A younger Barack Obama on the War on Drugs and marijuana

The War On Drugs is to thank. It was created by Nixon in 1971. The initial intent was to discourage production, distribution, and consumption of illegal drugs through a set of laws. The defined drug was Cocaine.

Then October 1986- Regan signs the Anti-Drug Abuse Act (Cost= $1.7 billion). This mandates minimum penatlies for drug offenses. Crack is developed and thrown in the list.

2003- the still not legal Drug Anti-Proliferation Act becomes enacted (legalized) targeting ecstasy, predatory drugs (weed), and methamphetamine.

This year alone 45billion dollars has been spent by the government to keep up with the War On Drugs. 1.7 million people have been arrested for drug offenses.

The U.S War On Drugs is a complete failure and unconstitutional. The U.S. has the largest percentage of its population incarcerated in the world! Since 1971 the U.S. has pushed its drug believes on over 4 continents and killed thousands of innocent people. They have contaminated crop fields in attempts to kill production. Not only is this War On Drugs a waste of time and money, but it's pissing the people of America and the world of due to its need to control.

Putting users behind bars not only puts this country futher in debt, but ruins the chances that the offenders can rehabilitate. Living life as a felon is nearly impossible. How can anyone truly expect a felonized drug offender to turn their lives around for the better if they can't even get a REAL job? They are left to deal in the streets and have nowhere to go but back to prision.

I do not encourage drug use nor do I use drugs. Addiction is a disorder in the brain.
These people don't need to be in jail, they need to be in treatment.

2MILLION2MANY!

barrack obama is anti freedom and unamerican. How are you going to ban a plant, assholes who want to control our lives need to go die.

I'll have to agree with Obama on this.

Weed is dangerous, very dangerous. Its damage to the lungs is undeniable. However, it is not too terribly addictive. Outside of the lungs, a keg of boos does more damage to the body than weed.

If a young man or woman makes such a mistake as to get into this stuff, such an act should not destroy his or her future.

Smoking a joint should be considered no more severe than a traffic violation.

@QUINTIX256 Very dangerous? Right... Because we know how many deaths a year marijuana causes. ZERO.

[citation needed];
given the political nonsense; the number of ill or dying or dead per thousand users will be difficult to evaluate at best.

Listen carefully to Obama. Even he flatly rejected the legalization of marijuana outside of controlled medical usage.

TELL EM ABOUT IT