How many times do we have to dominate these "Open for Questions / We the People" forums before somebody finally gets it?
For the ninth time, the Obama Administration uses internet technology to solicit questions from the people on public policy.
Once again, marijuana legalization dominates the process.
On the “We the People” petitions site of Whitehouse.gov, as of this writing, NORML’s “Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol” petition is #1 by a long shot. It has garnered over 42,000 signatures. It needed 5,000 signatures in 30 days to generate an official response from the administration, a figure it had topped in just over three hours.
The next most popular petition to “Abolish the TSA” has just over 23,ooo signatures. The third petition, “Forgive Student Loan Debt” has 22,000 signatures. The fourth, “The Case of Sholom Rubashkin”, has 21,000.
Marijuana law reform once again dominates the top ten issues as well. Number six is “Allow Industrial Hemp” with 13,000; “Legalize, Regulate, and Tax Marijuana” is seventh with 12,000; “Stop Interfering with State Marijuana Legalization Efforts” is ninth with 11,000, and “End the War on Drugs” is tenth with 11,000.
Change.org Top Ten Ideas back in 2009
As President Obama began his term, he promised to be “Open for Questions”. Under “Change.gov”, in December 2008, even before inauguration, Obama used the power of online networks to solicit input from the public to shape his public policy. Consistently, marijuana law reform has dominated the discussions and we’ve been reporting it:
- Change.gov (Dec 2008) – “The #1 question, 2 of the top ten, 6 of the top twenty, and a dozen of the top fifty all have to do with marijuana and drug law reform.”
- Open for Questions (Jan 2009) - “in the “National Security” category, after 284,445 votes on 4,449 questions from 20,121 people, we find this [ending the drug war] question in the #1 slot”
- Citizen’s Briefing Book (Jan 2009) - “Guess which policy idea is #1 again, with “44,950 points””
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Click to see the entire Top 100 questions from 2010
Open for Questions II (Mar 2009) - “Obama addressed the pot issue head on, noting the huge number of questions about marijuana legalization and remarking with a chuckle, “I don’t know what that says about the online audience.””
- Citizens’ Briefing Book (May 2009) – “the No. 1 idea listed would have been the call to legalize marijuana (buried on p. 26 of the report).”
- Ideas for Change (Mar 2010) – “I’m not surprised that our idea won yet again in nationwide voting on important issues.”
- YouTube Ask Obama Forum (Jan 2011) – “Just like it has been every single time the Obama Administration has asked the people to submit their concerns online, marijuana legalization is dominating the forum”
- Twitter #AskObama Forum (Jul 2011) – “marijuana legalization in general made up 1-in-8 questions of the subjects asked.”
I think we're beginning to see a pattern here...
The traditional media does their best to dismiss these clear expressions of public sentiment. The New York Times called our concerns “a fringe issue” like “UFOs or the Kennedy assassination”. FOX News proclaimed Obama’s efforts at transparency “stymied by internet trolls”, echoing Wired Magazine’s appraisal that asking Obama to legalize was “the idiocy of trolls”. Even the allegedly liberal Village Voice (creator of TokeOfTheTown.com) mocked the efforts of “YouTube Stoners”.
However, with recent polls showing majority support for marijuana legalization - especially among younger voters - and now a ninth online campaign dominated by drug reform issues, it becomes more difficult for all but the most obstinate to ignore the big green elephant in the room. With a struggling economy and young adult unemployment at rates not seen since World War II, Mr. Obama ignores or laughs off this question at his electoral peril. He needs all the young votes he can get.
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Let’s get wasted off a bottle of whiskey and do something that we’ll probably regret. Or let’s just chill and smoke a joint and expand our minds. Alcohol kills marijuana unites
[...] We petitioned him to legalize marijuana in September 2011, the number one petition; [...]
[...] The people really, really want to ask the President about the legalization of marijuana that half of them [...]
[...] We petitioned him to legalize marijuana in September 2011, the number one petition; [...]
I want it legalized worldwide for recreational use…
I feel no need to make it a medicine, that which they claim it isnt from square 1.
Make a world wide petition and I will help the cause get sigs…I promise you that!
Otherwise I have to do what I have to do to get what I want, just like you are trying to do.
Except that my way serves us all to abolish fraudulent laws that affect us all and criminalizes
you and me for a flower that they regulate.
Or laws that make having an empty pipe illegal!
To take care of the Mexican Drug Cartels, the most dangerous of the Illegal Aliens,
we are simply going to legalize the self cultivation of Marijuana for all adult Americans.
This will force these drug gangs, which now control over 230 major American Cities,
to go out of business in about 3 weeks. You see you can “grow your own” for free and
70% of the Cartel money comes from the sale of Marijuana.
The government comes in and sucks up every resource know to man,
similar to a cartel imo and makes it illegal for us to do the same as they do…
[...] We petitioned him to legalize marijuana: in September 2011, the number one petition; [...]
[...] We petitioned him to legalize marijuana in September 2011, the number one petition; [...]
[...] We petitioned him to legalize marijuana in September 2011, the number one petition; [...]
[...] We petitioned him to legalize marijuana in September 2011, the number one petition; [...]
[...] We petitioned him to legalize marijuana in September 2011, the number one petition; [...]
[...] We petitioned him to legalize marijuana in September 2011, the number one petition; [...]
[...] We petitioned him to legalize marijuana in September 2011, the number one petition; [...]
[...] We petitioned him to legalize marijuana in September 2011, the number one petition; [...]
[...] for marijuana legalization, and how will he diminish, mock, or ignore our concerns this time? We petitioned him to legalize marijuana in September 2011, the number one petition;We Twittered him to legalize marijuana in July 2011, [...]
[...] We petitioned him to legalize marijuana in September 2011, the number one petition; [...]
[...] We petitioned him to legalize marijuana in September 2011, the number one petition; [...]
[...] We petitioned him to legalize marijuana in September 2011, the number one petition; [...]
[...] an honorable mention, our own Erik Altieri in September penned NORML’s legalization question which garnered the most votes in the “We the People” survey. This latest incarnation [...]
[...] The people really, really want to ask the President about the legalization of marijuana that half of them [...]
[...] President Obama has asked the American People on nine separate occasions for suggestions on public policy. In every instance, the subject of marijuana legalization and medical marijuana support have been the top concerns cited by Americans. [...]
[...] NORML’s Legalize Marijuana Petition #1, legalization half of top ten petitions [...]
Dear Folks,
I hail the efforts of NORML to promote the full legalization of Marijuana! It’s a long time coming…
With that having been said, I would like to add to the conversation by announcing another petition that I put forward on September 23. It asks that the White House consider Medical Cannabis for seriously ill patients. You see, my wife has been struggling with stage IV, metastatic breast cancer for the past nineteen (19) years. She has been through several forms of chemotherapy and is currently involved with a phase I clinical trial which has caused her to be constantly nauseaus and to experience “spontaneous emesis” or vomitting. She’s been on the trial for over two years and none of the anti-emetic drugs work effectively. In the past year, she began losing weight at an alarming rate. Enough so that they explained to us that she has to maintain her weight in order to remain on the clinical trial.
After many conversations with a multitude of health care professionals with one of the top cancer hospitals in the world, the conclusion is that she is the perfect candidate for Medical Cannabis. The problem is IT’S ILLEGAL! She can have all the opiates she needs (or wants) but Cannabis still remains unavailable.
I find the situation absurd and quite distasteful. Obviously, no one in Government is paying attention to the reality of the situation! Why spend all efforts to save someone’s life when they are going to die from the treatment?
Needless to say, I was compelled to write a petition when the White House offered their site as a venue. So far, we have 14 signatures and we obviously need more!
Enough said, PLEASE HELP!!!
PLEASE CONSIDER SIGNING MY PETITION FOR MEDICAL CANNABIS:
http://wh.gov/gVr
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Donald Wright
On a related note, here’s a petition at We the People I’m trying to help promote:
Eliminate or Reform Departments whose Officers are Required by Law to Lie to the American People.
http://wh.gov/gKN
This one isn’t yet publicly visible or searchable at the site because it hasn’t passed the 150 signature threshold. Only 26 more–it’s almost there. Help out if you find it worthy of signing, and please spread the word.
This petition looks to pressure President Obama from another angle than “legalize marijuana.” This one looks to inform people about the undue power the ONDCP has in trying to stymie any legalization efforts of a Schedule I substance, regardless of what science shows. That’s just wrong.
Hopefully this petition will appeal to people who may not specifically support MJ legalization but are fed up with corrupt and arrogant government. The MJ legalization petitions are going heroic–this one aims to be their sidekick.
There are many other petitions there on varying subjects worthy of consideration. Please check them out, and be sure to visit the site every day–it takes only 5-10 minutes to catch up on new petitions. Some may be related to petitions you’ve already signed and need support.
Keep up the good fight NORML and RR.
Thanks for your time.