President Obama Says Marijuana Should Be Treated Like Alcohol [View all]

[dixiegrrrrl]

In a just published “exit interview” with Rolling Stone Magazine, President Barack Obama opined that marijuana use should be treated as a public-health issue, not a criminal matter, and called the current patchwork of state and federal laws regarding the drug “untenable.”

“Look, I’ve been very clear about my belief that we should try to discourage substance abuse,” Obama said. “And I am not somebody who believes that legalization is a panacea. But I do believe that treating this as a public-health issue, the same way we do with cigarettes or alcohol, is the much smarter way to deal with it.”

He added, “It is untenable over the long term for the Justice Department or the DEA to be enforcing a patchwork of laws, where something that’s legal in one state could get you a 20-year prison sentence in another. So this is a debate that is now ripe, much in the same way that we ended up making progress on same-sex marriage.

”http://blog.norml.org/2016/12/01/president-obama-says-marijuana-should-be-treated-like-alcohol/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=President+Obama+Says+Marijuana+Should+Be+Treated+Like+Alcohol

edited to show link to Rolling Stone interview, which is excellent read:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/obama-on-his-legacy-trumps-win-and-the-path-forward-w452527