Obama still reluctant to use the "L" word (Legalization)

...But He Believes Marijuana Should be Treated Like "Cigarettes or Alcohol."

The prohibition of alcohol ended 83 years ago today, December 5, 1933. It required an overwhelming mandate from the American people to overturn the 18th Amendment. Polls showed that more or less than 73% of Americans supported the repeal of prohibition before it became official. (1) FDR faced only a fraction of bureaucratic special interests of today, the prison industrial complex. 

(Photo-Wikimedia Commons)

Unfortunately, the prohibition of marijuana is still in effect even though the lessons from the prohibition of alcohol are stunningly similar. Why has Obama been unwilling to take a firm stand on the drug issue? None of us have experienced the intense pressure of being the President of the United States, but it is easy to see that he has conformed his views to placate various interest groups. He has claimed that he believes in sort of a hands-off leadership philosophy, but that is clearly isn't the case. His efforts to pass ObamaCare and the stimulus package of 2009 show that he has been willing to use the bully pulpit of the executive office.

It is one thing to acquiesce to the pressure from the drug war bureaucracy, but it is another matter to actually contribute to the problem. Obama had the authority to nominate more liberal-minded individuals into key positions related to drug issues, but he didn't. Michele Leonhart, an adamant drug warrior, was his first nominee as the head of the DEA. She refused to acknowledge, under oath, that marijuana is less dangerous than heroin or cocaine. Likewise, Chuck Rosenberg (current head of the DEA) claims that medical marijuana is "a joke." 

President Obama has a long history of making statements that suggest that he supports the legalization of marijuana, without using the word "legalization." In his latest interview with Rolling Stone, this was his strongest statement on marijuana:

"But 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."

In other words, he believes that marijuana should be legalized. Yet, even without the pressure of a re-election on the horizon, he is unwilling to make a definitive statement on this issue. As always, he contradicted this support within the same reply from this interview:

"And I am not somebody who believes that legalization is a panacea."

That goes without saying. The vast majority of marijuana legalization advocates are quite realistic with their expectations. There are negative consequences associated with marijuana, but the positives from legalization far outweigh the negatives. Furthermore, roughly 60% of Americans now support legalization; this isn't a "fringe" issue.
 
In fairness, Obama has taken some steps to soften the drug war in his second term, but he openly mocked the idea of legalizing marijuana at the beginning of his first term. Mind you, approximately 44% of Americans (and trending upward) supported legalization at that time, i.e. it wouldn't have been a blasphemous suggestion.

But no U.S. President has supported ending the drug war, right? Wrong. Jimmy Carter stated that possession of one ounce of marijuana should be decriminalized in 1977. That was a bold statement when only 28% of Americans supported legalization. That is the type of leadership that was needed from Obama because he could have accomplished so much more. In addition, the upcoming Trump administration has the potential to overturn all the progress that has been made by the legalization movement. In a past blog post, "Likely Attorney General Jeff Sessions: A Proud Soldier in the Drug War," I offer my thoughts of how it will affect the legalization movement. 

(1) Michael A. Lerner. Dry Manhattan: Prohibition in New York City. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008. Print. P 294