One Nation Under Pot

The marijuana debate heats up as now Oregon and other Western states plan to put forward ballots on the recreational use of the drug this year.  President Obama weighed in on the subject in an interview with David Remnick of the New Yorker, although you have to go pretty deep into the article (page 9) to find the quote that set Chris Matthews bouncing off the walls.  Obama felt pot was less dangerous than alcohol, although he added that he wouldn't encourage his girls to smoke weed.  I imagine he doesn't encourage them to drink or smoke either.

Now one can understand right wing pundits like Bill O'Reilly playing up the dangers of cannabis, but you figure Chris has smoked a little of that wacky weed in his youth and would be a little more open to the subject of legalization.  But, just like O'Reilly, he calls persons to prop him up in his arguments.  In this case Christoper Lawford.

Despite numerous studies on cannabis, which show that it is not addictive and has no known carcinogens, political pundits and concerned activists continue to demonize the drug, claiming as Lawford does that pot today is far stronger than it was in Barry's day when he ran with the Choom gang.  What we do know today is that marijuana has a great number of medical uses, which is why it has been legalized in many states for this purpose.

Unfortunately, there are those who believe strongly that marijuana is a gateway drug and that sanctioned recreational use will only send more kids down that infamous slippery slope.  But, even Time has weighed in against this popular myth, quoting studies rather than passing along anecdotes.

What the criminalization of marijuana has done is put an inordinate number of persons behind bars, which Obama touches upon in his interview with Remnick, noting,

"We should not be locking up kids and individual users for long stretch of jail time when some of the folks who are writing those laws have probably done the same thing."

Hear that Chris!