President Obama said he supports decriminalizing marijuana in a new interview with Rolling Stone. He said marijuana use should be treated like a health issue, and he pointed out that legalization has a lot of support in the United States.
“If you survey the American people, including Trump voters, they’re…in favor, in large numbers, of decriminalizing marijuana… I do believe that treating this as a public-health issue, the same way we do with cigarettes or alcohol, is the much smarter way to deal with it… As you might imagine, the DEA, whose job it is historically to enforce drug laws, is not always going to be on the cutting edge about these issues… It is untenable over the long term for the Justice Department or the DEA to be enforcing a patchwork of laws, where something that’s legal in one state could get you a 20-year prison sentence in another. So this is a debate that is now ripe, much in the same way that we ended up making progress on same-sex marriage.”
The president did not say he will start working to start the process that would decriminalize marijuana, but this is a historic statement from a sitting president and a major victory for marijuana advocates across the nation.
“While President Obama’s comments are correct, and we certainly appreciate how he gave room for states to set their own policies during his administration, it would have been very helpful if he had taken more concrete positive action on this issue before it was almost time to vacate the Oval Office,” Tom Angell, founder of Marijuana Majority, told The 420 Times. He pointed out that the president did not pressure the DEA to reschedule marijuana. “However, there is still time to help people who are suffering under drug policies that President Obama correctly criticizes. He could, for example, effectuate blanket commutations of sentences for people who are serving time behind bars for nonviolent drug crimes for no good reason whatsoever. Now, more than ever, it’s time for President Obama to walk the walk in addition to talking the talk.”
What do you say, marijuana advocates? Someone want to start a White House petition for blanket commutations and/or pardons?
Source: The 420 Times
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