Obama/Biden website seeks input re marijuana

[steved]

Change.gov, the Obama/Biden transition team website, has initiated an "open for questions" feature in which citizens express their concerns and questions, everyone votes on which questions are the best or not so good, and the Obama/Biden team will answer the questions with the most votes.

One of the questions is: "Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion dollar industry right here in the U.S.?"

Please vote for them to answer this question, which is currently within the top 20. Voting ends Friday, Dec. 12. at 12:00 a.m. (in other words, midnight tonight, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008).

Sign up with an email address and password to vote, at:

http://change.gov/page/content/openforquestions

steved Reviewed by steved on 12-11-2008. Obama/Biden website seeks input re marijuana Change.gov, the Obama/Biden transition team website, has initiated an "open for questions" feature in which citizens express their concerns and questions, everyone votes on which questions are the best or not so good, and the Obama/Biden team will answer the questions with the most votes. One of the questions is: "Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion dollar industry Rating: 5

[Stigma420247]

thanks for the heads up man

[Psilocybe Sativa]

Yeah, thanks for the heads up! I just posted this in the lounge where there is much more traffic. the more people that see it the better.

[AbrandnewL]

Haha, 1/4th of all those questions on that website have to do with MMJ..hopefully we will get a answer finally?:rastasmoke:

[BosIndicas]

Blessed be thine stone-ed brethen & sisterhood, who spoke, and all the land and it's leaders heard: LEGALIZE, so that we may too be free in our own land.
Whilst still not too late, go forth and vote, because OUR question is the loudest.:hippy:

[Sandm4n]

just called up 15 of my buddies who all went and voted yes :giggity::smokebong::joint1:

Tell every one you know spread da luv my brudahs!
Stoners UNITE!!

[linearvermin]

Hey man, thanks for the heads up. Me and my friend voted and guess what, it was the winning topic! Thats crazy to think that out of all the questions on there that weed was the most popular. It shows that america is sick of this prohibition and is finally doing something about it.

[DdC222]

First round of Change.gov questions: Stop the Ganjawar!

Change.gov questions: Stop the Ganjawar#1

First round of Change.gov questions
Friday, December 12, 2008

Excellent job, people. The Obama transition team has got to be scrambling to figure out how to deal with this.

When they opened up for questions about what concerns Americans and let people vote on the questions online in a quick 2 or 3-day blitz (they'll be doing it again next week), here are some of the ones that ended up in the lead...

Stop The Drug War: We're Number 1!
Drug Policy Questions in The Top 40

1. "Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion dollar industry right here in the U.S.?" 7947 â?? 634 (93% liked question)

7. "13 states have compassionate use programs for medial Marijuana, yet the federal gov't continues to prosecute sick and dying people. Isn't it time for the federal gov't to step out of the way and let doctors and families decide what is appropriate?" 3394 â?? 272 (93% liked question)

11. "The US "War on Drugs" wastes billions every year tracking down and incarcerating non-violent users. What is your position on the legalization of marijuana? How do you feel about treating rather than imprisoning users of harder, addictive drugs?" 2521 â?? 102 (96% liked question)

13. "How will you fix the current war on drugs in America? and will there be any chance of decriminalizing marijuana?" 2538 â?? 238 (85% liked question)

15. "What kind of progress can be expected on the decriminalization and legalization for medicinal purposes of marijuana and will you re-prioritize the "War On Drugs" to reflect the need for drug treatment instead of incarceration?" 2329 â?? 182 (93% liked question)

18. "The U.S. has the world's highest incarceration rate, largely due to the War on Drugs. Our prisons are festering pits of rape, racism, and gang violence, and divert a lot of tax money to the corrupt prison industry. How can we fix this?" 1834 â?? 142 (93% liked question)

22. "Would you consider the legalizing of growing hemp (not marijuana) for food, clothing and bio-fuel use?" 1677 â?? 225 (88% liked question)

23. "Drug control policy in America is a mess, most specifically with regards to marijuana. Federal and state laws are in conflict all over the country. What do you plan to do about this? Will you allow the states to make their own determinations?" 1577 â?? 143 (92% liked question)

28. "What about the use of Hemp and finally legalizing marijuana for personal use?" 1385 â?? 265 (84% liked question)

29. "If we did not have over 2 million people in jail, many of which on marijuana charges, we would save billions a year and keep families together. Will you commit to a comprehensive drug treatment plan that will help keep families together?" 1296 â?? 132 (91% liked question)

33. "What will you do to ensure that the government takes scientific research into account when making laws? Especially when it comes to questions about the legalization of marijuana and the use of medical marijuana." 1198 â?? 129 (90% liked question)

34. "On the campaign trail, you said you would put an end to the federal raids on medical marijuana patients. Will you implement this policy within the first year of your term?" 1153 â?? 95 (92% liked question)

42: "Will you consider the decriminalization or legalization and taxation of marijuana as a recreational drug?"

43: "Do you support Barney Frank's Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008 (HR 5843)? Ending the "Drug War" would save $ billions and stop ruining lives with harsh prison terms."

44: "No one has ever died of a marijuana overdose. Marijuana doesn't trigger a chemical dependency like prescriptions drugs. In fact, it is safer than alcohol by most common sense standards. So why is marijuana a Schedule I drug?"

46: "When are you going to decriminalize marijuana?"



You Can Help Encourage Obama to Answer Questions About Our Marijuana Policy

"We're tremendously excited about the promise of tools like this that offer Americans a level of access that has historically been hard to come by."- Obama Team

Marijuana Legalization Tops List of Questions for Obama in Online Poll
Tim King Salem-News.com
December 11, 2008 (SALEM, Ore.)

I am not surprised that the number one thing Americans are asking President-elect Barack Obama is whether or not he is going to legalize marijuana. Generations are changing and evolving and the taboos around cannabis are slowly falling away.

American industries can harness the power of this multi-billion dollar, still mostly black market business. The attitude of people in this country is in a mode of great anticipation and change. Barack Obama is already on the record saying he does not want to use the Justice Department to bust state operated medical marijuana dispensaries.

URL



More ways to get the message to the President-electThursday, December 11, 2008

At President-elect Obama's site: change.gov, they have instituted a new system for people to ask questions and then others vote on the questions to bring them to the top of the pile.

It's called Open for Questions

There are already over 5,000 questions, and currently in the top 30 or so is the question:

"Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion dollar industry right here in the U.S.?"

It might be worth adding some questions about drug policy -- but first search for ones that have already been asked and vote them higher (there are, for example, over 100 questions with the word "marijuana").



Over at Change.org (that's not the Obama change.gov site, but a separate private site) they have a section of Ideas for America, where you can also submit ideas and vote on them (and the top vote getters will be submitted to the Presidential transition team).

In the criminal justice section, the current top idea (by a rather significant margin so far) is "Legalize the Medicinal and Recreational Use of Marijuana" ("End the War on Drugs" is number 4). The top vote-getters are moved on to a second round.



Both Change.gov and Change.org require registering in order to submit questions/ideas or to vote.

I don't know what kind of impact any of this can have, but I'm all for getting the word out in as many ways as possible to as many people as possible.

Update: The marijuana question at change.gov is currently 4th. Questions will be closed tonight at midnight and they'll answer the top ones (new question opportunities next week).



Ask the Drug Czar
Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Drug Czar John Walters will be hosting Ask the White House this Friday, December 12.

Send in your questions now. Of course, they're pre-screened and selected and you don't get a follow-up, so don't imagine you're going to nail him with a "gotcha" question, but feel free to give it a try anyway.

Three years ago, he "answered" one of mine.

Pete, from Bloomington, Illinois writes: Isn't there a problem with giving kids misleading information regarding marijuana that overstates the actual dangers? I worry that when they find out we've been lying to them about marijuana that they'll stop believing us when it comes to more dangerous drugs. After all, when you call Canadian pot the "crack cocaine of marijuana," the message kids may hear is that crack must not be too bad.

John Walters from the dungeons of hell whines back: Actually Pete, you've got the question exactly backwards. Marijuana is a much bigger part of the American addiction problem than most people [^] teens or adults [^] realize. There are now more teens going into treatment for marijuana dependency than for all other drugs combined. And there are more teens now seeking treatment for marijuana than for alcohol. Today's marijuana is also twice as strong as it was in the mid 80's.

One of the reasons we have such a serious problem with marijuana in our country is because of the misinformation that has been spread about it over the past 30 years [^] that marijuana is "harmless" or a "soft drug" or a "rite of passage." These are all myths [^] and for too many Americans they are costly myths. We need to educate Americans about the real harms of marijuana if we want to sustain the gains we've made over the past three years.

We've recently released a report entitled "Marijuana Myths & Facts: The Truth Behind 10 Popular Misperceptions" to help get the facts out about marijuana.



Once-Secret Nixon Tapes Show Why the U.S. Outlawed Pot

Drug War Distortions

DP: Myths and Facts About Marijuana
recommended by John Pee Waldo...

More Myths and Facts

Recommended Reading

CSDP news pages

Marijuana+Myths,+Marijuana+Facts-a054956391]Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts review[/url]

Cannabis/hemp is the greatest medicinal plant in the history of man. It is the anti-drug as explained by Fred Gardner
Virgil â?¢ 12/10/08



Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN)

the number of marijuana related emergencies

This is an untruth propagated by the drug czarâ??s minions. The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) collects its data on â??marijuana related emergenciesâ?? by noting every single time someone tells their doctor that they use marijuana. So if I were to accidentally break my leg and go to the ER, and my doctor asked if I use any drugs and I say I occasionally smoke marijuana (as I should, as we should all be honest with our physicians), then this would be a â??marijuana related emergency,â?? even if I hadnâ??t smoked in weeks.

The (F)Utility of DAWN: Experts Look at the Drug Abuse Warning Network
Provoked by Walters' propaganda move, DRCNet asked Dr. David Duncan, a clinical associate professor at the Brown University School of Medicine and private research consultant, just what the marijuana figures indicated.

Harkin to Lie

Drugwar Lies Linked to Schizophrenia



The DEA finally sent a letter back to Mr. Conyers.
Here is a blog post Aaron Smith made about it earlier.

"Double-parking could land you 100 years behind bars"
by F. Aaron Smith

U.S. House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) penned a letter to the DEA requesting answers about the agencyâ??s raids of and threats to Californiaâ??s state-legal medical marijuana facilities. The letter, sent in April at the request of several concerned public officials in California, asked the DEA pointed questions regarding the cost of these raids and whether attacking medical marijuana providers was a sensible use of scarce resources.

The DEA has finally replied. And, as expected, the 17-page response is so full of outright lies and hyperbole that I could go on forever picking it apart. I donâ??t have time to criticize all of what deserves criticizing but I thought Iâ??d share one of my favorite highlights.

In response to the question of whether or not conducting raids on medical marijuana providers is a good use of a federal agencyâ??s time and money, the DEA argues that all marijuana use is illegal under the federal laws that it is obligated to enforce â?? as if it has no room for discretion. If this were really the case, the DEA would be working around the clock cracking down on each and every petty drug user in the country.

An even more absurd justification for the DEAâ??s despicable activities is that itâ??s merely responding to community concerns about these facilities. The top three items on the list of complaints it has allegedly received are â??people smoking marijuana outside,â?� â??pedestrian and automobile traffic congesting the streets,â?� and â??illegal parking.â?�

Thatâ??s right. The Department of Justice lists illegal parking and traffic among one of its highest public safety priorities! And all this under the direction of an administration that supposedly believes in statesâ?? rights and smaller government.

Another irony in all of this is that a recent report from the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure charges DEA agents with brazenly ignoring municipal parking ordinances and failing to pay the associated fines. (Thanks to my colleague and namesake, Aaron Houston, in D.C. for that little tidbit.)

-Here is a link to the letter itself.



Of coarse that ain't including the sin based addictions to non-addictive substances or vegetation. Healed by Faith based tax paid Rehabilitation "experts" appointed by the court to "Saved Us" as part of a plea barter to avoid a long jury trial and mandatory sentences. Just a coincidence 95% figure the system is rigged and cop the plea.

Jury can't hear nothing about no medical use cause Waldo says it has none. Can't hear about no religious use cause Waldo says it has none. Can't let them know you were growing for the City cause they might acquit or nullify or dare to think or not obey the judges order to forget about the reality and pay close attention to the dog and pony with the DA.

Now a Convert Biz Czarer than the previous predators is gonna fix us a while. The Key is in bilking Medicare, insurance or life savings for month long incarcerations, with frequent expensive unreliable piss taste and the top priority in any Faith Based drug rehab. Sending the message to kids that the only cure for drugs is to Find Waldo.

How Much Is Too Much Police Misconduct? Judges Struggle To Decide

Drug Charges Dismissed After Judge Finds Search A Violation

Getting Paid With Raids



Obama clin Biden & the U.S.Al Qaeda?
Either they don't count the votes.
or the votes just don't count. Lesser evil - diet fascist.
Reefer Madness Biz Czar Rehabilitationists...
Contra-gate ostriches and Kangaroo Courts.
Censorship Di-Fi's and War Monger Joes...
Greenhouse Al's Plan Colombia still strong.
Bail out the Banksters and Kill off the Trade Unions.
Religionists typically still spreading the politikops gossip.
Redneck GOPervert Politikop, drug worrier hypocrites,
selling out American autoworkers...
NO Hemp Wallmart slave wages, Environmentally ill.
Health services becoming MASH Units.
Busted down on Bourbon St.
Motor City and New Orleans, no bailouts.
Warning to the wise... It still ain't time,
to stop hiding the Bongs and the Roaches...

Obama's Cabinet

Biz Czar Ramstad

The "Black Market"

Obama Tilts Toward Iran Contra Gates

United Nations Drug Report Disappointing

Drug labelling error forces retraction...
After Biden's RAVE Ax Passes

* SECOND ECSTASY STUDY RETRACTED 15 Sep 2003
* The Rave Act stops NORML benefit concert
* RAVE Act Protests Across the Country, May 31, 2003
* The RAVE Act Has Landed

The RAVE Ax, authored by Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), was intended to target the electronic music shows, called raves, which are known for open use of the drug ecstasy, by making it a crime for the owner of a venue to knowingly host an event where illegal drugs are used. Opponents of the law, fearing that it would be used to infringe on the free speech of groups advocating drug law reform, were able to block it in Congress last year. But Biden attached it as an amendment to the popular Amber Alert bill passed in May.



P.S. WaldoSmokedSchwag.Gov
Anything is going to be a gazillion times stronger today...
Waldo snitched in the 70's, missed the Indiana May Day horse choker lids of primo and pin rolls from returning vets Vietnam Teabags, Thai Sticks and Gold Alcapolko, Colombian and Kona, Panama Red, Afghani, Hash Oil, Brown, Blond, Black Lebanese Hash, and Lake Dawn Mechmican, Green, Purple Pittsburgh coal-dirt and thousands of other species and places reich her in river city,,, asshole!

They found 2700 year old pot
White Powders came around mid 1800's
That's about a 2492 year wait to Gateway.
Waldo the Biz Czar's Ganjawar connects Ganja
to crack, stolen auto parts and sexual abuse in prison... or...



Cop Sodomizes Pot Smoker
A grand jury has voted to indict a police officer accused of sodomizing a suspect with an expandable baton during an arrest in a Brooklyn subway station, sources said today.

Relax Your Muscles Waldo!

The Ganjawar Fraud



Ganja is a vegetable and can not be taxed. $400.00 oz's would drop to $40.00. So the only government money would be that made on sales tax from the dealer buying something with the money made selling the tax free pot. Not many chemicals are required, if any, no bucks there.

Freeing Hemp would be potentially a 90 million pound deficit on the yearly cotton crop poison usage. Fossil fool based. Trees and tree-Paper. The Pharmaid Industry and their 200+ Lobbyests/Traffickers and the retail market "Drug Stores" Booze and Beer Industrial Complex and the fossil fools, steel and plastic paraphernalia profits. Liars Straus&Co jeans and the crude oil poly fiber chemical clothing industry. Gasoline and Diesel RIP.

Sheet metal, leather, vinyl and PVC, not required. Wall Mart sweatshop low prices would be higher than home grown local farmers Hemp products. Hemp Seed&Oil and Nutritional suppliments, soaps, skin care and anticeptic lotions.

The Pharmaceutical industry would lose to alternative health care but would also have new material to research and develop into profitable mendicants. Cops would lose big time. Budgets for Krispy Krawlers slashed. No new Toys for SWATs or tricked out name tags.

The Constitution may be in danger of restoring itself taking more profits from the war toy makers and Homeyland insurance, The government patented a few cannabinoids, so I guess they go to Rumsfeld's Searle or Barthwells Bayer or Bush's Eli Lilly and Company Pharmaceuticals.

If it was not a total Federal lifting of prohibition. It would remain as it is with the risk still there, as it is with the CA Supremest gutting of prop 215.

The prison industrial complex would save money from buying extra cots and happy meals, but lose more than the cops in rent. Lots of Health Care workers layed off as unnecessary, preventing illnesses and strange bacteri from homesteading. Plus reducing the CO2 and particulate matter in the air, water and soil, causing the sick and Bible Belt Abortions.

Doctors would loose money treating sick people preventing their illnesses or by self medicating. $52(70) billion a year would be saved that's going to D.E.A.th's OiNkDeCePtion for bogus propaganda and NADA gutter science.

So looks like the only profits to make is from sales taxes on the spent $600 billion in illicit drug sales. Not income tax. Unless these fascist lemmings think the government could sell it at current prices like the Pennsylvania State Liquor Control Board.

On the aniversary of the ending of Booze Prohibition one might remember. The paraphernalia for the synthetic recreational beverage industry and white powder conglomerants... stay in business. Ganja is a plant with little or no manufacturing paraphernalia required.
Damned if you do Damned if you don't. Perpetuation Pays!

SALES AND USE TAX REGULATIONS

(a) IN GENERAL. Tax does not apply to sales of food products for human consumption except as provided in Regulations 1503, 1574, and 1603. (Grocers, in particular, should note that tax applies to sales of â??hot prepared food productsâ?� as provided in Regulation 1603(e).)

Cannibals v Cannabis

USE-TAX-REGULATIONS
Donâ??t collect tax on food that you merely cut, repackaged or pasteurized...

Electra-Cops!
Watt? Viva la Resistors! Ohmland Security?

GLADES ELECTRIC PUTS $500 BOUNTY ON GROW HOUSES

"After Two Puffs, I Was Turned Into a Bat"
- expert witness, the pharmacologist Dr James Munch

[BosIndicas]

Change.gov questions: Stop the Ganjawar#1

Wow, My friend, that post gave me one great big freedom chubby, right there tween my legs-
Mods, I know it's awe inspiring size must make of some you shudder, but behold, it is good! I'd like the folks in the activism section to feast their firery eyes on this load.