Congress Quietly Ends Federal Medical Marijuana Prohibition

[Warren DeMontague]

19. Like i said, I think there is a tremendous amount of institutional inertia.

And people who have built their entire careers on the anti-pot gravy train.

Not to mention disasters like US atty. Melinda Haag who made it a personal crusade.

My opinion is that Obama, particularly after reelection and the voters of 2 states making their views known electorally, has been able to move the ball both institutionally and culturally on the drug war, more than any president in my lifetime.

That does not mean he has been perfect, or immune to criticism. But i believe he has made some progress.

It is worth noting that there was always a discrepancy between raids in CA and raids in, say, CO- arguably because CO had a much tighter and well-constructed regulatory framework for MMJ, whereas until recently CA was totally ad hoc.

Im certainly not interested in defending the track record of raids, mind you. And I think it should be legal, regulated, and taxed for consenting adult use, and the prisoners of the stupid drug war should be pardoned en masse. Full stop.

But i still hold the opinion that Obama has been better on this than a list of alternatives would have been. JMO.