Quote Originally Posted by senorx12562
If I wanted to be re-elected I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole on any side of the question. The core groups on either side are too small (for now) to justify potentially pissing off the middle. From a political perspective (clearly the only one Obama, or, to be fair, most of the rest of them from either side of the aisle care about) the danger far outweighs anything to potentially be gained.
i don't think obama has any worries about re-election as it won't happen (IMO). his approval rates keep sleeping, his deadlines keep not being met and he's not proactive on anything and wavers on issues. i just don't see there being a question about it. sad thing is that he has messed up other minorities chances for getting elected to pres (agian, IMO).

Quote Originally Posted by Phunnyman
Let's pose this question in regard to the original post for some thought; With our current government and Presidential administration, why would it be advantageous or not to address the prospect of legalization/decriminalization at this time and what do you think the outcome would most likely be? How could it be a positive or a negative for this administration? If you were Obama today, how would you address or not the legalization/decriminalization?
it would be advantageous to legalize MJ for numerous reasons. first things first, in 2008 847,864 persons were arrested for mj (or 49.8% of ALL drug related arrests!). of those 847,864, 89% (or 754,224 Americans) were charged with possession only. the remaining 93,640 individuals were charged with â??sale/manufacture,â?ť a category that includes all cultivation offenses, even those where the marijuana was being grown for personal or medical use.

not to mention that the numbers are skewed because of those 11% some are MMJ patients! (it would be interesting to know the true numbers here!)


secondly, legalizing MJ would obviously help alleviate the strain on a prison system that is ridiculous to begin with. as of december 31, 2008 the US imprisons 754 inmates per 100,000 citizens. the US has the highest documented prison and jail population IN THE WORLD!

according to the US bureau of justice statistics (BJS): "In 2008, over 7.3 million people were on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole at yearend â?? 3.2% of all U.S. adult residents or 1 in every 31 adults."

betwen 2.3 and 2.4 MILLION people were in prison or jail in 2008.

"The People's Republic of China ranks second with 1.5 million inmates, while having four times the population, thus having only about 18% of the US incarceration rate"

those are some scary statistics there.

thirdly, the legalization of would take away some of the power (profits) of pharmaceutical companies. people would actually be able to afford their medication. and seeing as MJ has many medicinal properties, this would help immensely.

fourthly, the taxation of MJ, whether medicinally or otherwise) would generate revenue for a burdened economy. this has the potential to help lower, insurance rates, increase employment (the US is sitting at about 10% unemployment, with 7% of the population saying that they can't work enough or have given up looking) as well as possibly help fund numerous other programs whether it be social security, insurance or alternative fuels (the list is endless here).

one more interesting note, if they do legalize MJ they could/would/should legalize hemp. this would also create jobs and revenue seeing as all of the hemp used in this country is imported (mostly from spain).

**NOT TO MENTION THIS IS A TRUE GREEN PRODUCT**

so politicians need to quit worrying about being re-elected and put AMERICAS BEST INTERESTS AT HEART! perhaps changing the system from the inside is just what they need to get re-elected. take the power from the religious (which is funny seeing as most of our forefathers were pagans) and other groups and put the choice of americans back into the hands of said americans.

and finally, even though "the war on drugs is over" it would free up funds that are being wasted trying to cure this "medical addiction" with prison time and the like. we could put all the billions they waste here to good use as well.

check out the shafer commission. this was the commission that was used in the early '70s when the govt was trying to draft the Controlled Substance Act (since timothy leary took the marijuana tax act of 1937 to the supreme court and had it overturned for being unconstitutional). it was commissioned by richard nixon. in the report there are a couple of great quotes that i will leave you with.....

"[T]he criminal law is too harsh a tool to apply to personal possession even in the effort to discourage use. It implies an overwhelming indictment of the behavior which we believe is not appropriate. The actual and potential harm of use of the drug is not great enough to justify intrusion by the criminal law into private behavior, a step which our society takes only 'with the greatest reluctance."

"While the judiciary is the governmental institution most directly concerned with the protection of individual liberties, all policy-makers have a responsibility to consider our constitutional heritage when framing public policy. Regardless of whether or not the courts would overturn a prohibition of possession of marihuana for personal use in the home, we are necessarily influenced by the high place traditionally occupied by the value of privacy in our constitutional scheme."



as far as the cons, i can think of none!


-shake