Obama and decriminalization?

[flyingimam]

How long will this bill sit idle until it dies in limbo?

it is expected to get out of subcommittees sometime in 2009...

I'm hopeful this can get more support with the next congress and admin than it would have ever gotten with current one or the defeated candidate... I'm certain he did even say it on camera that he doesnt believe in medical marijuana
John McCain Quotes on Medical Marijuana

"No town hall meeting in New Hampshire is complete without some young man who has been sent here to talk to me about medical marijuana ... The fact is I do not approve of the medical use of marijuana, I never have and I never will, and you all keep coming to the town hall meetings. I'm always glad to see you, it helps with the attendance." (September 29, 2007, house party in Exeter, New Hampshire)

"The law is the law, and I do not believe it's going to be changed, and it's not going to be changed by me." (October 23, 2007, town hall meeting in Exeter, New Hampshire)

while...
Sen. Barack Obama

[roninwithnoname]

I'm certain he did even say it on camera that he doesnt believe in medical marijuana

Oh, he did:

YouTube - Sen. John McCain meets a medical marijuana patient--Sept. 30

[Gatekeeper777]

Sen Arland Spector would be a good place to start he HAD cancer. I bet he toked up and knows the benifits.
McCain is a PUPPET!
MCMore of the same!

[IAmKowalski]

there is a bill in the house, H.R. 5843. it was sponsored by
Rep. Barney Frank [D-MA]. it's goal is to "To eliminate most Federal penalties for possession of marijuana for personal use, and for other purposes."

you can follow it here. so far it has only been introduced. apparently state laws will directly conflict with this bill if voted and signed into law. but from what i've read it could be used by the states as a sort of ok that the federal government is fine with this, so you should be too. who knows what will happen? but what i wonder is how and the hell state and federal laws conflict. what a joke.

-shake

Here's the text of the bill:

The text of the bill:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Act to Remove Federal Penalties for the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults'.

SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF CERTAIN MARIJUANA-RELATED PENALTIES.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no penalty may be imposed under an Act of Congress for the possession of marijuana for personal use, or for the not-for-profit transfer between adults of marijuana for personal use. For the purposes of this section, possession of 100 grams or less of marijuana shall be presumed to be for personal use, as shall the not-for-profit transfer of one ounce or less of marijuana, except that the civil penalty provided in section 405 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 844a) may be imposed for the public use of marijuana if the amount of the penalty does not exceed $100.

....

So yes, it eliminates criminal penalties for personal use and possession up to 100 grams. It stops far short of common sense, however. It doesn't legitimize the industry, it doesn't allow for regulation of sale (to control the minimum age of purchase for instance), in fact it doesn't allow for sale at all.

Why would anyone want to prevent the regulation and taxation of the largest cash crop in the country? Why would we want to keep it on the black market?

Anyone who knows a bit about this plant knows that the current situation is just plain silly - but why, then, would we stop so short of actually FIXING the situation, and instead continue the climate of prohibition?

Yes, this could be a step in the right direction in that it would give the public at large time to become more familiar with Marijuana and its effects. Yes, it would allow very small scale home growing of a tiny bonsai plant or two.... but I only see this as a good thing as a stepping stone toward the eventual legalization and regulation of Marijuana.

Even for home growers - how much do you think you can grow if the weight of all of your living plants, plus the weight of any dried bud on hand all has to be under 100 grams? That would mean the stems, leaves, and possibly (depending on how the law would be interpreted in your locality) even the roots all weighed while wet and living (and all of that water in the plant is likely to double its weight)? Do you think you're going to be able to make the cops understand that the rest of the plant doesn't count? Do you think you're going to make them understand that if they would just come back in a week that bud hanging in your closet would weigh a hell of a lot less because it would have time to dry out? Good luck.

[BeefsMyFav]

I def agree that regulating it makes a lot more sense then decrim but it would be a great step in the right direction...it sucks tho i doubt it will happen anytime soon. I kno obama has said he would decrim in 04 but after he started runin for pres he changed that opinion somewhat. still obama might help us stoners out who knows all i can do is wait, in the meantime ill be in the netherlands:hippy:

[IAmKowalski]

I def agree that regulating it makes a lot more sense then decrim but it would be a great step in the right direction...it sucks tho i doubt it will happen anytime soon. I kno obama has said he would decrim in 04 but after he started runin for pres he changed that opinion somewhat. still obama might help us stoners out who knows all i can do is wait, in the meantime ill be in the netherlands:hippy:

True - I doubt that we will see even decriminalization anytime soon. It is nowhere on the priority horizon. Obama is accused of being a socialist and engaging in class warfare just because he wants to undo Bush's tax breaks for the rich. If he were to say one word about decriminalizing Marijuana, he would be branded as a radical hippie as well.

[allrollsin21]

I agree Kowalski, if he brought such a divisive issue to the table at this point in time, or anytime soon, the backlash would be strong. It would likely prevent him from getting anything else done, or at the very least impede his progress.

I am hoping at the very least he puts an end to fed raids on med. growers.
I believe he said this is something he would do, and it only takes a phone call or two, RIGHT? I dont know exactly :wtf: it would take, but he is gonna be president.

[Reefer Rogue]

It's not one of the major issues he has to focus on at the moment but be sure that cannabis laws will only progress under liberal democratic politics rather then reactionary repulican scare tactic policies. These two recent bills which passed are great news and a step in the right direction.

[FreeDaHerb]

Obama definitely would sign off on the regulation of Marijuana...but it's going to have to start with decrim and medical MJ for us to get there..if he does a good job his first term then maybe he will get a second 4 years and that's when it could happen. One problem though is that Biden (and I love this guy don't get me wrong) wrote the "Crime Bill" and is responsible for the creation of the Drug Czar's office in the first place..most of the mandatory minimum laws currently in place are a direct result of Joe Biden, which is a shame because he is a cool dude otherwise. Let's hope he does'nt influence Obama too much on this issue and he know's how to just go with the flow. We can only pray.

[dragonrider]

I doubt it will be a priority for him at all, and I actually HOPE Obama doesn't get sucked into this issue early on. There are a lot more important and less controversial things he should have at the top of the list, and this is not one of them.

Remember what happend to Clinton? One of the very first things he tackled was allowing gays in the military, of all things. It weakened him and gave his opponents ammunition against him and hurt him when it was time to work on some more important things. Sure, it's a rights issue and should have come up on his agenda eventually, but is that really where you want to spend all your good will and political capital during the "honeymoon" period of your new presidency?

Obama has studied the successes and failures of past presidents like Clinton and Reagan, and I don't think he will make the mistake of going to this issue early on. I HOPE he does get to it soon enough, but I would not personally put it at the top of the list.