Obama is absolutely hostile to marijuana

[SHRED]

I can't stand hypocrisy, especially from the President.
I thought he valued science over superstition?...my bad.

The war on weed is ruining lives and costing us billions and in the case of industrial hemp...trillions.

:banghead:


A former marijuana user; Obama says there will be no quarter for the herb under his reign.

In an online "townhall" Thursday, March 26, the President responded to an online query about legalization: "With over 1 out of 30 Americans controlled by the penal system, why not legalize, control, and tax marijuana to change the failed war on drugs into a money making, money saving boost to the economy? Do we really need that many victimless criminals?"

The reason he tackled this question is because the online community keeps asking it. Mr. Obama's answer to the question was only mockish and dismissive: "There was one question that voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation," he said. "And I don't know what this says about the online audience, but ... this was a popular question. We want to make sure it's answered. The answer is no, I don't think that's a good strategy to grow our economy. All right."

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/march282009/obama_legalize_3-28-09.php



Obama's pick to head the DEA: Michele Leonhart (another one of Bush's appointees)

Michele Leonhart has consistently turned down research into the therapeutic and medicinal benefits of marijuana, and has a track record of undermining state law with regard to legal medical marijuana. Recently several pro-legalisation agencies have called on President Obama to withdraw his support of Leonhart, including SSDP, MPP, NORML, LEAP, and DPA. <7><8> Many people point to Leonhart's claim that marijuana caused her cousin's death as root of her opposition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Leonhart

Michele Leonhart one step closer to officially heading up the DEA

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/11/18/michele-leonhart-one-step-closer-to-officially-heading-up-the-dea/#ixzz16V61PYew

“I’m a big fan of the DEA,” said Sessions, before asking Leonhart point blank if she would fight medical marijuana legalization.

“I have seen what marijuana use has done to young people, I have seen the abuse, I have seen what it’s done to families. It’s bad,” Leonhart said. “If confirmed as administrator, we would continue to enforce the federal drug laws.”

“These legalization efforts sound good to people,” Sessions quipped. “They say, ‘We could just end the problem of drugs if we could just make it legal.’ But any country that’s tried that, Alaska and other places have tried it, have failed. It does not work,” Sessions said.

“We need people who are willing to say that. Are you willing to say that?” Sessions asked Leonhart.

“Yes, I’ve said that, senator. You’re absolutely correct the social costs from drug abuse, especially from marijuana,” Leonhart said. “Legalizers say it will help the Mexican cartel situation; it won’t. It will allow states to balance budgets; it won’t. No one is looking the social costs of legalizing drugs.”

http://dailycaller.com/2010/11/18/michele-leonhart-one-step-closer-to-officially-heading-up-the-dea/#ixzz16V3yV47O

Furthermore, Ms. Leonhart has actively blocked scientific research that seeks to better identify and quantify marijuana’s medicinal properties and efficacy. These actions contradict this administration's pledge to let science rather than ideology guide public policy.

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/129219-obamas-pick-to-head-dea-needs-to-answer-some-tough-questions


---

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. These people sound just like the Bushbots.

Goddamn it.

I expected him (and everyone he appointed) to be clear and rational about this sort of thing. How maddening that he isn't being that way.

[RKP5637]

2. +1000 +++ n/t

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. In many ways, he is far more conservative than he

appeared when running for office.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. Yes; this is what has become apparent to me too.

What does it take for us to say that though he is a huge improvement over any Republican, he is not the kind of Democrat that WE want running our country?

I feel more and more that he needs a strong primary challenge. I hope he gets one.

[glitch]

25. I fear he is as "liberal" as the corporations who own this country will allow.

Even Gore and Dean, actual centrists, didn't meet their criteria.

[patrice]

11. I think that is somewhat true, but it's also the fact that he has the future of Medicare, at minimum

, to be responsible for, not to mention what road Social Security gets set on in the next 6 years and, of course, Labor Rights. He's up against INFINITE MONEY and the only thing that CAN work is Votes and the margins are probably more narrow than they have ever been.

[MineralMan]

3. Trillions?

Hardly. Global hemp sales in 2002, the latest year I could find, were only $250 million. Now, that's not insubstantial, but it's nothing like "trillions." Get your facts straight, if you mean to argue with facts. Otherwise, you only play into the hands of those you oppose.

[SHRED]

7. I was talking of potential

When you realize how rich our farmland is here and how many thousands of industries could flourish with hemp as the feed-stalk, coupled with the potential of becoming a product export nation, I don't think my claim is that far fetched at all.

---

[MineralMan]

15. Potential is a non-existent thing.

There is a global market for hemp fibers. It is being met. There is no shortage of it. It's grown in many places.

All of the other stuff that hemp is touted for is speculative, and often there are substitutes that actually are better for most of the proposed uses. Hemp will never be a trillion dollar crop. Hemp's time has passed as a useful fiber, I'm afraid. There are far better fibers available, both natural and synthetic. What hemp is needed is already being grown, and if more were needed, or desired, it would also be grown in hemp-growing areas. There is no reason to think that US farmers would profit from growing hemp. No reason at all.

It's a nice pipe dream, though. The key to legalizing marijuana is not by falsely lionizing hemp as some sort of wonder plant. It is not. It is simply another source of fiber for a number of uses. It's been replaced in most of those uses by other fibers. We are not going to turn this country into a net exporting nation of hemp. Not when it's so easily grown as a crop in impoverished countries where the cost of growing it is so much lower than in this country.

Fight the battle in another way. This hemp culture thing is a waste of time, and any person able to research the potential of hemp as a profitable industrial crop for the United States will discover that quickly. It has no potential for that at all here. You want to smoke the herb, sell that idea. Forget the other stuff. It's bogus on its face.

[SHRED]

19. Okay

Here are some of my sources:

http://www.votehemp.com/
http://www.naihc.org/
http://www.thehia.org/
http://www.agmrc.org/commodities__products/fiber/industrial_hemp_profile.cfm

As far as "far better fibers available, both natural and synthetic" I would be willing to keep an open mind.
Please fill in the "better fiber" for the following:

Paper (wood replacement):
Clothing (cotton replacement):
Building material (wood replacement):

Also, please link to the claims, "What hemp is needed is already being grown..."., "... a waste of time, and any person able to research the potential of hemp as a profitable industrial crop for the United States will discover that quickly", " It's bogus on its face."

Thanks

[MineralMan]

27. Yah...well, I'll give you those links just as soon as you produce

links for your claims of hemp being a trillion dollar industry, OK? Three of your links are advocacy groups. The fourth doesn't say anything about the economic potential.

Paper-paper can be made of almost anything. Hemp paper is not of the highest quality.
Clothing - Clothing made solely of hemp is not nice. Most "hemp" clothing is a blend of hemp with cotton. Cotton is also a plant. The plant has many uses besides the fibers. Cotton makes nice clothing. Cottonseed oil is useful. Cotton seed is used as animal feed. The plant itself has biomass, just like hemp.
Building Material - pressed hemp building products have to compete with current, similar products. It's in no way superior, and no plants are in existence to make those products. Wood is still wood, and modern forestry makes it sustainable.

In all cases, existing materials are superior to those made from hemp. It doesn't even make good rope. Hemp as cordage was replaced by manila fibers (not from any plant related to hemp) long before hemp was illegal. It's stronger, more weather proof, and doesn't need to be tarred for marine use.

Thanks for discussion.

Now, I'll await your links to the trillions of dollars claim.

[SHRED]

28. You claim it has little use

And you can't back it up. Instead you want to get hung up on the "trillion" word.

Cotton is a toxic crop, hemp makes high quality paper environmentally, and tree farms have replaced and ruined our National Forests.

Next.

[Swampguana]

31. Why is Hemp Illegal?

I really want to know why? Who cares if it isn't quite a trillion dollar market? Isn't a 250 million dollar market something we would want to be a part of? If we were part of it guaranteed the market would grow and I don't think synthetic is the way to go whatsoever. Shred I agree with you 100%. Hemp is better than any of the other substitutes and is much more environmentally friendly.

[provis99]

38. hemp is legal in Canada, and farmers can't give the stuff away.

Attempts to open up markets for hemp clothing, hemp rope, hemp bags, and hemp oil have all failed because hemp is a useless product in the modern market, when other cheaper and higher quality substitutes exist.

[patrice]

20. Good practical points. Question: In light of what the "new" economy is supposed to be, more micro-en

terprises, isn't this critique a little too narrow.

What about the local hemp grower who wants to make baked goods with it? or clothing? What about co-operatives that could form around such producers to leverage their production regionally?

[elocs]

5. Now we know the true source of the anger toward Obama here at DU. n/t

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[slay]

12. One small part - but is very telling of how he sides with corporations over the rights of the people

The alcohol, tobacco, pharmacutical, timber, and other industries spend billions every year lobbying to keep marijuana illegal because they know it will cut into THEIR profits (as well as those of the CIA). They don't care that it helps sick people. They don't care that it helps those with cancer or AIDS. And God forbid we actually have a legal alternative to that horrible substance alcohol - which hurts WAY more people than marijuana.

And Obama is evidently more than willing to do the bidding of these soulless corporations. Just as he did with the banks, just as he did with so called "health care reform". I just wanted to scream at him - "Did you forget how to speak the words SINGLE-PAYER since you became president?"

My anger with Obama is real, and for many reasons, not just his intolerance towards marijuana - that's just a symptom of the larger problem of his willingness to trade our rights for those of mega corporations. He has sold us out - big time. In just about every way. Progressive should hang their head in shame that this man is our so-called LEADER. :( :banghead:

[patrice]

23. It is helpful to ask yourself (and that reference includes me), "Why?" and then look

at the whole person for a variety of traits relevant to the question. The mix of factors should yield some clues about what to do.

This is something that bears a lot more study than I/we are going to give it here, but what's your guess as to the strongest motivator in this person, Barack Obama? My guess is "responsibility for others," I just don't buy into Barack the evil lying corporatist stuff that is being pedaled on this board.

What I DO think is, brilliant as he is, his thinking/problem-solving is/has been conditioned by the means by which he was developed, which, despite its somewhat lower class roots, due to his intellectual talents, WAS facilitated by the corporo-church state. Hence, his problem solving processes are automatically dominated by assumptions about the value of his mentors. The question now is how much so and how much, if at all, does he really really personally identify with and value "the little people" 's passionate DESIRE for self-determination.

[patrice]

24. What we need are actual functioning models of alternative economics in which

, with some modifications, any number of relatively inter-changeable natural resources could be processed in order to create Real Value.

[patrice]

14. Oh, that's real "helpful" . . . and your objective is? Well, whatever it is, it appears that

disrespect is its basic mode of operation, so we can pretty well guess your motive.

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[patrice]

6. Agreed. On this issue, he needs a base that he has at least some expectation of delivering the vote.

With the margins being what they are, and all of the corruption in the campaign and voting processes, this is even more a numbers game than ever. That means we need INTRA-issue coalitions, because none of our single-issue groups can deliver like theirs can: Pro-"Life" + Pro-War + Anti-GLBT Civil Rights + Anti-Government is a BIG FUCKING BLOCK TO BEAT.

There are voters who would support Legalization if the relationships were reciprocal, thus increasing the probability of success on both issues, rather than decreasing it, which is where we are at right now with all of these (maybe/maybe-not = who knows on the internet) "Progressive" factions working against one another.

[rsmith6621]

8. Yes...Legal Pot Would Save $$$$

.....in the cost of housing criminals......and if it was controlled and tax correctly it would create an explosion on the tax base of this country and could be used to fund health insurance and education.


.... I still haven't read a story of anyone killing a family after smoking pot nor killing someone while behind the wheel... The alcohol lobby is the reason why pot has not been legalized just like the oil lobby balks at electric and solar cars.

[skepticscott]

13. Substitute "alcohol" for marijuana

In most of what Leonhart says, and it would really be true, with the harm a hundred times greater. So where is the fight to make alcohol illegal?

[patrice]

17. That's the basic political point to HAMMER. This IS Discrimination. If it was about Religion,

we could go to Court.

Speaking of which, why the HELL do anti-Choicers get to say how their tax dollars are not spent, as a matter of conscience, and anti-War advocates don't? More Discrimination.

[CrispyQ]

16. We must continue to feed the prison industrial complex.

So many destroyed lives, all over a 'leaf.' :crazy:

He's a disappointment on sooooo many levels, starting with "looking forward."

[tularetom]

18. He's way out of tune with others in his age bracket

In our family alone we have 2 kids and 3 nephews/nieces within 5 years of Obama's age.

Although I'm sure they've all used weed in the past I don't believe any of them are currently regular consumers.

And the nephews are both ultra right wing morans.

But they all favor legalization.

[egoclothes]

22. but as a politician, he is in tune.

[Tesha]

21. Chains you can believe in! (NT)

[spin]

26. Barack Obama "I inhaled frequently" "That was the point" ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpBzQI_7ez8

[Recursion]

29. They need to legalize it so my stoner friends will stop talking to me about this issue

That means more to me than the tax revenue at this point.

[slay]

30. I'd like to think fairness and equality would figure into your views

on this subject - but hey, if that's your reason, i'll take it. :eyes:

[NikRik]

32. It this kind of thing makes me wonder who ....

President Obama really is, its like he has become a stanger since elected.No longer a independant thinker when it comes to policy. All this shows is that every large Goverment Dept.,will be propted up and given even more of our tax dollares to waste ! If this President does not see that marijuana is much less harmless than other substances that are freely sold at markets all over this country (Cigs & liquor come to mind) If he was true champion of freedom the he would know that telling any adult they cannot use marijuana shows the lack of the Pres being a open minded forward thinker, instaed he acts more like a kid trying not to make his parents mad at him . In this case the parents are large corperations ,DEA and others. My opinion of his ability to think for himself has taken a big hit.

[droidamus2]

33. Actually

I think most the people that want marijuana legalized and an end to the 'war on drug users' realize that one of the tenets of the 'war on drugs' is that 'addiction' is bad and the only way to stop people getting addicted is to arrest those that sell and if people refuse to stop using arrest them too. We also realize that this is ridiculous and that 'addiction' is a medical problem and should never be treated as a legal problem. Personally I think all drugs should be decriminalized, in the case of marijuana legalization, regulation and taxation, and we should take the money we have been spending on incarcerating people and spend it on education and treatment. When I say treatement I don't mean 'for profit, let's stick it to the addict' treatment but low or no cost treatment. If you don't want people to be addicted then make it as easy as possible for them to detox and get the physical and psychological treatment they need.

I realize the 'addiction' argument is actually just the public facing argument used by the 'anti-drug' forces but it is that because it resonates with the general public especially those who's only exposure to the drug culture is through bad experiences of family or friends or through images promoted by the movies or the likes of the DEA. The true reasons for drug sale and use being a legal problem have a root in racism and economics.

Since I am on a rant one other point. Though I am no scientist so I have no 'proof' for my point of view, I truly believe addiction is much more a genetic tendency of the user and much less a property of any given drug. Of course some drugs like Heroin or even alcohol reinforce the 'addiction' due to the fact that withdrawal from those drugs can extremely painful and potentially deadly. As a personal example I did a lot of drug using in my 20's and 30's (pot, LSD, coke, speed, even heroin once, etc.) yet as I started a career I stopped doing everything but pot and even eventually stopped doing that (been totally straight, okay still drink some, for >20 years). No treatment, no interventions just stopped consuming. The drug warriors would have you believe that 'cold turkey' especially after having been exposed to so many drugs wouldn't be possible because these drugs are 'addicting'. On the other hand I have had friends that definitely showed signs of addictive tendencies. By that I mean consuming, buying more, consuming where drug use really was becoming the center of their lives (alcohol seemed to do the most damage). I think if you looked at the number of people that are reported to have done supposed addictive drugs and the number of people that actually become addicted you would find the 'addicted' number to be relatively small to the total users number which has led to my position that people get addicted and that drugs are not intrinsically addictive.

[NikRik]

34. agree with 100%

Everything you said about how our policy towards pot should be was on target.How others could want us to continuue this stupid apporach we have to drugs ,must like watching us waste money that could be used for much needed programs to get our country back on track. Why do other countries seem to be ahead of us on so many social policies. Its starting to make us look stubborn,ignorant and unwilling to make positive change !

[droidamus2]

35. They may be unwilling but they are not ingnorant

The whole right wing/corporatist political plan is built on keeping the masses under control and divided. So they throw out things like abortion, gay marriage, 'right to work',etc. to keep the little people divided and unable to wield any specific level of power and then they make 'war on drugs' to be able to incarcerate anybody that refuses to go a long with the plan to make us all serfs in their perfect little aristocratic world. Personally I think Karl Marx was right in that the money people will eventually go too far and the little people will rise up in a new revolution. Unfortunately nobody knows if what would come out of that revolution would be any better than what we have now.

[NikRik]

36. What a dissappointment :-(

I thought we where electing a proggressive forward thinker.Not someone who will keep the status quo.He is a very good politician,whats that mean,he is good at talking out of both sides of his mouth. Telling us what we want to hear yet allowing the greedy theives amoung us to continue to profit off the suffering of others !Prisons for profit, arming our police like a milatary force etc. Then on the down side costing the tax payers billions to continue a failed policy that stops us from the ability to actually help those in need.Someone needs to get thru to this faker President and get him to start doing right by the people that put him in the White House !!!!!

[3lyford]

39. trillions or not, its all speculation

No one knows how much revenue will be generated. How about just focusing on the cost of prison. Imagine if all the pot prisoners were released and making minimum wage on average. The tax revenue and extra production would be huge especially if we stopped taxing people to build prisons.

[NikRik]

40. highly intelligent ,yet so stupid !

It amazes me how these people with such high I.Q.'s can be so ignorant on certain subjects?Keeping pot illegal and spending tax payers dollares on putting these people thru the legal system can be described in one word STUPID!Its most likley the least harmless drug out there if fact I do not believe its harmfull in any way except for the fact its illegal!How stupid is it that you can go to the corner markeet and buy gallons of hard liquor and drink yourself to death ,yet pot which I dont care how much you smoke,ingest etc. and it still wont kill you. It wont even call for a hospital visit. The only peple dying becasue of this drug are the ones involved in the selling of the drug because of its legal status.So our goverment I believe is part of the problem,in fact a big part.Take away its illegal status and you remove the danger that he greed of the money to be made in selling this product on the streets produces.Obama should be very familar with the danger of prejudging something based on lies yet he seems to be completely blind to how misunderstood pot is and how much better off it would be to change the legal status of this harmless weed.
IMHO,NikRik