March 26
President Obama uncharacteristically answered a very serious question today about marijuana legalization by laughing it off as a joke.
The chuckle suggests a man of his generation. The dismissiveness toward the question of ending Prohibition as both a good in itself and a form of tax revenue is, however, depressing. His answer was a non-answer. I’m tired of having the Prohibition issue treated as if it’s trivial or a joke. It is neither. It is about freedom and it’s deadly serious. As for your online audience, Mr president, have you forgotten who got you elected?
I agree with that completely–very disappointing. But then I realized…if you’re a black man who just got elected President, and you’re still trying to gain the trust of all the old white people who voted against you because they thought you were a terrorist, would your first move be to legalize drugs? Probably not.
Trevor Timm is a Blast Magazine staff writer
meh, i agree with Obama downplaying it, but he should have downplayed it differently. It WOULD provide tax revenue and jobs, but that can’t be the only factor in dealing with controversial issues.
Just like he said at his press conference about stem cell research, the ethical and moral ramifications need to be judged, and he knows the older, conservative voting groups aren’t ready for it.