Petition (Whitehouse.gov): "Explain what aspect of marijuana is worse than alch/cigs"

Hey I signed one of the most popular petitions; legalizing Marijuana and just about 10 mins ago I actually got an email from the White House website responding to the results of the petition (overwhelming numbers-guess they could NOT ignore it this time). Nothing can express how disappointment and upset I am right now after reading this. This is the actual email (copy and pasted).

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What We Have to Say About Legalizing Marijuana

By Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy

When the President took office, he directed all of his policymakers to develop policies based on science and research, not ideology or politics. So our concern about marijuana is based on what the science tells us about the drug's effects.

According to scientists at the National Institutes of Health- the world's largest source of drug abuse research - marijuana use is associated with addiction, respiratory disease, and cognitive impairment. We know from an array of treatment admission information and Federal data that marijuana use is a significant source for voluntary drug treatment admissions and visits to emergency rooms. Studies also reveal that marijuana potency has almost tripled over the past 20 years, raising serious concerns about what this means for public health – especially among young people who use the drug because research shows their brains continue to develop well into their 20's. Simply put, it is not a benign drug.

Like many, we are interested in the potential marijuana may have in providing relief to individuals diagnosed with certain serious illnesses. That is why we ardently support ongoing research into determining what components of the marijuana plant can be used as medicine. To date, however, neither the FDA nor the Institute of Medicine have found smoked marijuana to meet the modern standard for safe or effective medicine for any condition.

As a former police chief, I recognize we are not going to arrest our way out of the problem. We also recognize that legalizing marijuana would not provide the answer to any of the health, social, youth education, criminal justice, and community quality of life challenges associated with drug use.

That is why the President's National Drug Control Strategy is balanced and comprehensive, emphasizing prevention and treatment while at the same time supporting innovative law enforcement efforts that protect public safety and disrupt the supply of drugs entering our communities. Preventing drug use is the most cost-effective way to reduce drug use and its consequences in America. And, as we've seen in our work through community coalitions across the country, this approach works in making communities healthier and safer. We're also focused on expanding access to drug treatment for addicts. Treatment works. In fact, millions of Americans are in successful recovery for drug and alcoholism today. And through our work with innovative drug courts across the Nation, we are improving our criminal justice system to divert non-violent offenders into treatment.

Our commitment to a balanced approach to drug control is real. This last fiscal year alone, the Federal Government spent over $10 billion on drug education and treatment programs compared to just over $9 billion on drug related law enforcement in the U.S.

Thank you for making your voice heard. I encourage you to take a moment to read about the President's approach to drug control to learn more.


It is sad how they are contradicting themselves in the sense that it is a "dangerous drug" but they admit that they are supporting it for medical use. Also that brains develop till mid 20s but we all know that regulating something (like beer) is better protected and controlled than the black market. Pure propaganda in my opinion. So sad and disappointing. Obama lost my vote today...

 

Short, but to the point. We need as many serious petitions as we can get in order to make cannabis legalization the most pressing issue on the site; or at least one that they can't just give a bullshit response to.

^^ I believe that response was posted a few days ago, and you received the e-mail because they had already replied on the website. I like how they added in how much they spend on keeping it illegal, (among other drugs) as if that's helping their case. I agree with your comments at the end of your post as well.

 

Petition signed.

While we are waiting on legalization...

Can we please have a 'Coffee Shop' to pass the time like in Amsterdam???

I would hangout in that establishment instead of a alcohol club/bar.

 

I got the same email from the White House yesterday. What a bunch of BS. "We the People" means nothing to the Obama Administration. The people speak and they don't listen.

 

I think their logic goes like this: Because marijuana's so safe it means that when it's legal a lot more people will start using it. But because it's not *entirely* safe (they like to call it a "harmful substance") that'll mean that a lot more people will be harmed by it.

So, marijuana's more harmful than tobacco and alcohol because it's so much safer. I'm pretty sure that's their justification for arresting 850,000 of us every year.

 

The problem with this argument, like many arguments provided for legalization, is that it comes from OUR perspective, not the perspective of the non-consumers that we need to reach.

The majority of people don't smoke marijuana. The majority don't smoke cigarettes either. The people who are directly opposed to legalization have hardly any experience with marijuana at all.

You need to formulate an argument that doesn't look to the average person as an attempt to legalizing based on the fact that marijuana is a "lesser evil". Please understand that I do not subscribe to this line of thinking at all - I don't think marijuana causes more problems than it solves. Most people who favor prohibition absolutely do. Adding a lesser evil to a list of existing evils does not help anything at all in the long run, so why would they agree. They would rather see BOTH banned straight out.

The bottom line is, most people function just fine without marijuana or cigarettes. This argument will largely fall on deaf ears, where it is not outright condemned as being a futile argument proposed, desperately, by "marijuana addicts".

We know better. Thy do not. Pick an argument that can be understood by everyone. There are plenty to chose from.

 

I have no hope. I hope Gil burns in fucking hell.

 

signed your petition, #10!

 

Signed it lol, I really wanna see their response if it gets enough signatures

 

Their response will be what it always is: Legalizing the lesser of two evils does nothing for the greater good, than some tripe about not adding more fuel to the fire.

This argument is always a failure. Seriously, you guys think it hasn't been around since the 60s? It's always the same answer, usually accompanied by some jab at "potheads" or "addicts" grasping for any argument to get their "fix" or "high" or whatever.

I, personally, don't believe this. Just sayin.

 

signed.

 

They are just going to respond with some more fake science crap like "smoked marijuana has over 400 carcinogens in it" or "there's a high tendency for abuse". Or some other meaningless bullshit.

I signed it. Good luck.

Ron Paul 2012 or bust.

 

Bump.

 

Cigarettes are bad. Alcohol is bad. Many prescription and OTC drugs are bad.

People who oppose marijuana legalization think marijuana is bad. People who don't consume marijuana simply don't care.

The only people who you will ever influence with these "which is worse" arguments are people who have already decided that marijuana should be legalized. These are the absolute ultimate in "preaching to the choir" arguments. They detract from real arguments that focus on "better" rather than on "not as bad".

The prohibs themselves have only to point out that any number of dangerous drugs aren't as bad as alcohol and tobacco... "I suppose we should legalize heroine too, since it doesn't kill as many people as alcohol?" ...bullshit like that. It's far too easy to drive this argument to the point of futility.

 

Marijuana has repeatedly been proven to NOT cause cancer, heart disease, brain damage, liver disease, emphysema, or any other significant health issue, and its addiction potential is about on par with coffee.

Prohibitionists, like Obama, like to label marijuana a "harmful substance" but it's far LESS harmful than alcohol and tobacco which are LEGAL, and it's far LESS harmful than the federal marijuana prohibition which empowers the Mexican drug cartels by $10 Billion a year and draws drug dealers into our communities and around our children! Shame on Obama and his lackeys!