Congressmen To Obama: End the War on Marijuana -- Now

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unokitty

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Jan 5, 2012
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In a letter sent directly to the White House today, 18 members of Congress, including Bay Area and California representatives, urged the president to use his executive power to end, or at least ease, the federal laws criminalizing marijuana.

"Lives and resources are wasted on enforcing harsh, unrealistic, and unfair marijuana laws," according to the letter, signed by, among others, U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee, Sam Farr, Eric Swalwell and Mike Honda. They noted that more than 700,000 people are arrested annually for marijuana offenses at a cost of billions of dollars.

Can Obama do this by fiat? Yes, he can, according to some marijuana advocates.

The DEA, which determines which drugs are good and which are bad, is under the purview of the Justice Department. And the man who runs the Justice Department, Attorney General Eric Holder, has a boss whose name is Barack Obama.

And remember: this is the "I'll do it myself" Obama who used his State of the Union address to hit home the message that he'll seize the day if Congress won't. So will he?
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18 in Congress tell Obama to take marijuana out of most-dangerous drug category
“You said that you don’t believe marijuana is any more dangerous than alcohol: a fully legalized substance, and believe it to be less dangerous ‘in terms of its impact on the individual consumer,’” the letter reads. “This is true. Marijuana, however, remains listed in the federal Controlled Substances Act at Schedule I, the strictest classification, along with heroin and LSD. This is a higher listing than cocaine and methamphetamine, Schedule II substances that you gave as examples of harder drugs. This makes no sense.”
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Lawmakers Push Obama to Soften Marijuana Rules

Nice to see a bipartisan group (17 Dems and 1 Rep) trying to get this war thing wrapped up... Still, it would have been nicer to see a larger group.

The war on Marijuana is going to end. The rest of the nation is going to follow Colorado and Oregon.

All we are discussing now is when...

Is it to early to start a lottery to pick the date that the last American will get arrested for Marijuana?

Uno
 
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Thebobo

Thebobo

Lifer
Jun 19, 2006
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I will vote for him again! oh nm ~

Interesting to see who is on the list, with not a single Washington or Colorado signers. Wimps
 
J

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
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!7:1, huh?

Nobody is going to move off the dime until they see how legalization plays out in WA & CO. The real fight is still at the State level, with more allowing MMJ & more allowing legalization.

With Obama putting the DEA on the bench for that, we'll get to see the truth of it. So far so good here in Colorado, and all I want is more of the same responsible behavior by everybody. It's good policy, and Obama is giving us the opportunity to prove it.

Federal law will likely be among the Me Too's! before 2017, but we need more legal states to push the issue. When we get California, it'll essentially be over, irreversible. It's a mistake to abandon a successful state by state effort to move it up to the federal level. It's too soon.

How many congress critters are there, anyway? What the count of 18 tells us is that few will touch the issue with a pole, not until forced to do so. Make Obama do it? When he gets the proof he needs to justify it from WA & CO. Here in Colorado, we're creating more every day.
 
Doppel

Doppel

Lifer
Feb 5, 2011
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Decriminalizing it and then immediately releasing all people in prison for marijuana related offenses would probably be good for the country.
 
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fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
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While I wholeheartedly agree that marijuana should be legalized (along with all drugs), congress isn't saying this. A small group of congressmen are.

I wish Obama would reschedule it now, and I wish congress would have the courage to ACTUALLY tell Obama to do it.
 
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unokitty

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Jan 5, 2012
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Lawmakers rankled by Obama’s weed waffling

With more than half of all federal prisoners serving time on drug charges, the Obama administration says it’s time to free more low-level drug offenders.

“This is where you can help,” Deputy Attorney General James Cole told the New York State Bar Association last week, urging lawyers to assist prisoners in creating “well-prepared petitions” to apply for executive clemency.

But while the Justice Department promotes the plan, the Obama team is making it clear that it has no interest in changing the federal law that sends many nonviolent drug offenders to prison in the first place: the one that outlaws marijuana...

For critics, it’s another example of the confusion that’s passing for marijuana policy these days in Washington. It’s increasing pressure on Obama and his advisers to deliver a consistent message...

“It is ludicrous, absurd, crazy to have marijuana at the same level as heroin,” Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee told Botticelli...

Republican Rep. John Mica of Florida, the chairman of the subcommittee, complained that the president and his team are “going in different directions.”

“Unfortunately, there’s chaos as it relates to where we’re going and what our policy is. … I call it a schizophrenic approach,” said Mica, who’d called the hearing. He said Congress wanted answers because 50 federal agencies administered 76 programs aimed at drug abuse and prevention...

“One thing does concern me greatly: how in some states one can purchase marijuana, and the people in my state and in my district are getting arrested and serving sentences,” said Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland. “And it just seems to me there’s something not right about that.” He said it created one standard for marijuana purchased “on the streets” and another if it was bought “in the suites.”

The debate has divided Obama and his longtime liberal ally, former Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, one of the nation’s top legalization opponents and the chairman of a group called Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana).

Kennedy, a recovering addict, said Obama needed to give clearer guidance on marijuana and that he took issue with the president comparing pot to alcohol...

“If the president truly believes what he says about marijuana, he has a moral imperative to make the law match up with his views and the views of the majority of the American people, without delay,” Angell said...

“The administration continues to oppose attempts to legalize marijuana and other drugs,” Botticelli said, but he promised that the Obama team will conduct “an ongoing study of the drug and its consequences.”
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"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things." --Machiavelli

Change is hard. And when the status quo has been supported by the 40 trillion dollar losing war on drugs, it may be especially hard.

Still, it would be nice to see some leadership from the President, or the Congress, or some erstwhile political group that has the intellectual integrity to kick the prison guards union, the trial lawyers, the DEA, and the other related parasitic organizations off of the "War on Drugs" taxpayer funded gravy train.

The sooner the law changes, the sooner all that money can get reallocated to something productive. And the sooner we can cut all of the imprisoned victims of the war on drugs loose.

Uno
 
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rudeguy

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
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T

TechBoyJK

Lifer
Oct 17, 2002
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Doppel said:
Decriminalizing it and then immediately releasing all people in prison for marijuana related offenses would probably be good for the country.
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The MAJOR harms from prohibition come from the black market. Yes, decriminalizing would stop people from being harassed about usage, but it does nothing to stop the black market. In fact, decriminalizing can actually help the black market because people aren't as afraid to get caught with it anymore, but since there's no legal market, you get more buyers on the black market.

Anything other than full, intelligent regulation/legalization is not good policy.
 
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