Obama: Marijuana No More Dangerous Than Alcohol

[The General]

With a majority of Americans now in favor marijuana legalization, President Barack Obama is now saying weed is no more dangerous to individuals' health than alcohol. In an interview with the New Yorker's David Remnick published Sunday, Obama said while he believes marijuana is "not very healthy," the drug isn't as harmful as some insist. "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 Remnick.

When asked if he believes marijuana is less harmful than alcohol, Obama said it is less damaging "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 added. Marijuana is currently classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Schedule 1 substance, which the DEA considers "the most dangerous class of drugs with a high potential for abuse and potentially severe psychological and/or physical dependence." Other Schedule 1 drugs include heroin, ecstasy and LSD.

Obama said his focus on reforming laws that punish drug users, noting the racial disparity in drug arrests. "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 said. In August, the Obama administration announced it would not stop Washington and Colorado from legalizing recreational marijuana use, marking a major step away from the administration's war on drugs. In the New Yorker interview, Obama said he believes these new laws are "important." "It's important for it to go forward because it's important for society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished," he said.

News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Huffingtonpost.com
Author: Mollie Reilly
Contact: Contact us
Website: Obama: Marijuana No More Dangerous Than Alcohol

 

[Smoke84]

It's so close I can smell it...

 

[Bonehead]

For those of us with STML (short term memory loss), he has been saying this for 7-8 years. Do you think he means it this time???

 

[Highpotanoose]

I wonder if you could win the majority vote if your only agenda was to legalize?
And bonehead I remember his campaign was to reevaluate old laws or something to that effect and MJ reform was the talk he talked during campaign after he won never sees the light of day
He may need that money and the savings from the farce on drugs to fund his health care
Govt is so far in the hole don't have cash to pay themselves going to be a breaking point for the govt to get cash and fast
Once states start seeing the cash from Colorado and Washington it will happen this is just my BS opinion but a wise man said told me cash talks and BullS*** walks and going to be hard for states needing cash to look away


And I am not the least bit political or can talk politics but Obama talk MJ reform and I listened
Duped by yet another politician

 

[Icemud]

For those of us with STML (short term memory loss), he has been saying this for 7-8 years. Do you think he means it this time???

I think this time he finally has no choice with our climbing debt ceiling. The only viable option to repair our economy quickly by reaping the tax dollars that the MJ industry can produce. I just hope that the rights of the plants genetics don't get whored out to big Pharma and Monsanto leaving us with lawsuits just like landrace organic farmers.

 

[DustyRelic]

I don't care what Obama says. I only care what he does. He could use his authority to order the Attorney General to remove marijuana from schedule 1.

Under the Controlled Substances Act,

the Attorney General may by rule–
(1) add to such a schedule or transfer between such schedules any drug or other substance [...] or
(2) remove any drug or other substance from the schedules if he finds that the drug or other substance does not meet the requirements for inclusion in any schedule.

So Obama, right now, could fix this.

The law is published by Cornell at this site: 21 U.S. Code § 811 - Authority and criteria for classification of substances | LII / Legal Information Institute

Peace,
Dusty

 

[Bonehead]

I don't care what Obama says. I only care what he does. He could use his authority to order the Attorney General to remove marijuana from schedule 1.

Under the Controlled Substances Act,



So Obama, right now, could fix this.

The law is published by Cornell at this site: 21 U.S. Code § 811 - Authority and criteria for classification of substances | LII / Legal Information Institute

Peace,
Dusty

What you quote is correct but the only problem is the order to the AG to transfer/remove the substance comes from congress not the president. I wish it was that simple.

 

[DustyRelic]

No you are wrong. The AG does not need anyone else's permission although he does have to follow a process to allow for public comment and so forth. And since he is part of the executive branch not the legislative branch Obama could sign an executive order ordering him to reschedule it. Congress's only recourse would be to amend the controlled substances act to remove the executive branch's authority in this matter or to overrule it in specific instances. It has not done this to date.

Congress itself granted the AG (and thus by extension the POTUS) this authority when they passed the Controlled Substances Act. Did you read the law? I posted a link.

I am not the first person to discover this by the way. The fact that the President and the AG have the power to reschedule or de-schedule cannabis is well known in activist circles. There is even a process whereby citizens can petition the AG to reclassify a substance (including cannabis). Check out the wikipedia page:

Removal of cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act - Wikipedia

In my view the biggest obstacle to taking this route is overcoming the inertia of the executive branch. Just observe DEA head Michele Leonhart's behavior. And the wikipedia article specifically calls out the Justice Department for dragging its feet when dealing with petitions to reschedule cannabis. It has taken them 22, 7, and 9 years respectively to review and then ultimately reject petitions to reclassify marijuana in the past. But it needn't take that long and in fact under the law as cited in my previous post a petition isn't required:

the Attorney General may by rule–
(1) add to such a schedule or transfer between such schedules any drug or other substance [...] or
(2) remove any drug or other substance from the schedules if he finds that the drug or other substance does not meet the requirements for inclusion in any schedule.

The law goes on to state

Rules of the Attorney General under this subsection shall be made on the record after opportunity for a hearing pursuant to the rulemaking procedures prescribed by subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5. Proceedings for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of such rules may be initiated by the Attorney General
(1) on his own motion,
(2) at the request of the Secretary, or
(3) on the petition of any interested party.

["The Secretary" in this context refers to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.]

Basically this language gives the AG statutory authority to unilaterally make these decisions as part of his job. It also gives the Secretary of Health and Human Services the authority to request the AG to make these decisions and it provides a mechanism for the general public to petition the AG to do this. It does not at any point say that Congress must approve the decision. However, it does require a period of public comment and of course ultimately the Congress can pass legislation to overrule any regulatory decision an agency makes (and with a 2/3 majority it can do so without fear of presidential veto).

However, the President would take a lot of heat if he allowed the executive branch to take unilateral action on such a politically sensitive issue which is probably the reason no president has ever done so (even though we've had a succession of stoners in the White House). On the other hand, he is in his last term and won't be running for re-election. If there were any time when he could make a stand it would be approximately right now.

 

[420 Motoco]

Love the MJ to Alcohol comparison. Driving the wrong way on the freeway & killing peeps or scoping out a box of Twinkies, hummm, well, its kinda the same

Add MJ to the Obama Care program...lead by example