Will Obama Legalize It

[andyrowe]

[billyoc]

1. Portugal.

[Occam Bandage]

2. Don't worry, pie is and will remain legal.

[Clio the Leo]

9. I fear for the future of cream pies......

I don't like fruit pies, pumpkin, sweet potato, and i have to be in a mood for apple. But most of them, BLECH!

What this country needs more of is CHOCOLATE pie.

[nolabels]

18. I like Pecan with whip cream

but also partial to many other varieties such as Coconut-cream, Lemon-meringue and fresh baked Peach

[Clio the Leo]

20. Derby pie is good, or Chess. NT

[carnie_sf]

3. Legalize what?

[parasim]

8. Gee... I wonder...

[Political Tiger]

4. Legalize what?

[DesertRat]

5. Pot?

I don't think so since the president doesn't make the laws. :smoke:

[tridim]

6. Congress might.

With Barney Frank leading the way.

[Cali_Democrat]

7. weed?

:shrug:

[Clio the Leo]

10. If it's ever legalized......

won't it be left up to the states to decide?

[Bjorn Against]

19. Yes, but the federal laws would be eliminated and the DEA would not investigate pot cases.

I don't think the federal government could stop the states from enforcing their own laws though.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

45. I believe the hope is..............

that if the Feds stop pouring money into the investigations, the bill would fall completely on the states. Then, I can see it going two directions:

1) The laws would be too expensive for the states to solely enforce, and LE would have to shift focus to more violent crimes such as murder, rape or armed robbery. It would then come to a de-facto decriminalization where as long as you don't cause trouble, LE would leave the pot-smokers alone.

-or-

2) The states would crack down as hard as they are Constitutionally allowed, seeing as a cash-cow to fill the local coffers (which is pretty much what they do now with drug busts and RICO).

However, I have heard Sen Obama mention that his administration would take a hard look at mandatory minimums for non-violent offenders. This wouldn't go very far on the legalization/decrim front, but it would make laws more reasonable for low-level drug offences. He has also said that he would not allocate valuable Justice Dept resources to bust legitimate MM patents, but he admits this is very low on his agenda. However, a seemingly reasonable Obama administration may open the door for folks like NORML to work with the President to work on a more progressive method of dealing w/ weed.

I've never been hopeful for legal weed for the masses, but I believe if we can get legal MM to the folks who need it, we are at least stepping in the right direction and other positive things may follow.

[bigwillq]

11. No.

He will not legalize same-sex marriage in all 50 states. :(

[scheming daemons]

12. He won't legalize it... but he won't restrict states from doing so

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

13. Yeah, right. About five minutes before McCain would.

Though he may have Justice/FBI fuck less with state medicinal laws.

[cbc5g]

14. He'll stop DEA raids on MMJ facilitiess

but I doubt he'll lead an effort to legalize marijuana. But with government increasingly progressive nowadays things are brighter for drug reform across the states.

[tpi10d]

15. No, but

Obama's supreme court nominees may push things in our direction on hot potato political issues no president would touch.

[99th_Monkey]

16. I certainly hope so. LOOK AT THESE STATS. China and Russia have nothing on America

in the department of bulging Prison Populations.

Great graphs at this link:
http://www.libertyforlife.com/jail-police/prison_populaton.htm

"Incarceration Rate Booming:
"State and federal prison authorities had jurisdiction over 1,595,034 inmates at midyear 2007: 1,395,916 in state jurisdiction and 199,118 in federal jurisdiction. Local jails held 766,010 persons awaiting trial or serving a sentence at yearend 2006. An additional 60,222 persons under jail supervision were serving their sentence in the community. Population growth during the 6-month period ending June 30, 2007 was lower in state prisons (up 1.4%) than in federal prison (up 3.1%). Population growth during the 12-month period ending June 29, 2007 was higher in local jails (up 1.9%)." - http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/correct.htm Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Correctional Populations in the United States, 1997 and Prisoners in 2004. Note: Number of sentenced inmates incarcerated under State and Federal jurisdiction per 100,000, 1980-2004. - http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/incrt.htm

Ignoring prisoners held on probation. At midyear 2004, the U.S prisons and jails incarcerated over 2.1 million persons. In both jails and prisons, there were 123 female inmates per 100,000 women in the United States, compared to 1,348 male inmates per 100,000 men. A total of 2,477 State prisoners were under age 18. The number of inmates in custody in local jails rose by 22,689; in State prison by 15,375; and in Federal prison by 10,095. 04/05 NCJ 208801 - http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/pjim04.htm

According recent reports issued by the U.S. Department of Justice, more than 1,000 inmates were added to the nation's prisons and jails each week from June 2004 to June 2005, .

The irrefutable fact that our Land of Liberty has been turned into the worlds leading Prison State is shown by the U.S. Department of Justice statistics. The frightening aspect is that our out of control government is not stopping here, they are literally building more prisons not only in the U.S. but internationally."

[Bjorn Against]

17. If a bill got to his desk he may sign it, but I don't think a bill will make it to his desk

I don't think a legalization bill could make it through Congress anytime soon, but if a miracle were to happen I think there is a good chance Obama would sign the bill. I can guarantee you that he will not push such a bill however, it would be far too politically risky for him especially when you consider how the racists would react to such a push.

[1corona4u]

22. So, you're saying only racist are against legalizing pot?

Did I misunderstand you? I think a lot of people would oppose it, not just people who are racist.

[Bjorn Against]

40. Yes, you misunderstood me.

I never said only racists are against legalizing pot, and I have no clue where you got that from. I just said that if Obama were to push for legalization the racists would react to it, and I think history proves that to be true. I never said all opposition to legalization is racist, I will say that it is stupid to support the continuation of a failed war against a plant that grows naturally however.

[uppityperson]

21. Mainly because half the people I was with believed this until I explained the situation to them

[uppityperson]

23. Mainly because half the people I was with believed this until I explained the situation to them

glitchy dupe. Good enough to repeat though.

[NJGeek]

24. 2nd term

That's the best chance.

[Alexander]

25. No, but he said he'll decriminalize it, which is almost as good.

[Aqaba]

26. Think of the tax money you could get from legalizing it

[Aqaba]

27. Think of the tax money you could get from legalizing it

[1corona4u]

37. Think of the people who wouldn't be able to get a job.

Drug test are here to stay. It's a liability issue.

[quakerboy]

28. it being?

Icecream? Absynth? Human-Microwave love?

[Frank Booth]

34. Absinthe is now legal in the US. Seriously, real absinthe.

It tastes like licorice and has the same effect as any other type of liquor, and nothing more.

[quakerboy]

35. hmm.

Define real absinthe

[1corona4u]

38. Yeah, except for the contribution in George Smith's disappearance case...

since they all had been drinking it that night...

[kingpin8399]

29. Think how many jobs it would create! loool tax the crap out of it and more money for the govt

[1corona4u]

39. I don't think it would create jobs....you're dreaming now....

no one would ever get anything done...:rofl: Everyone would be fatter than they are now, and severly demotivated...all they would do is sit and eat all day. :rofl:

[progressiveforever]

30. He can't and won't.

Political suicide

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

31. He can't. Has to be an act of Congress.

That old separation of powers thing.

[tularetom]

32. He should watch this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HcXcYlF3_0

[IsItJustMe]

33. Probably not, but unlike Bush, he won't use precious resources of the AG's or FBI to go after it and

will allow states to do their own thing.

[Codeine]

36. Hopefully he won't waste his time

with stupid shit like that. We have actual issues with which to deal -- making sure potheads can stay high is low priority.

[crispini]

42. Ok, wait. For medical MJ users, it IS a high priority

This is a medicine which helps cancer patients, AIDS patients, etc. And they are subject to WAY too much harrassment by cops even in the states where it IS legal. For these folks, MJ can really help them deal with their symptoms and make life much better.

Rather than a patchwork of stupid laws we should federally legalize it and tax it and boy howdy wouldn't THAT help the economy.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

47. Thats funny......

coming from someone whose user name is Codeine.

:rofl:

[That Is Quite Enough]

41. Uh, I seriously doubt it.

Like, it's not even close to happening.

[zulchzulu]

43. I was going to respond, but forgot what the question was...

:smoke:

[Meshuga]

44. That would be nice but it is the least of the country's priorities

If you mean legalizing pot. The poll question was vague.

[Terran]

46. prostitution?

Probably not.