YouTube Stoners Calling For Obama To Answer "Burning" Questions

obama-marijuana.jpg
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YouTube is now taking submissions for its second annual "Ask Obama" online town hall meeting. Naturally, marijuana legalization advocates have spammed the YouTube channel with questions about their favorite pastime and the "world saving herb." On Thursday, at 2:30 p.m., some of the top-voted questions will be brought to the president's attention. This might be a boring interview considering that the top 300 most popular questions on the site are only about legalizing marijuana. We feel bad for the intern that has to sort through these.

The most credible appeal comes from retired deputy sheriff MacKenzie Allen. His question (accompanied with a short video) says:

As a police officer, I saw how waging the war on drugs has cost a trillion dollars and thousands of lives but does nothing to reduce drug use. Should we discuss legalizing marijuana and other drugs, which would eliminate the violent criminal market?

At last year's YouTube questionnaire, supporters of legalization also spammed the question board. Obama did answer some of the questions, albeit in a pretty flippant way:

Judging by Obama's negative reaction, we're pretty confident that the prospect of this legislation going anywhere, or even Obama taking any more of these questions, is about as likely as a stoner moving off the couch during an Aqua Teen Hunger Force marathon.

[via Reddit]
[Mtanzer]


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23 comments
Moon7
Moon7

 Forget about all kind of lost and win stuff and just think for cannabis and marijuana highs and buy drugs for that from given below site name please go on legal-highs !!!!          

sun7
sun7

 Forget about all kind of lost and win stuff and just think for cannabis and marijuana highs and buy drugs for that from given below site name please go on legal-highs !!!!          

Kyle
Kyle

"Yeah freedom's for faggots!"

The above is the tone of this article. Keep it classy, VV.

aquateenstoner
aquateenstoner

lol why even bother with such an ignorant yellow journalist

Cameron Barr
Cameron Barr

I'm sure all alcohol consumers are deadbeat fathers who beat their wives too.

top 150 college student
top 150 college student

What a terrible, stereotypical view of people who use cannabis. I'm tired of Myles Tanzer spamming the internet with his poorly written articles. The prospect of this legislation going anywhere, or even Obama taking any more of these questions, is about as likely as Myles Tanzer opening his eyes and getting rid of the myopic views he has, and writing a non-biased article.

Thanks again for showing the world just how ignorant, stereotypical, and abrasive non-smokers who think the concept of marijuana decriminalization is.

texian420
texian420

When you have friends in family in jail over possessing a harmless plant, it's not so funny.

Twill Hat
Twill Hat

You call this journalism? What a joke. Biased, opinionated, and without any facts or logic.

Micah Daigle
Micah Daigle

It's easy to assume that these questions are rising to the top because marijuana users are "spamming" the forum. Why, then, aren't activists from other causes voting their questions to the top with the same vigor?

Because these sort of open question forums aren't designed to identify what the most important issues are, they're designed to identify the most important issues are *that aren't yet being seriously discussed by the administration.*

After all, Obama has given a serious response to every major policy question except for one. And marijuana legalization will continue to rise to the top of these forums so long as Obama keeps laughing it off.

Cheech & Chong jokes aside, this is a serious issue: We're squandering billions of dollars on a failed prohibition that funds drug gangs and makes us less safe. More people are dying on our southern border at the hands of drug cartels (whose guns are bought with drug money) than people are dying in Iraq. Why should that be a laughing matter??

Tomatoman
Tomatoman

why are you being such a dick to marijuana smokers?

Tom
Tom

Don't treat cannabis users with that level of disrespect, it makes you look like a poor excuse for a journalist. Stereotyping is wrong, if the issue was about race or sex, and you used a stereotypical term, you would be abhorred. What makes this any different?

token420
token420

If this were about alcohol I'm sure you would not have named the article "Drunks Calling For Obama To Answer...", yet this is how you preface the leading YouTube question to president Obama. I find this disrespectful and I feel this labeling needs to stop if we are to have an intelligent conversation about cannabis.

FreeThinking
FreeThinking

Were Steve Jobs, Ted Turner, Montel Williams, and countless other big names just lazy stoners? I have used marijuana for 15 years and executive of a fortune 500 company. I really do believe that I am just a lucky stoner "couch potato".

NORML NYC
NORML NYC

You'll be happy to know that Montel Williams is becoming much more active after his bust at an airport about a week ago for a CLEAN PIPE. He did speak out on ending the prohibition very often, but I think now its personal. Very often that's what it takes for someone to really get involved in ending this war on a large American population, just like what happened with Willie Nelson and his Teapot Party that he started after his bus was stopped for the umpteenth time and of course pot was found on-board.

malcolmkyle
malcolmkyle

Have you ever watched the Drug War Clock as it ticks away all our hard earned tax dollars?

Or the US Debt Clock?

Alcohol prohibition in the US run from 1919 to 1933 - Now google 'The Great Wall Street Crash' and see when that happened!

During alcohol prohibition, all profits went to enrich thugs and criminals. Young men died every day on inner-city streets while battling over turf. A fortune was wasted on enforcement that could have gone on treatment. On top of the budget-busting prosecution and incarceration costs, billions in taxes were lost. Finally the economy collapsed. Sound familiar?

If you have liberty then expect prosperity, but there’s most definitely no chance of prosperity without liberty.

To support prohibition you have to be either ignorant, stupid, brainwashed, insane or corrupt.

malcolmkyle
malcolmkyle

Have you ever watched the Drug War Clock as it ticks away all our hard earned tax dollars? http://www.drugsense.org/wodcl...

Or the US Debt Clock http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Alcohol prohibition in the US run from 1919 to 1933 - Now google 'The Great Wall Street Crash' and see when that happened!

During alcohol prohibition, all profits went to enrich thugs and criminals. Young men died every day on inner-city streets while battling over turf. A fortune was wasted on enforcement that could have gone on treatment. On top of the budget-busting prosecution and incarceration costs, billions in taxes were lost. Finally the economy collapsed. Sound familiar?

http://1929crash.com/

If you have liberty then expect prosperity, but there’s most definitely no chance of prosperity without liberty.

To support prohibition you have to be either ignorant, stupid, brainwashed, insane or corrupt.

NORML NYC
NORML NYC

The funny thing is that no matter how many pro-pot comments people leave and how many legalization questions they may ask, and considering that close to a third of the U.S. population has at least tried it, including 5 of the last 7 presidential candidates, the 23 million regular stoners out there will still be brushed off as a fringe fad that will somehow go away. About 3/4 of Americans no longer support arresting the 850,000 people last year alone (89% of them for simple possession) 46% of the population thinks that cannabis should be taxed and legalized, and just as many voted to do just that in the 7th largest economy in the world, and yet they laugh at us. "Journalism" like this stinks of yellow journalism from the era of William Randolph Hearst and the whole reefer madness, and shame on you Myles Tanzer for being such a smug sheep who follows the age old trend of having your head in the sand.

Al
Al

Such a stereotypical attitude towards users of cannabis. It's been deemed medicine by the AMA. Calling sick people "stoners" is just wrong. What a disgusting excuse for a human being. Biased media from an ignorant point of view.

Brianna Kirkpatrick
Brianna Kirkpatrick

Great way to prove the STEREOTYPE my friend. A little biased, don't you think? Last I checked Journalism meant getting both sides of the story. This is all opinion based.

Bob
Bob

I don't think Myles Tanzer knows what "spam is". I guess the 60 million voters that put Obama in office were just "spamming" the polls.

I'd like to see Myles tell us a reason why prohibition is a good idea rather than Ad Hominem attacks on "stoners". Is the former police deputy sheriff a stoner?

Chris
Chris

stoners or not we are american citizens

southernhermony
southernhermony

I don't want to get too pedantic here, but spam is unsolicted and unwanted. Clearly, the White House has solicited questions, and while questions on legalization may be unwanted by the administration, that's completely besides the point. There is a large constituency for legalization that gets next to no voice in national politics and it's natural that they'd jump at the chance to bypass the normal channels to get heard.

By the way, it would be nice if a publication that hosts sister site www.tokeofthetown.com could write about marijuana without indulging in lazy cliches.

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