President Obama remains adamant against the national legalization of marijuana "at this point in time," but says that enforcing federal marijuana laws in states that have legalized recreational use of the drug is not a high priority for the government.
"We've got bigger fish to fry," Obama said of pot users in Colorado and Washington in an interview with Barbara Walters.
"It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it's legal," he said.
Obama's comments regarding marijuana legalization were his first after Colorado and Washington voters approved Nov. 7 ballot measures that legalized the private use and sale of pot in those states.
"Marijuana, or cannabis, remains classified under the Controlled Substances Act as a Schedule I narcotic whose cultivation, distribution, possession and use are criminal acts," notes ABC. The federal government classifies pot as identical to harder drugs, listing it in the same category as heroin, LSD and "Ecstasy," which are all deemed to have high potential for abuse.
While Obama won't budge from his position that widespread legalization would create more problems than it would solve, he noted in the interview that shifting public opinion and limited government resources as reasons to find middle ground on punishing the use of the drug.
"This is a tough problem, because Congress has not yet changed the law," Obama said. "I head up the executive branch; we're supposed to be carrying out laws. And so what we're going to need to have is a conversation about, How do you reconcile a federal law that still says marijuana is a federal offense and state laws that say that it's legal?"
Obama says he's asked Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department for help in examining the legal gray areas concerning conflicting state and federal drug laws.
"There are a number of issues that have to be considered, among them the impact that drug usage has on young people, [and] we have treaty obligations with nations outside the United States," Holder said.
This is not a new stance for Obama. He has always opposed marijuana legalization. Also, despite writing in his 1995 memoir, "Dreams from My Father," that he would regularly smoke marijuana in high school with his friends, he's always distanced himself from his personal history with the drug like any good politician.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department continues to execute raids on pot providers, including in states where they are legal. The Obama administration's approach is even more aggressive than that of George W. Bush, many experts contend.
"I never made a commitment that somehow we were going to give carte blanche to large-scale producers and operators of marijuana - and the reason is, because it's against federal law," Obama told Rolling Stone in an interview earlier this year.
It "is a murky area," Obama told Rolling Stone. "Where you have large-scale, commercial operations that may supply medical marijuana users, but in some cases may also be supplying recreational users. In that situation, we put the Justice Department in a very difficult place if we're telling them, 'This is supposed to be against the law, but we want you to turn the other way.' That's not something we're going to do."
A recent USA Today/Gallup poll conducted after November's election indicted 64 percent of Americans felt the federal government should not take steps to enforce federal anti-marijuana laws in states where it has been made legal for recreational use, reported CNN.
A Quinnipiac University poll conducted between Nov. 28 and Dec. 3 showed 51 percent of registered voters nationwide thought marijuana should be made legal in the United States, compared to 44 percent who thought it should remain illegal.
"There are a bunch of things I did that I regret when I was a kid," Obama explained to Walters. "My attitude is, substance abuse generally is not good for our kids, not good for our society."
"I want to discourage drug use," he added.
So, watch out kids. If you smoke pot, the most horrific, disgusting, filthy, soul-crushing job may be in your future: President of the United States.
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
