Marijuana & Drug War Questions Dominate Obama's YouTube Chats -- President Backs Prohibition, Agrees Drug Debate 'Legitimate'

[dreamdancer 0]

he needs to think a little longer and harder...

Quote

President Barack Obama on Thursday said America's long-running prohibition of drugs serves an important purpose, but advocated for "shifting resources" away from incarcerations of "nonviolent, first time drug offenders."

"I think this is an entirely legitimate topic for debate," Obama said from the White House during an interview broadcast live on YouTube.

But, he added, "I am not in favor of legalization."

His remarks came in response to a videotaped question from retired deputy sheriff MacKenzie Allen about whether the drug war may be counterproductive by way of fueling violence in market pushed underground.

"We have to go after drug cartels that are not only selling drugs but also creating havoc on the US-Mexican border," Obama said. But he added that drugs should be treated as a public health issue and that the United States would benefit by spending less time and money jailing offenders.

"On drugs, I think that a lot of times we have been so focused on arrests, incarceration, interdiction, that we don’t spend as much time thinking about how we shrink demand," he said.

The Associated Press reported last May that "after 40 years, the United States' war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of lives, and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence even more brutal and widespread."

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/149709/marijuana_%26_drug_war_questions_dominate_obama%27s_youtube_chats_--_president_backs_prohibition%2C_agrees_drug_debate_%27legitimate%27/

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good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[winsor 236]

Prohibition meets the criterion of doing the same thing and expecting different results.

"That trick never works." Rocket J. Squirrel