Obama yet again declines the opportunity to discuss the very serious issue of ending marijuana prohi - Polidicks

[QUOTE=Mac2468;34474031]It's hard to pin down just how many are in jail, all my searches are coming up with old data. You can find that yourself. As for the money spent on the war on drugs, that's also difficult to pin down, but I can post this. [url]http://www.drugsense.org/cms/wodclock[/url][/QUOTE] That's the war on drugs, not just marijuana. [QUOTE=Timebomb575;34474036][url]http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Marijuana#Total[/url] (Table number 94) 10,106,550 arrested for possession alone in the past 15 years[/QUOTE] That seems like a high figure and would indeed amount to a lot of wasted resources. However, it is illegal and these people made the mistake of having it in their possession. Instead of rewarding them for repeatedly using the drug by legalizing it, I'd much prefer to see harsher penalties introduced to further deter people. [QUOTE] And cigarettes have been bringing in 15+ billion a year in tax revenue, so assuming pot was taxed similarly, it is billions of dollars being wasted. [/QUOTE] The government obviously has the public's interests and safety at heart as opposed to making a profit. [QUOTE]Not to mention the cost of the drug war itself and the costs of jailing those 10 million users[/QUOTE] An arrest doesn't automatically mean a jail sentence, it is likely many of these people were let off.

Maybe you guys should find a different way of entertaining yourselves other than ingesting illegal substances??

[QUOTE=coolsteve;34474181]That's the war on drugs, not just marijuana. [/QUOTE] Good luck finding data on how much is spent just enforcing marijuana laws.

[QUOTE=Mac2468;34474209]Good luck finding data on how much is spent just enforcing marijuana laws.[/QUOTE] That is not my burden.

Its smart politics not to address this right now. Anyone who bases their vote on the proposition of Marijuana know that Obama is a better choice than a GOP candidate, and anyone who is against it, wont be put-off if he's like "legalize that dope". Addressing that right before election wont do anything but hurt his campaign.

[QUOTE=monkey11;34474232]"legalize that dope".[/QUOTE] dope is heroin

Like, I dont see how people dont understand politics like enough to see that its a flat out dumb move, even if he wants to see it legalized. [editline]31st January 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=coolsteve;34474239]dope is heroin[/QUOTE] Dope is a general term. Sure it usually means heroin, but it can refer to a bunch of drugs.

Marijuana will never be legalized in the US unless Obama swaps places with the BC NDP or Ron Paul is elected.

[QUOTE=jip;34474287]Marijuana will never be legalized in the US unless Obama swaps places with the BC NDP or Ron Paul is elected.[/QUOTE] Yes, because the president has 100% say in issues like this.

There really is no point in imprisoning people for possession if they aren't a big time dealer. It's not like they're going to hurt others or themselves if they're not in prison, they're the end of the drug line.

[QUOTE=ultra_bright;34473756]The day pot becomes legal I'm going to get sooooo fucking high. [/QUOTE] The day pot becomes legal I'm going to invest Australia cannabis producers (let's face it most Australian farmers already know a fair bit about growing pot!) and I'm going to get sooooo fucking much of an ROI.

[QUOTE=monkey11;34474323]Yes, because the president has 100% say in issues like this.[/QUOTE] He has alot of influence.

Yeah I'm not surprised either. On top of that the dea has been cracking down on some clinics in Cali, (rip trinity clinic). More will pop up but several have already been shutdown. Bush did the same shit around election time and then stopped and completely forgot about it once in office. I don't see weed being legal at all until a president backs it and I don't think that will happen for along time. Probably another decade or so, when the current youth generation fully matures and becomes the major workforce and middle age group and the current conservative people get old and helpless.

[QUOTE=mysteryman;34472567]I don't think this is something he'd like to tackle at the very end of his first, and potentially last term. He want to potentially leave on a good note and this could cause a lot of media backlash and general uproar.[/QUOTE] No it couldn't if he didnt always fucking neglect to educate his goddamn voterbase on all the pressing issues. Hed be able to throw out so much political trash if he didn't always respond to critical issues with a shit eating smirk and declining to comment on them, thinking it would upset some non existant republican voterbase. He is such a spineless sponge and he wouldn't even have much educating to do. If you have atleast one half of a functioning brain you would immediately be able to make the connection between legalization and solving a shitload of ridiculous problems that are currently bringing this and other countries down like a cancer. Even the average fat dumb American can figure this one out by himself just looking at the numbers. Who gives a shit if a couple of fat uneducated republican voters scream murder and fox news pisses themselves? They do that every time, no matter what he does. They are a vocal minority.

[QUOTE=Isuzu;34474435]No it couldn't if he didnt always fucking neglect to educate his goddamn voterbase. If you have atleast one half of a functioning brain you would immediately be able to make the connection between legalization and solving a shitload of ridiculous problems that are currently bringing this and other countries down like a cancer. Who gives a shit if a couple of fat uneducated republican voters scream murder and fox news pisses themselves? They are a vocal minority.[/QUOTE] I think your forgetting the massive amount of misinformation the general public still has. Your making it sound easy to just change half of America's mind after being lied to and misinformed for years. The minute obama starts "educating" his voterbase about canabis is the minute he puts a gun to his head and the headlines call him a weed advocate. You can't tell people anything now days without them judging you.

I swear people push this too hard when there are much more important things that need doing first.

I wouldn't say this is a "very serious issue"

[QUOTE=Scotchair;34474555]I wouldn't say this is a "very serious issue"[/QUOTE] yeah man lets just waste millions more on this "war on drugs" instead of funding education and other social welfare.