pardon with respect to done deeds? ---
**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 9, 2013, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-obama-do-to-legilize-pot/660499/22 "2013-06-09T13:38:44Z")
If it were up to me, I would pardon all those in the clink for possession only. And I certainly wouldn’t prosecute those selling it legally in their own state. But I would still want to prosecute the mobsters. Although this is off the thread, we still suffer from the mobs that arose during prohibition. So I would want to legalize not only pot, but all drugs (think of it as evolution in action), gambling, prostitution. What would the mob do then? They might have to go legit. And pay taxes. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-obama-do-to-legilize-pot/660499/23 "2013-06-09T13:45:14Z")
The problem with the president not enforcing laws is that they stay on the books. Future presidents could just start up the enforcement again. Now the feds are not pursuing people for simple possession. They say they are after greater crimes, but those crimes mostly would not exist if marijuana was legal in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-obama-do-to-legilize-pot/660499/24 "2013-06-09T16:28:09Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > **Chimera** , political jabs are not permitted in GQ. No warning issued, but don’t do this again. > > Colibri > General Questions Moderator I think we need better definitions of political jabs. It’s the language, not the factual information that is a problem, right? If he’d have said the following, it would be okay, right? “In the current political climate, I don’t think Obama could propose anything that would pass in Congress. The opposing party, even if they agreed with him, would feel pressured to vote against him.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-obama-do-to-legilize-pot/660499/25 "2013-06-10T00:43:37Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > [QUOTE=The Other Waldo Pepper] > Can he pardon away all federal marijuana offenses, each day from here through to the end of his term? Could the POTUS pardon offenses not yet committed or can he only pardon with respect to done deeds? [/QUOTE] That’s why I put in the part about _“each day from here through to the end of his term”_. I figured he could pardon With Respect To Every Done Deed as of today, and then do so again tomorrow, and so on every twenty-four hours – each time pardoning away whatever new offenses cropped up since the last time. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-obama-do-to-legilize-pot/660499/26 "2013-06-10T01:15:08Z")
[21 USC ch.13 (I) B § 811](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/21/811) seems to read, to me, as though the AG has quite a lot of discretion WRT adding and removing items from the Schedules. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-obama-do-to-legilize-pot/660499.md?page=1)