The Field: Re-Do It, Mr. President-elect: “Open for Questions” Gets an F
The five other drug policy questions among the top 20 were totally ignored, yet they were closer to the line of scrimmage on Obama’s own stated campaign positions. Here’s a summary of those questions:- Will the federal government stop raiding and prosecuting medical marijuana users and their doctors?
- If not legalization, what about decriminalization?
(After all, on November 4, voters in Michigan and Massachusetts voted for exactly that; the context of the issue – and “conventional wisdom” about public opinion on it – has shifted somewhat since Election Day.)
- What about prioritizing treatment over incarceration for drug offenders?
- How do we fix the prison system?
- And what about the Food and Drug Administration’s cozy relationship – the freedom from liability and the protective legislation previously given – with the pharmaceutical industry?
Those were the more interesting top drug policy questions that deserved a sincere and transparent response. Instead, they were ignored in favor of picking the question to which he could give a typical politician’s “blow off” response.
Herbin’ Cowboy said: >>>”The collapse of the financal system should be proof enough that these politicians don’t have a clue as to what they’re doing.”
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I wonder. Did you notice how pirate-like profit taking and raiding of the Treasury has taken place in the last eight years? Do you think perhaps all the “important” people have their fortresses prepared for a controlled explosion of the economy? Seems like I remember something about the Bush family buying an 80,000 acre ranch in Paraguay. — Maybe this burning away of the old system is to make way for something even more oppressive. Think the Middle Ages – wired and nuked.
I sent this in response to change.gov.
I had HOPE that with this new and exciting change in administration I could see some change in the way that my government deals with difficult yet real Issues.
I have many concerns with the direction and priorities of or country.
The issue I am most concerned with is the federal prohibition of marijuana.
Recently your Change.gov web site provided the opportunity for Americans to ask questions of their new president.
When given this opportunity nearly 1,000,000 votes were cast by 20,000 Americans.
The issue voted on by those Americans the most was
#1 “Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion-dollar industry right here in the U.S.?”
This was no fluke, 6 of the top 20 questions related to this topic. That is more than 25%.
#7 “13 states have compassionate use programs for medical Marijuana, yet the federal gov’t continues to prosecute sick and dying people. Isn’t it time for the federal gov’t to step out of the way and let doctors and families decide what is appropriate?”
#11 “The US “War on Drugs” wastes billions every year tracking down and incarcerating non-violent users. What is your position on the legalization of marijuana? How do you feel about treating rather than imprisoning users of harder, addictive drugs?”
# 13 “How will you fix the current war on drugs in America? And will there be any chance of decriminalizing marijuana?”
# 15 “What kind of progress can be expected on the decriminalization and legalization for medicinal purposes of marijuana and will you re-prioritize the “War On Drugs” to reflect the need for drug treatment instead of incarceration?”
# 18 “The U.S. has the world’s highest incarceration rate, largely due to the War on Drugs. Our prisons are festering pits of rape, racism, and gang violence, and divert a lot of tax money to the corrupt prison industry. How can we fix this?”
With these questions ask, the Obama transition team chose to answer with this statement:
“President-elect Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana”
One line!!! One line to explain that Barack Obama Is concerned about the # 1 Issue.
One line, this is insulting at best.
One Line to address the nearly 800,000 Americans arrested yearly for “simple possession” of marijuana.
One line to address the issue of critically ill Americans being arrested and in some cases imprisoned for using medical marijuana in states where its use is legal by state law.
One line to explain to me why I am a criminal for using marijuana in my home while millions of Americans will legally indulge in alcohol this holiday season.
I believe that marijuana use is a public health issue and should be addressed like wise.
Tobacco users don’t fear being arrested for their unhealthy discussions.
Alcoholics are not thrown into prisons by the hundreds of thousands even though they kill many people each day in this country.
In the past Barack Obama has expressed concern for these issues. Now that he has ben elected he seams to be falling into the Washington political game.
We, as Americans and Recent Obama supporters disserve more than a one line answer.
Words cannot express the disgust and contempt I feel for this government. Families are being torn apart, lives destroyed, property seized, and lives lost in this so-called “war on drugs”. How many of these “SS Troops” have been tried for “war crimes”?
Remember the Geneva convention laws? If captured by the enemy, you are required to provide name, rank, and serial number. Of course, we can’t forget that these bastards use torture, so even international laws don’t protect us.
The collapse of the financal system should be proof enough that these politicians don’t have a clue as to what they’re doing. I have been experiencing utter joy at watching their system fail. I do regret the misfortunes of my fellow man, who have lost so much during this collapse, but remember, you had to trust the government in order to risk so much.
This trust was misplaced.
Any trust in a government capable of telling lies is misplaced.
Are We Learning Yet?
Can you hear me now?
Let’s all come together and make this topic #1 again on the next round of questions!
I was disappointed at first too, but it seems more than just us reformers are taking notice. If we keep at it and don;t give up, our voices WILL be heard!
We in the cannabis community will need to put the pressure on this issue to make sure it isn’t continuously ignored. If President-elect Obama continues to use these online surveys of public interest we need to organize and plan responses that similar to the one in the first “Open-for-Questions”. The more it pops up as a popular response, the harder it will be to cover up.
Sorry. Your post here wasn’t clear about who was doing the ignoring. I thought you were referring to respondents who voted on the questions. Reading your article cleared it up. I’m hoping Obama is just waiting for the right time to put marijuana reform into action. If he is not planning that, he has underestimated the reform movement.
I’m wondering if the “ignored” questions referred to might have been further on down the list. I spent about 20 minutes selecting questions (3 about marijuana), and clicking through most that didn’t interest me, when I noted an indicator citing there were over 9,000 questions to consider. I then realized I had some other priorities to tend to.