Obama on Weed Question: Dude, Chill

(NEWSER) - President Obama promised to use the Internet to give Americans a greater voice in government—but in keeping that promise, he’s given America’s fringe a chance to shout at him, the New York Times reports. When the administration asked for ideas on how to make the government more transparent, it was bombarded with messages about marijuana, UFOs, and Obama’s birth certificate. More»

(NEWSER) - The government is pushing “false information” about pot, medical-marijuana advocates pushing for updated policy told a federal appeals panel yesterday. Citing a federal law that prohibits the government from spreading inaccurate information, they say there’s overwhelming evidence marijuana eases pain and anxiety among chronically ill patients, the Los Angeles Times reports. The government’s official line is that pot “has no currently acceptable medical use.” More»

Rocker advises tax revenue go to education

(NEWSER) - Carlos Santana has a request for President Obama: Legalize pot. The musician says legalization is “really way overdue” and compares the current state of affairs it to Prohibition, the AP reports. His idea for the tax revenue? “Take all that money and invest it in teachers and in education. You will see a transformation in America.” Specifically, Santana wants California to profit enough from legalization to send Arnold Schwarzenegger packing. More»

Costly US drug policy deserves serious look, not politics as usual

(NEWSER) - When President Obama dismissed a question recently about the legalization of marijuana, he was “taking the traditional path of least resistance,” writes Joe Klein in Time. In America, anyone who dares to speak seriously about the issue will “be cast into the outer darkness,” assumed forever to be a stoner. But the irrational policy needs to change, Klein says, for reasons “of economy and simple justice.” More»

...because he's not terribly interested in fighting it

(NEWSER) - Democrats saw the way Mitt Romney's super PAC destroyed Newt Gingrich in Iowa, and it terrified them, because President Obama's super PAC—or as Politico terms it, "not-so-super PAC"—doesn't have the muscle for anything like that. "It's like when China got the bomb," says one Democrat close to the PAC, "We thought we were the ones with cash supremacy. That's clearly not the case." Obama's Priorities USA Action has just $5 million in the bank, less than half Romney's $12 million. More»