# Obama says marijuana reform is not on his agenda for 2016



## burnin1 (Feb 9, 2016)

From washingtonpost.com


Obama says marijuana reform is not on his agenda for 2016








By Christopher Ingraham

Marijuana advocates hoping for a substantial shift in federal marijuana policy in the last year of the Obama administration are likely to be disappointed.

At a briefing Friday, White House press secretary John Earnest said any progress on marijuana reform would need to come through Congress. President Obama had signaled his position a day earlier at the House Democratic retreat in Baltimore, saying marijuana reform is not on his list of end-of-term priorities, according to Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.).

Cohen said he asked the president whether he wanted to "reschedule" marijuana. The federal government considers marijuana a Schedule 1 controlled substance, "the most dangerous class of drugs with a high potential for abuse and potentially severe psychological and/or physical dependence." Many lawmakers want to see it moved to Schedule 2, which acknowledges the plant's medical potential. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders wants to remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances altogether.


But Obama's answer on the rescheduling was "disappointing," Cohen said in an interview. "On marijuana, he gave the same answer as when I asked him seven years ago: 'If you get me a bill, and get it on my desk, I'll _probably_ sign it,' " Cohen said (emphasis his).

At the briefing, Earnest clarified further: "There are some in the Democratic Party who have urged the president to take this kind of action. The president's response was, 'If you feel so strongly about it, and you believe there is so much public support for what it is that you're advocating, then why don't you pass legislation about it and we'll see what happens.' "

Obama's approach to the issue has long frustrated activists. "This isn't the first time President Obama has unnecessarily tried to pass the buck on marijuana rescheduling to Congress," Tom Angell of the pro-marijuana group Marijuana Majority said in an email. "It's unacceptable and frankly embarrassing for a president who has so nonchalantly acknowledged his own marijuana use to allow the federal government to continue classifying cannabis in such an inappropriate category."

There is an administrative process in place for the Drug Enforcement Agency to reschedule or deschedule a drug. But as the Brookings Institution has noted, the DEA has historically not been eager to take action on this front. "Four petitions that have been initiated to reschedule marijuana or remove it from the schedules entirely have been denied or stalled by DEA with disposition times ranging from five to more than 20 years," its report found.

The DEA is reviewing another petition to reschedule pot, but given the history, most observers are skeptical that anything will change this time around.

"I don't think they're doing anything," Cohen said. "They've slow-walked it for all these years." He'd like to see the White House be more vocal about the process. "The president could just tell them to get it done," he said.

The latest public opinion polls show broad support not just for marijuana reform, but also outright legalization: Fifty-eight percent of Americans want to see marijuana use fully legalized, according to the latest Gallup polling on the issue. And a 2015 CBS news poll found that 84 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana for medical use.

Moving marijuana to Schedule 2 of the Controlled Substances Act is a more modest step than full legalization or legalization for medical purposes. It would simply remove some of the barriers to research on uses of marijuana, barriers that the Brookings Institution recently said were "stifling" medical research.

Among people who study the issue, there is near universal agreement that marijuana doesn't belong in the same category of substances as heroin, as even the DEA has finally acknowledged. The consensus among researchers is that it's a lot less dangerous than alcohol, too.

A federal classification that stands in such stark opposition to expert consensus "breeds contempt for the government," Cohen said. But if this week's remarks are any indication, addressing that contempt is not high on the White House priority list for 2016.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...rijuana-reform-is-not-on-his-agenda-for-2016/


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## Kraven (Feb 9, 2016)

Twice this guy has stumped on the issues of MMJ reform and now this wimp can't get it done in two terms....seems I backed the wrong horse twice. I don't wanna hear **** about well he is the first black president and it would not look good if he legalized MMJ, he has openly admitted his use and it was part of his platform for two election cycles.....Bernie is looking better each day, I sure don't want another Clinton in office, nor crazy *** political name


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## yarddog (Feb 9, 2016)

Obama never cared about us Americans.   He just used us to get where he wanted to go.   Like the rest of them dirty lying pigs.    
All anyone seemed to care about, he was the first black president.  
No,   that's not rasict.  Not at all.


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## yarddog (Feb 9, 2016)

Careful kraven.   We fixing to get chastised for talking politics.  Lol


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## kaotik (Feb 9, 2016)

i thought poli and sports were fair game now? :confused2: (i apologize for my post yesterday about the upcoming election then, if not )


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## Rosebud (Feb 9, 2016)

:bolt::bolt:


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## hippy59 (Feb 12, 2016)

this idiots full 8 years have been nothing but disappointing.


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## kaotik (Feb 13, 2016)

hippy59 said:


> this idiots full 8 years have been nothing but disappointing.



apart from the guy before him  :huh:
or the one before him,
 or the one before him..
 

heck i think the last president that left office with an actual positive image; left it in a bodybag  

*not to defend Obama


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## WeedHopper (Feb 13, 2016)

political name has my vote,,and im a Democrat,,,if i could vote,,lol.
 We dont need more of the same crap from Hillery or some old guy promising crap he cant deliver. Obama is a politician,,from Chicago,,even worse,and he aint gonna do ****,,,and couldnt even if he wanted to because the CLAN in the Senate and House wont let him do crap because he is black. If where gonna talk politics,,lets not suger coat it. Lol
And my business was booming when Bill Clinton was in office. Wasnt before him,,nor has it since.
And if this hurts any of my friends feelings,,tell me and i will delete my post. I love to have conversations even if i dont agree with what someone is saying. I can agree to disagree and it will never change my feelings for that person. I rode with a bunch of outlaws that disagree all the time they are still my Brothers.


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## yarddog (Feb 13, 2016)

That's the thing hopper.   Everyone is scared to hurt someone else's feelings.  Buncha pansies with their panties in a wad, over nothing.  
It's done got to where you can't have an opinion anymore, unless it alongside with everyone elses.


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## WeedHopper (Feb 13, 2016)

You hit the nail on the head Little Brother,,,we are all Adults here,,we should be able have conversations without ppl getting all butt hurt. I promise your not gonna hurt my feelings, ,,i aint got any. Lol
Besides my love or likeing of someone is not based on us agreeing on everything . Like i said,,,ive been around alot of bad tempered Outlaws that didnt get thier pannies in a wad if we didnt agree on something. We just said fk you *******,,laughed and dranked some beer. :rofl:


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## yarddog (Feb 13, 2016)

I think it boils down to people being selfish and self centered.   It's all about me me me. Just look at this selfie craze.   Tell me a person ain't self centered, and they got 458 pictures of them selves online and in their phone.   Haha


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## Rosebud (Feb 13, 2016)

Do i need to list the accomplishments of Obama?


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## WeedHopper (Feb 13, 2016)

Well i can tell you this, ,,he pulled our asses out of one of the worst economic crashes since the great depression, he killed the ******* responsible for 911,,but he will not get any credit for it because of a bunch of white *** racist asshats.. Other then that i dont care for anything else he has done. I dont care for Obama Care at all. Dont know what he could have done anyway,,,, because of the  butt whips in the Senate and House wouldnt dare let him do anything that would have made him look good. Do i have to mention the moron named Cruz. Hell even his own party hates his dumb ***. :rofl:


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## Rosebud (Feb 13, 2016)

:yeahthat:


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## yarddog (Feb 13, 2016)

The affordable Care act is a joke.   I say we regulate the prices of heslthecare and not force someone to buy healthcare. If it didn't cost $2,000 for three x rays, then we wouldn't HAVE to have hc as bad.    I dropped $3,800 a few years back from a motorcycle accident.   They took a few x rays and tried to play me with narcotics. To which I declined.  Always wished I had stayed home and not gone to the Dr.    I imagine, getting hit by a Mack truck wouldn't have hurt much more.


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## WeedHopper (Feb 13, 2016)

The Healthcare system are a bunch of heartless thieves . They should be put in prison for the crap they do. Our health is the most important thing in your life,,and the Healthcare system is more imoortant thien most ppl realize .


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## Rosebud (Feb 13, 2016)

I blame insurance companies and big pharma.


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## WeedHopper (Feb 13, 2016)

Yes Mam,,,but the Doctors and Hospitals are just as responsible.  I mean after all,,,they are the ones doing the real work that THEY are billing for. My Doctor, ,,like yours will bill the Insurance Company one price and an Individual another. That is thievery. They are all a bunch of greedy asshates. Some Other Countries have better Health Care System then we do..Dont get me wrong, ,,I love my Country,,,but we have one of the most fked up Healthcare Systems in the Modern World.  We should be ashamed of ourselves for the way we take care of our Veterans, ,Elderly, and Sick Children.
Oh im sorry i forgot,,,Gods got it under control. :smoke1:


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## Rosebud (Feb 13, 2016)

I guess I have just seen a different health care than you. The doc i worked for for 20 years never broke a law. He either didn't charge old, sick, poor folks or he charged his rate. That doctor gave away more in services than i made a year. They are told what they can or can not bill...I agree with you that hospitals  that  are for profit  treat their older workers horrible and fire them when they make too much money and bring in the kids out of school. Not to mention bad medicine.. When i started working in the field doctors could still be rich. not anymore. you have to go in it for love of medicine not money... end of tirade.


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## WeedHopper (Feb 13, 2016)

Yes Rose,,,but your Doctor is one in a thousand or more,,,like cops. Some are good,,,most are thieving  assholes ran by Big Pharmaceutical Companies,,,,,i know this for a fact,,,you wouldnt believe the ppl i have met and things ppl do behind closed doors.,,,including Politicians.  Lol
OUTLAWS can not operate without crooked cops, doctors, lawyers and politicians. If they did,,they were not  Outlaws.


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