President Obama Actually Tackles Drug Policy

During his response to the questions posed by Youtube users, president Obama actually addressed the top question in the Drug Policy category. While the president did say that he is "opposed to legaliztion," but thought that it was a serious issue worthy of debate. The question was posed by a retired police officer, member of LEAP(Law Enforcement Against Prohibition).

Although this isn't the most critical stride in the battle for marijuana legalization, it is indicative of a subtle shift in attitude about the subject. The question wasn't tightly focused on the issue of marijuana, but on drugs in general. He said that the key was for America to shift from an attitude of drugs as a crime to drugs as a public health concern. This is excellent, except for in the case of drugs that are of no concern to public health, such as marijuana.

I applaud the president for changing his attitude on this serious subject and addressing the issue with a serious tone, opening the public debate.

Obama laughs off marijuana legalization

As a response to the most popular questions for his online town hall meeting last year(He will be doing the same again this Thursday, President Obama dismissively laughed off the idea legalizing marijuana as a useful tool for helping the economy. He actually mocks the online community for considering this a major issue, after admitting that 3.5 million people voted.

This is no laughing matter to people serving federal sentences for having stems and seeds in their homes. Parents who can never see their children again over having a pipe. Students who are ineligible for scholarships as a result of a simple possession charge. I want to remind those with a concern for equal rights or marijuana users of this event so that these questions can be shown to have an even greater importance this year.

Do your part and vote for a real discussion of marijuana legalization.

Top 50 Questions for President Obama

The president is set questions from Youtube and Twitter on Thursday, January 27 at 2:30 ET via his Youtube channel. Citizens have until midnight on Tuesday, January 25th to submit questions to the president. The premise is that the questions users vote for most will be those he fields. That would be off-topic if it wasn't for this image found on Reddit, showing the top 50 results of the vote on Youtube. Hopefully this is truly the new form democracy takes, and will really inform the president's decisions about what issues need to be addressed.