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Obama: Pot No More Dangerous Than Alcohol
1.19.2014
"barry the bone" hehe bet he didn't "inhale" 2
Former pothead Barack Obama says marijuana in no different from cigarettes and no "more dangerous than alcohol."
In a lengthy article published in the New Yorker, the president downplays the danger of marijuana as nothing more than a "bad habit," despite numerous reports that the drug is far more dangerous than once thought.
While many people think cannabis is harmless, a report published in June shows it is 20 times more carcinogenic to smoke than tobacco. The drug is also "strongly associated" with suppression of the immune system and heart disease, if taken for long enough, the report found.
But following public opinion (leading from behind, as usual), the president said legalization of pot in Washington state and Colorado could leven ead to legalization of cocaine and methamphetamine.
"As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life," Mr. Obama says in the interview. "I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol.”
Obama also cried racism (again) saying the poor and minorities face stiffer penalties for smoking marijuana in states where it is still illegal. He suggests that the legalization trend should spread, "because it's important for a society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished.”
As for coke and meth, the president waxed philosophical.
"I also think that, when it comes to harder drugs, the harm done to the user is profound and the social costs are profound. And you do start getting into some difficult line-drawing issues," Obama said. "If marijuana is fully legalized and at some point folks say, 'Well, we can come up with a negotiated dose of cocaine that we can show is not any more harmful than vodka.'
"Are we open to that? If somebody says, 'We’ve got a finely calibrated dose of meth, it isn’t going to kill you or rot your teeth.' Are we OK with that?"
In a lengthy article published in the New Yorker, the president downplays the danger of marijuana as nothing more than a "bad habit," despite numerous reports that the drug is far more dangerous than once thought.
While many people think cannabis is harmless, a report published in June shows it is 20 times more carcinogenic to smoke than tobacco. The drug is also "strongly associated" with suppression of the immune system and heart disease, if taken for long enough, the report found.
But following public opinion (leading from behind, as usual), the president said legalization of pot in Washington state and Colorado could leven ead to legalization of cocaine and methamphetamine.
"As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life," Mr. Obama says in the interview. "I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol.”
Obama also cried racism (again) saying the poor and minorities face stiffer penalties for smoking marijuana in states where it is still illegal. He suggests that the legalization trend should spread, "because it's important for a society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished.”
As for coke and meth, the president waxed philosophical.
"I also think that, when it comes to harder drugs, the harm done to the user is profound and the social costs are profound. And you do start getting into some difficult line-drawing issues," Obama said. "If marijuana is fully legalized and at some point folks say, 'Well, we can come up with a negotiated dose of cocaine that we can show is not any more harmful than vodka.'
"Are we open to that? If somebody says, 'We’ve got a finely calibrated dose of meth, it isn’t going to kill you or rot your teeth.' Are we OK with that?"
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