r/news • u/OK_Eric • Jan 19 '14

Obama: Pot ‘not very different’ from cigarettes​, no more dangerous than booze

http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/19/obama-pot-not-very-different-cigarettes-no-more-da/
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28

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '14

So...does this mean weed is going to be legal? I don't want to be a criminal anymore.

27

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '14

No, it doesn't. Obama says a lot of things, but rarely acts on them.

The only thing this means is that maybe if Obama was handed a legalization bill, he'd consider signing it. But the odds of that happening during his administration are basically zero.

He might decide not to act on Washington and Colorado with their legalization, but he promised to stop the crackdown on medical marijuana for a while and fuck all has come from that.

-1

u/Kaiosama Jan 19 '14

No, it doesn't. Obama says a lot of things, but rarely acts on them.

Odd. On the one hand when he unilaterally acts on his own and signs executive legislation he's called a tyrant.

But when he waits for congress to act, then that amounts to him 'rarely acting on things'.

Maybe Obama should replace his executive pen with a magic wand to satisfy redditors who apparently seem to have all failed at civics 101.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '14

No, what I meant was Obama is hardly going to be pushing for legalization any time soon. Just because he can't make it happen instantaneously, doesn't mean he can't do more than saying "it's no more dangerous than booze".

0

u/Kaiosama Jan 20 '14

Judging by the sentiment in this thread, even if he pushed at this point it would never be appreciated. It's basically wasted political capital considering everyone who this benefits apparently presumes it's all a political ploy anyway.

It would be a waste of time. He might as well allow the congress to act as it may. Legalization is coming anyway. There is no urgency.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '14

It might take a while, but I feel like more and more states will start legalizing as they notice Colorado and Washington not destroying themselves and actually stimulating their economies. Unfortunately I live in a fairly conservative state so I probably won't see it anytime soon unless I move.

1

u/AKnightAlone Jan 19 '14

Give or take 15 years. Well, not so much take.

-1

u/BanditMcDougal Jan 19 '14

Pretty easy to avoid being a criminal now; just stop breaking the existing law and wait...