Obama canNOT think of himself as another FDR if he does not take a stand against PROHIBITION.

[supraTruth]

He will LOSE more votes than gain if he doesn't. We ALL need to tell him so!

http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_19056051 :

Feds crack down on California pot dispensaries
Updated: 10/07/2011 09:08:06 AM PDT

Federal prosecutors are targeting medical marijuana dispensaries across California, warning them to shut down within 45 days or face federal criminal and civil penalties regardless of whether they are operating within state and local laws.
Prosecutors have sent letters to at least 16 dispensaries -- or their landlords -- warning them they are violating federal drug laws. There have been no reports yet of East Bay or South Bay dispensaries receiving the letters, although 12 in San Diego and a few in San Francisco and Marin counties have received them. The action marks a resurgence of the ever-present tension between federal law's blanket ban on marijuana and California's 1996 law permitting the drug's medicinal use.
The U.S. Attorneys for all four of California's federal districts have scheduled a news conference for 11 a.m. Friday in Sacramento to "outline actions targeting the sale, distribution and cultivation of marijuana in California." A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney in San Francisco didn't return messages Thursday, but a cannabis industry lawyer said he expects they'll announce a multipronged approach to squelch California's permissive stance on marijuana by any means necessary.
"What they're getting at is basically the Obama administration war on medical cannabis is exactly the same as the Bush administration war on cannabis," attorney Bill Panzer of Oakland said.

[tridim]

1. Don't give in to ratfucking

Think.

[supraTruth]

36. WTF DOES THAT MEAN?

[msongs]

2. meanwhile the bible thumpers continue to murder civilians across the planet with impunity nt

[leftstreet]

3. There's no indication Obama has ever thought of himself as another FDR

[haikugal]

4. He doesn't think of himself as FDR...

he thinks of himself as Reagan ..

[EmeraldCityGrl]

5. Even quoting Reagan in his debt speech.

“Would you rather reduce deficits and interest rates by raising revenue from those who are not now paying their fair share, or would you rather accept larger budget deficits, higher interest rates, and higher unemployment? And I think I know your answer.”

[FiveGoodMen]

18. Exactly.

And who among us wanted to vote for another Reagan?

We've been had.

[RZM]

6. Sadly, I don't think this will lose him very many votes

The issue matters strongly to me . . . but I'm not so sure it's anywhere near the top of the pressing issues list for most voters.

Even with people to whom it does matter, what are they going to do with their vote? You can't go Republican, since they are just as bad as Dems on this. And going third party is also probably not an option for many people.

It sucks, basically.

[supraTruth]

7. This Drug War has FILLED OUR STATE PRISONS & COST US TRILLIONS of U.S.TAX$!

NOW is the time to END THE WASTE!

[RZM]

9. It's not like I'm even asking for a lot here either

I think it should happen in stages. Let's make medical marijuana legal, decriminalize possession of small amounts and then let society chew on that for a while. Probably most people won't even notice that anything has changed.

[treestar]

13. That would require more than just medical marijuana legalization

Logic. Proportion. These things matter. You don't sound credible without them.

[supraTruth]

30. & it is TIME to do it!

[Fozzledick]

12. Tell that to Martha Coakley

[RZM]

15. I don't get it

Did marijuana policy have anything to do with her loss? Seems to me it was her complacency and a lazy campaign (combined with the fact that Republicans were on the upswing then) that cost her the Senate seat.

[Fozzledick]

17. She led the oppostion to the marijuana decriminalization bill in the previous election

I believe that was that was a significant factor in the low Democratic turnout in the special election for the Senate seat. With nothing else on the ballot a lot of people who were disgusted with her just didn't go to the polls.

[RZM]

20. I certainly wasn't aware of that

But I'm skeptical that had a lot to do with it. Maybe it did, but I don't know. She also ran a shitty campaign in a Republican year. I don't doubt that a better strategy would have led to a better outcome, even with her stance on decriminalization.

But you know what, GOOD FOR HER! I'm glad she did that.

[randome]

8. Is this going to be yet another thread...

...where the OP never joins in the discussion? There have been too many of those, of late.

I apologize, SupraTruth, if that's not the case for you but it's happened a lot lately. Feel free to join in the conversation if I have you pegged wrong.

The long and the short of it is this: marijuana will never be legalized and it's not that important an issue (IMHO) compared with everything else that's happening.

* There are many alternatives to marijuana for pain relief.

* Medical dispenseries WILL be abused and marijuana sold 'under the counter'.

* Society, right or wrong, has decided that alcohol and coffee are okay but pot is not. Live with it because, as I said (IMHO), it's not that important an issue.

* Pot is a mind-altering substance. Personally, I wouldn't mind the experience once in a while and I would not begrudge it to anyone else, either. But it's not that important.

* A few years back, there were a couple of high profile train wrecks that were caused by engineers smoking weed. All the rationalizations in the world about how pot does not impede cognition are bullshit because if it did not, why would anyone want to smoke it? I, for one, would not want to drive on a highway where people might be high.

It's never going to happen. All the wishing in the world will not make it so.

Let's work on ousting Republicans instead!!

On edit:
Well, SupraTruth made another post in this thread. So far, nothing of substance, though. Lot of CAPS and exclamation points, though.

[RZM]

14. Yet you drive on those same highways where people might be drunk

Can't speak for the OP, but I'm not even saying that all the laws about marijuana should be changed. If people want to keep OVI on the books I don't really care. But if it's not a big deal, then WHY KEEP IT COMPLETELY PROHIBITED?

What's wrong with decriminalizing small amounts? I just don't see the big deal either.

[randome]

16. In theory, I agree with you.

But small amounts will easily morph into larger amounts. It will still be sold clandestinely and drug-related crime will still exist.

What I meant was, it should not be a big deal if society wants to keep it outlawed. I don't want school bus drivers high. I don't want day care workers high. I don't want people on the highway who might be high. Sure, there are some drunks out there. Does that mean we should add more lousy drivers to the mix?

Let The Man have this one is what I meant. Let the Establishment keep marijuana illegal. Sure, the drug war costs billions. It still will because of heroin and coke and whatever else. It's human nature to try and get away with whatever we can. Well, at least for a good number of people, that is.

We have more important things to do.

[RZM]

19. You and I agree on the basics, except I draw the opposite conclusion

You're right. Drug crime will still exist. Heroin will still take everything you own and ruin your life even if it is made legal. I've never argued that reforming drug laws is a panacea for the ills of drug culture and frankly I think people who do so are naive.

But I am not going to let the man have this one. I strongly believe I should have the right to consume marijuana in my own home, just as I can consume alcohol there. I agree that I should be penalized if I get behind the wheel under the influence, which is why I never do that.

It's just something that I feel strongly about. I don't appreciate the government telling me what I can and can't ingest, especially something like weed, which I really believe is a less insidious substance than alcohol. You're right that society has decided that alcohol is ok and marijuana isn't. But rather than meekly accepting that, I'd rather work on changing minds and laws. That's what is important to me.

You could say this about any issue, really. Does our future hinge on gay marriage, or abortion, or gun laws? Not really, but that doesn't meant that people should be chided for having strong personal feelings on those subjects and prioritizing them how they see fit.

[randome]

21. At least you and I...

...are having an actual discussion as opposed to some posters who want nothing more than to bash Obama.

And again, I agree with you that you should have the right to do what you want in your own home. I want less government influence on MY privacy, as well, which is a Conservative mantra that never seems to acquire the force of conviction for most GOP'ers and Tea-Baggers.

As for driving under the influence...yeah, well, there are penalties for that, sure. But often driving under the influence will result in a crash and a fatality so I'm a little reluctant to say, okay, we'll assess penalties for that and let it go. That doesn't help those who might have been seriously injured or killed.

I do not want to begrudge you or anyone else for having strong feelings on this issue. But we need -and accept- government regulation of a LOT of other things and if marijuana is one of them, that's okay with me.

I understand if it's not okay with others but I'm just posting an alternative viewpoint, as are you.

Now. Let's get after those 'Pukes!!

[RainDog]

24. you're also wrong about alternatives to cannabis for many people

there is not another substance out there that halts the progress of MS. Cancer patients have gone on record that marinol does not offer the nausea relief that whole-plant cannabis does. Cannabis relieves the pressure of glaucoma in ways that no other substance has done and has made it possible for people to maintain their sight when they would have otherwise gone blind.

Cannabis that has been legally given to one of the 4 remaining govt. med patients has kept him TUMOR FREE for decades - and before he was legally allowed to consume cannabis, this man had 200 tumors that would make it impossible for him to move, much less do his job.

Cannabis has shown tumor-suppressing ability in a variety of cancers as well.

I cannot adequately express my DISGUST for Obama at this time. What a disappointment. What a waste of talent. What a sold-out corporate nobody.

[Warren DeMontague]

28. The right to choose. The right to control one's body. The right to a pain-free exit if term. ill.

These are not "sideshow, distraction" issues to many of us- THEY ARE THE MAIN ENCHILADA.

Pot prohibition is a cruel, expensive sham, and the majority of the $40 Billion/yr "drug war" budget (NOT including costs of incarceration, mind you) goes to FIGHTING POT SMOKING. This is not "drop it, ignore it, let's get the GOP"... uh-huh. This shit NEEDS TO STOP, and it is a major priority. If my tax dollars are being used to drag cancer grannies off to prison for smoking weed, it's not a 'minor inconvenience' or a 'distraction', it's a REAL FUCKING PROBLEM.

I'm sorry if the prospect of high drivers scares you; I had a friend killed by a DRUNK driver, myself- but don't you wonder why no one ever seems to be willing or able to make a cogent argument for continuing to criminalize pot on the actual circumstances; i.e. by saying "I want to come into your house and arrest you for smoking a relatively benign plant in the privacy of your own home because I'm an authoritarian control freak and I need to run other peoples' lives" --- no, it's always about other drugs, or other crimes (like driving under the influence) or something like that.

Legalize it, regulate it, TAX it, and THEN we can "worry about MORE IMPORTANT SHIT".

[RainDog]

25. Your respoinse ignores the reality that the Portuguese decriminalization experiment works

rather than treat cannabis as a criminal issue - it is a health issue. those who have a problem with it are able to seek medical treatment. those who use it and do not have a problem are free to use it.

this tactic has saved the govt tons of money. it has made lives better by focusing on the few who have problems with cannabis and has freed funds to go after hard drug producers, etc.

this issue may not matter to you, but it matters to a lot of people who would be denied the opportunity to attend college because they, like President Obama, smoked a joint when they were younger. What fucking total hypocrisy. It makes me want to puke. The law is applied in a racist manner - far more African-Americans and Hispanics are arrested for cannabis but usage is not greater among those two groups. Obama is, apparently, a-ok with institutional racism - and so are you.

[RainDog]

23. marijuana has been criminal for only 70 years - far less time than it was legal

so, no. your claim that marijuana will never be legalized is wrong on the face of it because it WAS LEGAL until the prohibitionists needed another target to keep the feds paying their salaries for doing the SAME THING that they did during prohibition of alcohol - which was to create a criminal class out of law-abiding citizens who don't think the federal govt has the right to tell them whether or not they can consume a fermented plant or one that is dried like tobacco.

so, sorry. sad to see that Democrats are such backward fucks on this issue. and, honestly, seeing how Obama has handled issue after issue - he has done little to nothing to make me want to even bother to vote.

and you and others should get a clue and recognize that more people in CA voted to make medical marijuana legal in 1996 than voted for Bill Clinton for President.

WHY SHOULD I BOTHER TO VOTE FOR A CANDIDATE THAT UPHOLDS LAWS THAT ARE BASED UPON LIES AND CORRUPTION?

the only reason to bother is the "lesser of two evils" argument. that's all that makes me give a fuck whether or not Obama or any other democrat is in office.

And, you know, people are using cannabis for medical care, not just recreational use - tho neither are the business of the federal govt.

Obama is working to deny pain relief to cancer patients, to deny medication that, in some, HALTS the progression of MS. That HALTS the progression of glaucoma.

What a fucking disgusting action. What a sorry excuse for a leader.

[supraTruth]

33. WE ALL NEED TO TWEET HIM ABOUT IT! & ALL OF THE MEDIA TOO!

TIME TO MAKE THE CHANGES NEEDED IN OUR GOVERNMENT!

[Warren DeMontague]

26. Bullshit. Pot WILL be legalized. Momentum is building & the status quo is

unsustainable.

The people who need to tell consenting adults what they can/can't do with their own bodies will just have to find new hobbies.

[RainDog]

29. Hopefully this action will be the impetus to get voters to the polls to legalize in CA and CO

no matter what side of the political aisle you are on.

[supraTruth]

31. It is much more than about what is RIGHT! It is about THE COSTS THAT WE HAVE NEVER been able

to afford!

Our states have gone BANKRUPT LOCKING PEOPLE UP for NOTHING more than having fun! It is a GOD DAMN SIN! & WHAT IS AN EVEN BIGGER SIN, IS THAT A.H's Democrats LIKE U, have accepted it as acceptable. It AIN'T, BUDDY! It is TIME for it to stop, ALONG WITH ALL OF THE OTHER GOD DAMN FAILED WARS that Democrats have gone along with for WAY TOO DAMN LONG!

[Uncle Joe]

10. The cynical thing about the bumper sticker phrase "Change that you can believe in" is that it

will allow you to believe whatever you want.

When Obama admitted smoking cannabis as a young man, too many people focused on his admission as being a sign that he would be compassionate, progressive, empathetic, understanding or liberal on the issue and there wasn't enough nail down follow up as to what his position would be on the issue of legalizing cannabis for adults or for medical purposes.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3754569

AUDUBON, Iowa (CNN) — Earlier this week in New Hampshire Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama spoke candidly about his past experimentation with drugs and alcohol in high school, and on Saturday—after a question on medicinal marijuana—Obama was prodded a bit further and asked whether or not he had ever inhaled.

"I did," the senator from Illinois said to light applause. "It's not something I'm proud of. It was a mistake as a young man."

The question was a reference to a line made famous by former President Bill Clinton who, while admitting to trying marijuana, said he did not inhale.

"I never understood that line," Obama continued. "The point was to inhale. That was the point."

Today there is a fourteen year Australian boy facing up to six years in prison in Indonesia because he got caught with a minuscule amount of cannabis.

Obama lived in Indonesia from age 6-10 and I couldn't help but wonder how the life of our current President and Nobel Peace Prize Winner would have diverged from its' current course had he be caught and become another victim of an insane, counterproductive, dysfunctional, draconian drug policy.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x5018677

Australia is trying to secure the return of a 14-year-old boy arrested in Indonesia for alleged marijuana possession, the Australian foreign minister has said.

The boy has been held at Denpasar police headquarters in Bali since he was arrested on Tuesday accused of buying a small quantity of marijuana from a man on Kuta beach.

His lawyer, Muhammad Rifan, said he faced a maximum sentence of six years in an adult prison if convicted of possessing 7g of marijuana, which under Indonesian law is treated the same as heroin or cocaine.

Thanks for the thread, supraTruth.

[supraTruth]

34. U are VERY welcome! NOW if we can ONLY GET MORE PEOPLE TO CARE ENOUGH to TAKE THIS ISSUE to the

politicians & W.H. & Obama & media!

[treestar]

11. What does FDR have to do with it?

Unrec'd for nonsense.

Obama does not have to be another any President.

And FDR did what for medical marijuana?

Unrec'd as nonsense.

[Uncle Joe]

22. FDR came out against Prohibition of alcohol during his inaugural convention, because Al Smith

pushed for it to be on the Democratic Platform.

According to Ken Burns' documentary "Prohibition," Al Smith campaigned for the Presidency openly advocating to end Prohibition but the time was too soon and he lost convincingly, by the time FDR ran, the U.S was in the throes of the Great Depression and the nation was ready to end Prohibition.

Presidents do take inspiration from the performance of previous ones, Obama even stated that he viewed Reagan as an example of a transformational President.

I don't view Reagan as transformational so much as an ongoing product of the corporate media.

I'm not sure whether Obama is totally against cannabis or whether his advisers are warning him of Al Smith's too soon experience instead of inspiring him with FDR's.

[Warren DeMontague]

27. LEGALIZE IT, REGULATE IT, TAX IT. FUCKING ENOUGH ALREADY.

THIS SHOULD BE A MAJOR PRIORITY.

:kick:

[supraTruth]

32. EXACTLY! IT IS TIME!

[JVS]

35. He'd have to do something about jobs to be another FDR anyway, and he's not interested in that.

[readmoreoften]

37. He shouldn't think of himself as FDR for a lot of reasons. The biggest one being right of Nixon.

[pampango]

38. To be another FDR he would have to protect/reregulate the banking system,

strengthen unions, lower republican tariffs and focus more on job creation than deficit cutting (FDR messed up there in 1937 but was good during his first term).