Obama's Second Term Drug Policy

it doesnt matter what obama claims he wants to do with drug policy. you need to lead by example not with big promises. his first years in the white house have clearly shown what we will get with obama. more of the same

 

According to ongoing discussions with Obama aides and associates, if the president wins a second term, he plans to tackle another American war that has so far been successful only in perpetuating more misery: the four decades of The Drug War.

Don't expect miracles. There is very little the president can do by himself. And pot-smokers shouldn't expect the president to come out in favor of legalizing marijuana. But from his days as a state senator in Illinois, Obama has considered the Drug War to be a failure, a conflict that has exacerbated the problem of drug abuse, devastated entire communities, changed policing practices for the worse, and has led to a generation of young children, disproportionately black and minority, to grow up in dislocated homes, or in none at all.

Read More http://www.gq.com/news-politics/blo...will-pivot-to-the-drug-war.html#ixzz1zVFmJQD1

 

Expect more of the same no matter who gets elected.

America is doomed in the drug policy department.

 

it doesnt matter what obama claims he wants to do with drug policy. you need to lead by example not with big promises. his first years in the white house have clearly shown what we will get with obama. more of the same

You really think the world will be a better place for drug users if Romney gets elected?

At least Obama, at worst, would keep you where you are. Romney will drag you backwards a decade or so.

 

^ Keep you where you are means keep you in jail, or without freedom, or with constant fear of police just because you want to explore a consciousness that does not involve making the pharm companies rich?
The differences between Obama and Romney drug policy may not be so great.

 

Is Romney the lackey who suggested that America adopts a Thailand style drug policy (death penalty for drug dealers)?

 

wasnt it like a month or two ago that obama said he was willing to discuss drug policy but there was no way hed consider legalizing anything. whats the point in talks if youve already made up your mind to keep the policy as it is. fuck obama, has he done anything worthwile while hes been office, i admit hes probably better than romney, but fuck him. im still very bitter about him giving the regulation of tabacco over to the fda thus allowing them to ban flavored cigs and clove cigs

 

^Of course he's not going to legalize anything. In the current political climate, especially with how much hate Obama gets from the right wing, no one could ever suggest legalization and still get elected. The drug war isn't going to end that easily, no president is just going to decide to end it. I think truly massive public pressure is what's needed, at the very minimum.

I find it funny how people blame Obama for everything bad that happens in American government. The president has less power than most Americans think. I'll vote for Obama this year, I don't agree with his policies (not far left enough for me) but I think Obama would be a much better president than Romney. I honestly think that, given the situation, Obama did about as good as I expected he would in 2008. There are many, many things I disagree with him about (most things, really), but I don't see him as being much worse than any other centrist democrat that's been in office. He certainly hasn't done worse than I thought he would.

The system needs to be changed and no republican or democrat will ever do that. What we need in America, as a start, are limits on campaign donations (corporations are not people dammit) and spending/advertising. We also need at least one, preferably 3 or 4 more political parties that could really contend with the current 2 and better represent the interests of the people. But this year it's a choice between evil, money grubbing ultra right wing scum (republicans) who don't care about the people or slightly less evil, slightly less greedy assholes who don't really care about the people either (democrats). Neither is good, but I know which one I'm voting for. Anyone who expects Obama or any other republican or democrat to do anything revolutionary with drugs policy is fooling themselves.

I'm both a cynic and a leftist so I don't really like to talk much on electoral politics in the US, but really I don't understand the level of hate Obama gets. I understand some of it, he's a snake like any other politician, but it seems people hate Obama way more than they hate other politicians. Maybe people in America are finally starting to look at things differently, and all politicians will in the future be held to the standards people are holding Obama to, but I doubt it.

 

if Obama suddenly became an ardent prohibitionist, American conservatives would embrace legalization. I'm pretty certain that's a fact.

 

i didnt realy expect obama to do anything, but its still dissapointing. everyone was touting obama as if he was going to fix all the contries problems but realy all hes managed to do is piss off everyone. i mean hes pissed of the left with trying to keep the republicans happy, and the right is going to hate him no matter what he does. The only reason why hes probably going to get reelected is hes black. i wish there was a chance of a third party canidate

 

I have a question for this thread

What would you do if you were president? Keep in mind that there are consequences (both intended and unintended) for acting too hastily and drastically. Consider the role the drug trade plays in the Mexican economy, the rate at which immigration from Mexico would increase, the alternative to drugs that the cartels would capitalize on, etc.

Also consider the immense political opposition and the legislative processes that your efforts would have to be channeled through.

What would you do by yourself as president, and how swiftly would you do it?

 

i didnt realy expect obama to do anything, but its still dissapointing. everyone was touting obama as if he was going to fix all the contries problems but realy all hes managed to do is piss off everyone. i mean hes pissed of the left with trying to keep the republicans happy, and the right is going to hate him no matter what he does. The only reason why hes probably going to get reelected is hes black. i wish there was a chance of a third party canidate

So you really think that being black makes it easier for someone to get elected? Herman Cain had a good time of that right? Just like Jesse Jackson or Alan Keyes? Are you sure it doesn't have something to do with the fact that Obama is a war time president, he's extremely eloquent and intelligent and people can connect with him much more than Romney or McCain, who are both obviously a complete assholes? Just a theory, but I'm pretty sure Obama did not get elected simply because he is black, he has a larger number of positive qualities than the vast majority of US politicians in my opinion. I have a feeling that him being black is a big part of the reason the far right has been attacking him so relentlessly and disrespectfully throughout his presidency though. American politics are a mess, I think pretty much everyone could agree on that at least.

 

Bearing in mind that he can't just roll up and say 'oi guys it's time to legalize drugs!'

He's president, not king. Look at how much effort he had to go to just to make the tiny steps towards a proper healthcare system that he did, and that only came through by the skin on it's teeth. And with drugs, he's working against 100 years of propaganda and indoctrination.

Though really, it should be the Republicans leading the way. Aren't they all about free market economy and low government overhead and not having their personal life dictated by the feds? You'd think any real conservative would be up in arms against the ridiculous shit going on right now in the WOD.

Of course the reality is that they just use conservatism as a tool to enforce their own social and moral agenda, sad to say.

The point is, you can make an argument for it from either end of the political spectrum, sadly it looks like once again, the American left, such as it is, will have to drag their countrymen kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

 

The only reason why hes probably going to get reelected is hes black.

Because if there's something America has a long history of doing, it's electing the black guy.

 

Seriously, forget Obama's record completely for a second, if I were American I'd vote for Satan himself before I'd vote for a rich old white mormon fundamentalist vulture capitalist flip-flopping conservative pandering power hungry tool like Romney.

 

^QFT well said my friend.

 

Because if there's something America has a long history of doing, it's electing the black guy.

that is the point im trying to make, the only reason he going to get reelected is he's the "first".

 

that is the point im trying to make, the only reason he going to get reelected is he's the "first".

As opposed to Mitt Romney's glowing qualifications?

 

that is the point im trying to make, the only reason he going to get reelected is he's the "first".

So he's going to be the first...again?

 

^Of course he's not going to legalize anything. In the current political climate, especially with how much hate Obama gets from the right wing, no one could ever suggest legalization and still get elected.

This is what Obama thinks, and maybe even "common sense" among politicians, and it is why he won't legalize drugs.
But I think it is a mistake.
I think that, if he got people to believe in him (as he did the last election), they might get excited and vote for him. Legalizing drugs - at least "soft" drugs - would show that he is not just a plastic front-man for the party, but an independent thinker who can think outside the box and isn't afraid to make changes that are moral and sensible, despite "common sense".
But, after his four-year disaster, I wonder if anyone is excited by him nowadays. I am sure not.