January 19th, 2014 11:21 AM ET <div> </div><span>10 hours ago</span> \tObama says marijuana ‘no more dangerous than alcohol'Posted by CNN White House Producer Kevin Liptak Washington (CNN) – Marijuana, which is still placed in the same category as heroin, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms by the federal government, is no more dangerous than alcohol, President Barack Obama said in an interview published Sunday. Speaking to New Yorker editor David Remnick, Obama said he still viewed pot smoking negatively – but that on the whole, the drug wasn't the social ill that it's been viewed as in the past. “As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol,†Obama told the weekly magazine. The president said pot was actually less dangerous than alcohol “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer.†“It's not something I encourage, and I've told my daughters I think it's a bad idea, a waste of time, not very healthy,†he said. Two states, Colorado and Washington, have legalized recreational marijuana use. Another 18, along with the District of Columbia, allow some legal pot use, primarily for medicinal purposes. But when it comes to federal law, marijuana remains a schedule 1 controlled substance - a drug with high potential for abuse but no accepted medical use - and the White House has said that Obama doesn't support changing that status. Instead, Obama said in the New Yorker interview that he's focused on making laws that treat users fairly. “We should not be locking up kids or individual users for long stretches of jail time when some of the folks who are writing those laws have probably done the same thing,†he told Remnick. In August, Obama's Justice Department announced it would not challenge legalization in Colorado and Washington, and instead focus federal enforcement on trafficking cases and preventing pot from getting in the hands of kids. Prosecutors are now required to focus on distinct enforcement priorities that also include preventing driving while high and forbidding the cultivation of marijuana on public lands. In the New Yorker, Obama said Colorado and Washington's laws were “important†since they decriminalized a commonly used substance. But he also said the laws could raise questions for other illegal substances. “If marijuana is fully legalized and at some point folks say, Well, we can come up with a negotiated dose of cocaine that we can show is not any more harmful than vodka, are we open to that?†Obama wondered. “If somebody says, We've got a finely calibrated dose of meth, it isn't going to kill you or rot your teeth, are we O.K. with that?â€
First he says its less dangerous than alcohol but stills speaks of this notion that weed is a gateway drug that will lead to pushing the limits further for other drugs, which in reality should be apples and oranges
He didn't say marijuana was a gateway drug. He is raising an honest question about legalization. If we legalize weed, why not everything else? Some people like cocaine, others like wine, and so on. He knows he is treading in some hot water with this subject. He didn't become a politician overnight.
Drugs are a social issue and should be treated as such. Cannabis is far safer than any substance known to man with the exception of water
But I do feel that cannabis is a performance enhancing drug for artists and should be banned from being used in the entertainment industry. They don't let PED's in sports...lol
Why should it be banned from the entertainment industry? I think the only time it should be banned from the entertainment industry (or any creative industry) is if it's for competition. In fact, going by your theory (to which I do not deny), entertainment would be way more... well, entertaining if people in the business toked up! Haha, just a thought though.
statements like that just look bad man. sure cannabis is safe, but its not the 2nd safest substance known to man.
Really? A gallon of water weighs 8 lbs....two gallons in a short period can kill you, and has killed people. Lettuce is 90 percent water, so eating slightly more than 18 lbs in that same window will kill you. Eating too much protein can kill you.... So I don't care how bad it looks, cannabis is far safer to consume in large quantities than water, lettuce or beef. Let's not even get started on baby aspirin.
Yeah, I posted that up there... I was going off an old AMA report that said Marijuana was the least toxic substance known to man, that was before the propaganda started for prohibition.
I always thought of the argument when we say "If it's something I personally like doing, why should it be illegal ? It's my choice." Well technically cocaine and meth users, etc can say the same thing even though it's harmful . Thought they can say it isn't also . You get what I'm saying ?Sent from my SGH-M919 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
bro this is some crazy shit. i wanna see a thread on this, i'm sure people will find it interesting. Sent from my GT-S5830L using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Is Baby Aspirin more dangerous than regular aspirin and if so, to adults, children, babies, or all three?
It doesn't matter if its harmful or not people own their bodies they are free to put into their bodies whatever they want for better or for ill. The headline of this article should be Obama supports Marijuana remaining a schedule 1 drug. Everything else is just bullshit political pandering. Not directed at you GreenWizard.
weed is a public health issue, not a criminal one. start truthfully informing the public on the positives (medicinal) and negatives (abuse) without prejudice or desire; just the facts (zero overdoses, ever)
Coke and meth aren't what are disputed in legal terms, everybody knows those are objectively bad.. but other psychiatric drugs like ayahuasca have been debated recently, why don't they look into the effects of that?
Political pandering is a very real possibility, but I don't think Obams supports Marijuana remaining a schedule I drug. We'll have to see in the future what his actions speak. So far with Colorado and Washington, the feds have layed low. You know they had some undercovers shopping at some of those legal weed shops in Colorado. They could have busted them down. The candy is just too good to make it illegal. This piece on his latest marijuana stand is just one question that was asked during an interview by the New Yorker. Some more "deep thoughts" from Obama during this interview can be found here:http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/01/19/the-best-bits-of-the-17000-word-obama-profile-in-the-new-yorker/?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLE_Video_Top