[tittiefish]

The thing is that legalization if it ever happens, it isn't going to happen overnight. So we have to see Obama getting to the presidency (if he does) as a baby step toward our overall goal of legalization. Obama has stated publicly that he will not conduct raids on medical marijuana patients in states where it is legal because he sees it a waste of resources. He has also states that he thinks that decriminalization is something to consider as an alternative. Now I know it's not full on tokin' in the streets legality, but in my book it would be a minor victory to have someone in office with enough common sense to realize that our draconian drug laws are not working. Before legalization can happen we need a few things to happen to change peoples minds about pot, 1) Pot heads need to smoke some sativas so we don't have couch lock, get off our asses and organize, educate and vote. 2) Some of us need to stop living up to the dumb, loser, stoner stereotype or we will never be take seriously. 3) Some of the old school hard line Ultra-Conservative politicians need to die off so the (for the most part) more liberal baby boomer's who used pot or are familiar with pot culture can have more influence in the political landscape. The bush administration has dealt a pretty major blow to our country in many ways including to the legalization movement, but we have a chance to change that very soon. In all reality as much as I hate to admit it and as much as I'd love to see someone with their common sense in office, Gravel and Paul never really had a chance. Obama may not be our marijuana messiah but he is our best bet for taking a step forward in the movement, but that's just my opinion.