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  1. #61
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    Re: Doobie puffing Obama fighting pot legalization

    Quote Originally Posted by okie52 View Post
    Except Obama busted a bunch of med pot houses in CA...of course I don't know how closely the med pot outlets were following the law but then I do know that Obama often goes with selective enforcement.
    When you say "Obama", I suspect it is the minions in the DEA you are actually talking about. It is undoubtedly below Obama's radar screen. I live in CA and the medical marijuana business is huge here and pretty out of control with regard to the rules. I'm guessing the little Caesars in the DEA are not very happy with the orders to leave CO and WA alone, so they must come up with something to put on their status reports. I worked for the federal government for a few years (at NSSL in Norman doing tornado research) and these agencies plan for the long term as they see administrations come and go. I'm sure the DEA lifers are hoping for more of a hard-*** for the next POTUS and the increased budget that comes with that.

  2. #62
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    Re: Doobie puffing Obama fighting pot legalization

    Obama could have called it off but he didnt...in fact the raids went on for a while. Maybe he is in another evolutionary stage like he was on gay marriage and he'll flip just before the 2014 general elections...you know, as a matter of conscience...unless, of course, he really believes it sends the wrong message to kids unlike a "beer summit" (you know...working things out over a beer is a good thing).

  3. #63
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    Re: Doobie puffing Obama fighting pot legalization

    Quote Originally Posted by okie52 View Post
    Obama could have called it off but he didnt...in fact the raids went on for a while. Maybe he is in another evolutionary stage like he was on gay marriage and he'll flip just before the 2014 general elections...you know, as a matter of conscience...unless, of course, he really believes it sends the wrong message to kids unlike a "beer summit" (you know...working things out over a beer is a good thing).
    I don't know what your point is other than you don't like Obama, so I'll acknowledge that now. If it's that politicians do things for political purposes, I think that's obvious. Legalizing pot may have the majority support in 2 states with a few more likely to follow, but I doubt it will have the majority national for a long time if ever. Gay marriage on the other hand, probably will fairly soon. Look for more Pub support on that issue in the future (outside the tea partiers). As far as federal raids on medical pot dispensaries in CA goes, that would be sort of politically dumb from Obama since CA is a huge democratic base. But that's only if it would anger CA voters which may not be the case here. CA law enforcement may well have requested the help as I mentioned before, there was a criminal element creeping in. If the feds come down on CO or WA, then yes, it will have to be approved at the Obama level, but I seriously doubt he was consulted on the CA thing. Much of the government is on auto pilot and administrations only react to the hot issues or their long term agendas.

  4. #64
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    Re: Doobie puffing Obama fighting pot legalization

    Quote Originally Posted by BoulderSooner79 View Post
    I don't know what your point is other than you don't like Obama, so I'll acknowledge that now. If it's that politicians do things for political purposes, I think that's obvious. Legalizing pot may have the majority support in 2 states with a few more likely to follow, but I doubt it will have the majority national for a long time if ever. Gay marriage on the other hand, probably will fairly soon. Look for more Pub support on that issue in the future (outside the tea partiers). As far as federal raids on medical pot dispensaries in CA goes, that would be sort of politically dumb from Obama since CA is a huge democratic base. But that's only if it would anger CA voters which may not be the case here. CA law enforcement may well have requested the help as I mentioned before, there was a criminal element creeping in. If the feds come down on CO or WA, then yes, it will have to be approved at the Obama level, but I seriously doubt he was consulted on the CA thing. Much of the government is on auto pilot and administrations only react to the hot issues or their long term agendas.
    Amid an increased crackdown on medical marijuana producers across the nation, including a recent high-profile raid on a California training school, President Barack Obama faced questions in a new interview with Rolling Stone about the seeming disconnect between his 2008 campaign rhetoric and his administration's actions since he took office.

    "I'm not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws [on medical marijuana]," Obama promised in 2008, according to an earlier Rolling Stone report. But Attorney General Eric Holder announced in 2010 that federal authorities would continue to prosecute individuals for marijuana possession, despite its legalized status in some states.

    The Huffington Post's Lucia Graves reported recently on subsequent enforcement activity:

    Since then, the administration has unleashed an interagency cannabis crackdown that goes beyond anything seen under the Bush administration, with more than 100 raids, primarily on California pot dispensaries, many of them operating in full compliance with state laws. Since October 2009, the Justice Department has conducted more than 170 aggressive SWAT-style raids in 9 medical marijuana states, resulting in at least 61 federal indictments, according to data compiled by Americans for Safe Access, an advocacy group.
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1451744.html

    I'm not a fan of Obama but I don't hate the guy...just don't like some of his policies. I think if you see some of my past posts I've been critical of W, Reagan, McCain, Graham, Rubio, et al.

    Obama was for gay rights as a state senator in Illinois then reversed himself when he ran for president...then amazingly "evolved" 4 years later to support it again. I'm fine with candidates supporting gay marriage (or not)...its not a big issue to me.

    What I hoped from Obama was a little more advancement of legalization. He's made that clear that isn't going to happen under his administration. I wouldn't expect it from a pub candidate even though I support pot's legalization. Its not a big issue to me but I think that the legal cost savings from not prosecuting/incarcerating pot users along with the added tax revenues paid by consumers and businesses would be a win/win. I wish a pub (maybe rand paul supports it, I can't remember) would get behind it.

  5. #65
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    Re: Doobie puffing Obama fighting pot legalization

    Nothing about that article convinces me it was Obama ordered those raids. In fact, it sounds like a guy backtracking trying to cover for the fact he wasn't aware of what was going on in the justice department under his watch. This statement :

    "What I specifically said was that we were not going to prioritize prosecutions of persons who are using medical marijuana," Obama said. "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."

    … is clearly not true now because that same justice department would have gone aggressively after CO unless the administration intervened. So feel free to criticize Obama for ignoring things until they are high enough profile for him to care. But I have to give the justice department the benefit of the doubt too. Just watching the local news here in the SF bay area, there were certainly some medical pot operations that were not following all the state laws.

    As far as advancing legal pot nationally goes, I can't imagine any President pursuing that agenda regardless of personal feelings. I could be wrong, but I don't think anywhere near the majority of voters would support this and it would certainly be a high profile issue. I.e. political death. I think the most support one could hope for is what you see now - leaving states alone that vote to legalize it. And even that is tepid because the next guy/gal in the white house may not agree.

  6. #66
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    Re: Doobie puffing Obama fighting pot legalization

    Quote Originally Posted by BoulderSooner79 View Post
    Nothing about that article convinces me it was Obama ordered those raids. In fact, it sounds like a guy backtracking trying to cover for the fact he wasn't aware of what was going on in the justice department under his watch. This statement :

    "What I specifically said was that we were not going to prioritize prosecutions of persons who are using medical marijuana," Obama said. "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."

    … is clearly not true now because that same justice department would have gone aggressively after CO unless the administration intervened. So feel free to criticize Obama for ignoring things until they are high enough profile for him to care. But I have to give the justice department the benefit of the doubt too. Just watching the local news here in the SF bay area, there were certainly some medical pot operations that were not following all the state laws.

    As far as advancing legal pot nationally goes, I can't imagine any President pursuing that agenda regardless of personal feelings. I could be wrong, but I don't think anywhere near the majority of voters would support this and it would certainly be a high profile issue. I.e. political death. I think the most support one could hope for is what you see now - leaving states alone that vote to legalize it. And even that is tepid because the next guy/gal in the white house may not agree.
    Maybe Obama didn't watch the news for a few months back then and didn't get his usual update about what is going on in his administration...

    Stating its a states rights issue is probably the smart political approach.

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