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Obama's Pot Answer Too Dismissive

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 26, 2009 8:41 PM CDT

(Newser) – President Obama drew chuckles today for his comments about legalizing marijuana—it's not a "good strategy to grow the economy"—but critics say he was too dismissive of a serious issue. "His answer was a non-answer," writes Andrew Sullivan in his Daily Dish blog at the Atlantic. "I'm tired of having the prohibition issue treated as if it's trivial or a joke. It is neither. It is about freedom and it's deadly serious. As for your online audience, Mr. President, have you forgotten who got you elected?"

At the pro-legalization NORML blog, Paul Armentano agrees. "Obama’s cynical rebuff was short-sighted and disrespectful to a large percentage of his supporters. After all, was it not this very same 'online audience' that donated heavily to Obama’s presidential campaign?" The Christian Science Monitor rounded up Twitter replies along the same vein and also found this: "On the bright side, Obama could have ignored the marijuana questions. He definitely just injected the subject into the political debate."

A police officer stands amid marijuana plants found in a greenhouse at a ranch in Tecate, Mexico, Thursday, March 12, 2009.
A police officer stands amid marijuana plants found in a greenhouse at a ranch in Tecate, Mexico, Thursday, March 12, 2009.   (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias)
Marijuana plants are seen in a room of a house raided in Tijuana, Mexico, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009.
Marijuana plants are seen in a room of a house raided in Tijuana, Mexico, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009.   (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias)
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President Obama comments on the marijuana voters.   (YouTube)

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 18 comments
sache
Mar 27, 2009 12:37 PM CDT
Whine,whine, complain, complain, At least the man is listening. The last administration wouldn't have bothered. Obama is is not a miracle worker. Give him a chance to think through the issues and come up with a workable plan.
maevealleine
Mar 27, 2009 9:17 AM CDT
i am a huge fan of obama, however i found his comments dismissive and rather insulting. HOWEVER, i also know that in the scheme of things, it's really not that important...for NOW. when we are at a time of more peace, wealth and stability i fully expect this to become a major debate.
Jeebus
Mar 27, 2009 8:06 AM CDT
Are you like Stephen Colbert? This has got to be shtick. You can't be fucking serious. The point of legalizing pot is also to free up resources to fight dangerous drugs like heroin and cocaine.

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