Originally Posted by allwx
Ron Paul isn't really a repub. He'll never be president, and unfortunately he isn't a very good promoter of reform of the marijuana laws. Most people think he's just a daffy old man. I'm afraid Gov Johnson has a similar problem. Whenever he gets on camera he seems stunned. My guess is that people think he's high on weed.
Even if one of these two got elected pres, they would find a long long road to legalization. Laws are passed only by Congress. We know there are several bills sitting on the table in the House to reform the weed laws. They aren't going anywhere, because the legislators are afraid of the blowback from the public. The public is split about 50-50. If there was any kind of misstep, a Congressman or president could find himself in a firestorm of public outcry. Remember how Clinton came in in 92 singing about ending military's ban on homosexuals? That was his first project, and it caused a huge uproar in Congress and the public that led to don't-ask-don't-tell and an educational lesson for the new president. He thought it would sail right on through.
I remember sitting in a bunker in Vietnam in 1969 and hearing one of my friends say he was certain weed would be legal within five years. NOt only did that not happen, but the weed laws got even worse after that. So I say, don't be too hard on pres. Obama. He will act when the time is right. I wouldn't expect any changes before his reelection, once pressure is off. For him to do something like this now, with so little to gain and so much to lose, would be insane. He might pick up a few votes, but Romney and the other GOPs would howl like wolves. Moreover, a large failure like that would set the legalization movement back 30 years. We need to be smart.