Media Finally Get it: Americans Want Marijuana Reform OpposingViews / NORML / 1,28,2011 Regardless of whether or not President Obama addresses the question of marijuana law reform in today's live YouTube ‘Ask Obama' Q&A, the American public has made their case to the mainstream media. Last night, Universal Press Syndicate ran with the headline, Top Obama YouTube questions: Legalize pot. Here's an excerpt from the article: The top questions Americans want to ask U.S. President Barack Obama on YouTube Thursday deal with legalizing marijuana, a review of the questions indicated. … The YouTube questions Obama will answer will be based on the number of votes each question receives, YouTube said. More than 193,000 people submitted nearly 140,000 questions and cast almost 1.4 million votes by midnight Wednesday, the submission deadline, a United Press International review indicated. This is 10 times last year's 14,000 questions, the first year YouTube hosted an Obama interview. The top 10 questions all involved ending or changing the government's war on drugs, legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana and embracing industrial hemp as a “green†initiative to help farmers, the UPI review found. As NORML's Russ Belville blogged yesterday, marijuana's popularity is not just limited the top 10 questions. In fact, the top 100 most popular questions (See them here.) posed to the President are about marijuana and drug law reform. In the minds of the mainstream media, that is a statement just too big to ignore: USA Today: Obama's questions from YouTube deal mostly with legalizing pot The Politico: Obama is urged to talk about drugs Huffington Post: Obama Barraged By Pot Questions For Upcoming YouTube Town Hall Regardless of how President Obama responds, the media has their story: The American public is ready to engage in a serious and objective political debate regarding the merits of legalizing the use of cannabis by adults. Is the President? Tune in here at 2:30 est today to find out. Regardless of Obama being a dork that lucked out by not getting caught,which allowed him to be President,this is turning into some very positive press!!!!! XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Obama's questions from YouTube deal mostly with legalizing pot USAToday / David Jackson / 1,27,2011 The YouTube generation is speaking, and many of them want to legalize marijuana.Changing the nation's drug laws is dominating the questions submitted by YouTube users in advance of President Obama's 2:30 p.m. question-and-answer on the video website. UPI is reporting that "the top 10 questions all involved ending or changing the government's war on drugs, legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana and embracing industrial hemp as a 'green' initiative to help farmers." A coalition of groups that support legalization of marijuana report that the top 100 questions deal with their issue, and says, "the American people want to know why our country is continuing the failed, catastrophic policy of drug prohibition." The coalition -- consisting of the Drug Policy Alliance, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, the Marijuana Policy Project, NORML and Students for Sensible Drug Policy -- also notes that this issue has come up before with Obama on YouTube: There were similar results in both 2009 and 2010 when people asked Obama about ending prohibition and using science instead of politics to guide our drug policies. In 2009, Obama's response was to laugh off the question about taxing and controlling marijuana. In 2010, Obama ignored the questions, despite the questions dominating in quantity and quality. We are encouraged by the grassroots response bubbling up around this issue and urge President Obama to address this issue seriously and thoroughly. We'll see later today. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Obama is urged to talk about drugs MATT NEGRIN | 01/27/11 | Politico44 Drug policy groups are calling on President Obama to talk about legalizing marijuana after the top 100 questions posed to him for a YouTube "interview" turned out to be about the topic. Obama will answer questions Thursday afternoon from people who sent submissions to a YouTube channel billed as a chance for the president to discuss issues more in-depth after his State of the Union speech. Obama didn't mention drug policy in his speech. "Several of the most popular questions also address why our elected leaders have virtually ignored these important issues," read a statement by the Drug Policy Alliance, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, the Marijuana Policy Project, NORML and Students for Sensible Drug Policy. Questions about drug policy have cropped up in similar online forums before for Obama in the past two years. His drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, has maintained that legalizing marijuana is not being considered by the White House and has dismissed the suggestion that doing so could lower crime and help states with budget issues. For the YouTube interview, 193,000 questions were submitted, and the 100 most popular selections -- as voted on by others -- are about marijuana and drug policy. The top question is from a former police officer "who has first-hand experience with the failure of these policies," the drug policy groups said. "The American people want to know why our country is continuing the failed, catastrophic policy of drug prohibition," they said. “We are encouraged by the grassroots response bubbling up around this issue and urge President Obama to address this issue seriously and thoroughly.†UPDATE: After Obama said in the interview that legalizing marijuana is a "legitimate topic for debate" but said he is against it, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition executive director Neill Franklin released this statement: "The president talks a good game about shifting resources and having a balanced, public health-oriented approach, but it doesn't square with the budgets he's submitted to Congress. The Obama administration has maintained the Bush-era two-to-one budget ratio in favor of prisons and prosecution over treatment and prevention. It doesn't add up. Still, it's historic that the president of the United States is finally saying that legalizing and regulating drugs is a topic worthy of discussion. But since the president remains opposed to legalization, it's clear that the people are going to have to lead the way. Police officers and innocent civilians are dying every single day in this drug war; it's not a back-burner issue." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Obama Barraged By Pot Questions For Upcoming YouTube Town Hall HuffingtonPost / Ryan Grim / 1,27,2011 WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama plans to take questions from YouTube viewers Thursday afternoon, and for the third time in as many years, the overwhelmingly most popular query involves the legalization of marijuana. Of the top 100 most popular questions as rated by YouTube users, 99 are about the drug war or pot. Of the next one hundred, 99 are again about drug policy. Somehow, two questions about clean energy made their way into the top 200. The pot questions don't stop there, but HuffPost stopped counting deep into the 200s, as the president is unlikely to answer all of them. If past history is any guide, he may not answer any of them. A White House spokesman tells HuffPost that the president on Thursday will answer whatever questions YouTube puts before him. "A selection of top voted questions has been made to insure that as many of the most important questions as voted by the YouTube community will be asked," a YouTube spokesperson told HuffPost. Obama did answer the question in 2009, addressing folks who asked if the president would consider legalizing marijuana to boost the economy and tax revenue. "Can I just interrupt, Jared, before you ask the next question, just to say that we -- we took votes about which questions were going to be asked and I think 3 million people voted," he said to aide Jared Bernstein. "I have to say that there was one question that was voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy -- (laughter) -- and job creation. And I don't know what this says about the online audience -- (laughter) -- but I just want -- I don't want people to think that -- this was a fairly popular question; we want to make sure that it was answered. The answer is, no, I don't think that is a good strategy -- (laughter) -- to grow our economy in 2009." That answer tortured legalization backers as much as being ignored, if this year's questions are an indication. Many of them knock the president for laughing at their issue. The major drug-policy reform organizations say they have had little to do with the popularity of the pot questions and that it has largely been a "grassroots" response. The top question is from an official associated with the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, but the second- and third-most popular, judging by their YouTube pages, are clearly not connected to a mainstream advocacy group. LEAP, the Drug Policy Alliance, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the Marijuana Policy Project released what they called a "joint" statement Thursday calling on the president to address an issue that is "bubbling up." The statement appears below: Following his 2011 State of the Union address, President Obama asked the public to submit questions for an exclusive YouTube Interview that will take place on Thursday January 27. The "Ask Obama" forum promises to take questions from the American people on the issues they find most important in terms of national policy. The people have spoken, and the message is loud and clear: the top 100 most popular questions (193,000 were submitted) are on marijuana reform and the harms of drug prohibition, with the first-place question coming from a former police officer who has first-hand experience with the failure of these policies. The questions dominating the forum deal with marijuana legalization, prohibition-related violence, and the fiscal and human consequences of mass incarceration. The American people want to know why our country is continuing the failed, catastrophic policy of drug prohibition. Several of the most popular questions also address why our elected leaders have virtually ignored these important issues. This is not the first time marijuana legalization and drug reform have dominated the response to Obama's call for questions. There were similar results in both 2009 and 2010 when people asked Obama about ending prohibition and using science instead of politics to guide our drug policies. In 2009, Obama's response was to laugh off the question about taxing and controlling marijuana. In 2010, Obama ignored the questions, despite the questions dominating in quantity and quality.
this is really good news! Even if Obama doesn't answer the questions, it's really gonna make him look like a total dumbass. Hopefully he won't be a two faced dick and ignore them again. Oh and that Huffington Post guy is a total asshole for taking those two quotes out of context. "joint" statement? "Bubbling up"? By putting that stuff in quotes, he's making it seem like the leaders of the legalization movement aren't serious. Nice move dick
YES. This is great news that it's getting so much publicity, and that it was a top question. America is really turning around and realizing all the benefits to taxed marijuana for medicinal and recreational purposes.
Now all we need is to do is make sure that the people whos interest has been sparked by these articles and wish to further their knowledge of marijuana/mmj have easy access to the real facts of marijuana, not propaganda. also tharedhead i lol'd.
It sucks that hes against it, but even him admitting that its a legitimate topic for debate is a step in the right direction.
He already makes himself look like a dumbass. You can tell when he is lying through his teeth, especially during the mathematician part of the questions - don't get me wrong I don't give a fuck about that but still. Like I said in the other thread he may think it's worth debating, but he certainly isn't going to debate it.