On Monday, President Obama, signed the country’s toughest anti-smoking law, in another attempt to keep the children “safe” from a designated adult product and habit.

The bill would give free reign for the Food and Drug Administration to:

• Regulate what goes into tobacco products (candy and fruit flavored blunt wraps?)
• Publicize the ingredients (all 3000+ of them)
• Prohibit marketing campaigns receptive toward children

Obama spoke from experience about the risk of teens smoking:

I know. I was one of these teenagers. [...] And so I know how difficult it can be to break this habit when it’s been with you for a long time.

So many studies have come out that should have caused this drug to be banned a long time ago. The tobacco industry however has become such a big business that the federal government seemed to ignore as it danced to it’s corporate fiddle.

During a joint press conference last Thursday with Mexican President Felipe Calderón, President Obama clarified his stance on the war on drugs. He said that the goal of the American government and the Mexican government is to keep the drug and criminal activity in Mexico.

Obama even said something that everyone in the counter-culture scene needs to be weary of:

I will not pretend that this is Mexico’s responsibility alone. Demand for these drugs in the United States is what is helping to keep these cartels in business. [...] Are we going to eliminate all drug flows? Are we going to eliminate all guns coming over the border? That’s not a realistic objective.

Yet, a realistic objective is to keep the cartels and their drugs in Mexico.

Obama added:

What is a realistic objective is to reduce it so significantly, so drastically that it becomes once again a localized criminal problem, as opposed to a major structural problem that threatens stability in communities along those borders and that increases corruption and threatens the rule of law

That will be interesting to see. With an increase of technology and the profit that the cartels have achieved, they are now essentially mobilized armies able to topple fully-established governments.

In conclusion of the press conference, Obama claimed that they have targeted three cartels as significant foreign narcotics drug traffickers and with the help of the U.S. Treasury Department and Mexico, they plan to freeze the assets of the cartels and create sanctions.

Freezing their bank accounts will not stop them from starting over in another area of Mexico.

Recession, schmecession. Legal prescription weed is booming, and so are the ledgers of medical marijuana dispensaries, co-ops, and cannabis-friendly physicians. According to MSNBC, requests for weed prescriptions have nearly tripled since President Obama took office in January.

Several factors are potentially responsible for the uptick in herbal medication. Firstly, President Obama personally put a stop to the raiding of state-run medical marijuana facilities by overzealous federal agents. By doing so, he removed the quasi-legal stigma associated with state-run growing operations. And while the President claimed to simply be defending states rights in the face of federal infringement, legal weed advocates saw this as a full endorsement of marijuana as a completely legitimate medical treatment.

The recession might also be providing motivation for patients to embrace Texas Tea treatment.  Even as a regulated and taxed substance, marijuana is significantly cheaper than most prescription drugs. Also, given its wide potential for application and minor side-effects, many patients can use marijuana to treat several illnesses at once.

This is especially true for those suffering from Glaucoma-Induced Nauseous Back Pain Anxiety Disorder. I count myself among such sufferers, and can tell you that it takes a monumental hit from my AMA-Approved “Satan’s Vacuum” Therapeutic Gravity Bong to alleviate my symptoms.  Thank goodness for First World medical technology.

During an interview with the Associated Press last week, while promoting his 6-month gig at Las Vegas Hardrock Hotel and Casino, Carlos Santana claims he wants this country to invest into the education of the youth by legalizing marijuana. He even had an invitation for President Obama.

Bring the brothers home, and sisters home now. Legalize marijuana and take all that money and invest it in teachers and education. You will see a transformation in America.

Santana went on to say he’s not afraid to speak out about something that was long overdue. He said that if marijuana was legalized and decriminalized then the paranoia in this country would end and a transformation would occur.

I really believe that as soon as we legalize and decriminalize marijuana we can actually afford a really good governor who won’t keep taking money away from education and from teachers and send him back to Hollywood where he can do ‘D’ movies and we can get a real ‘A’ governor.

Carlos Santana will begin playing at the The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on May 27th.

The Digg power users have latched onto a very hot topic: marijuana.

Ever since President Obama held his Virtual Town Hall meeting and laughed at the issue, Digg users have been busy posting marijuana-related stories, their beliefs on the health benefits and even thoughts on decriminalizing marijuana in order to curb the violence of the drug wars in Mexico.

In fact, many of the posts also reflect their disappointment about voting for President Obama and even talk about not voting for him again — all in response to his answer on the legalization of marijuana.

Keep up the chatter Digg users! The more this information gets out there, the more of an impact it will ultimately have for the change we’ve been expecting for so long. For all those people that are angry at President Obama, I suggest you give it some time… did you really expect his answer to be anything less? Even when he was a Senator in 2004, he was in favor of decriminalizing marijuana but didn’t feel it should be entirely legalized.

More and more influencial people that once held anti-marijuana viewpoints are coming out of the woodwork in favor of medical marijuana, decriminalization and legalization. It’s a work in progress and there are movements in motion right now to bring more pressure to the White House. The Virtual Town Hall meeting was the first step in preperation for that giant leap that needed to be made. Stay up.

The following letter below is reaction from NORML regarding President Obama’s statement on marijuana policy during a Virtual Town Hall Meeting last week. NORML has set it up so one can use an online form to send a prepared and well-formulated letter to the President to voice disapproval about his recent statements.

Per NORML:

Speaking at an online Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, March 26, President Barack Obama pledged “to open up the White House to the American people.”

Well, to some of the American people that is.

As for those tens of millions of you who believe that cannabis should be legally regulated like alcohol — and the tens of thousands of you who voted to make this subject the most popular question in today’s online Presidential Town Hall — well, your voice doesn’t really matter.

Asked this morning whether he “would … support the bill currently going through the California legislation to legalize and tax marijuana, boosting the economy and reducing drug cartel related violence,” the President responded with derision.

“There was one question that was voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation, and I don’t know what this says about the online audience,” he laughed.

“The answer is no, I don’t think that [is] a good strategy.”

Obama’s cynical rebuff was short-sighted and disrespectful to a large percentage of his supporters. After all, was it not this very same “online audience” that donated heavily to Obama’s Presidential campaign and ultimately carried him to the White House?

Please take a moment to tell the President that marijuana law reform is no laughing matter, and that the millions of Americans who support this issue deserve to be treated respectfully. For your convenience, a pre-written letter will be e-mailed to President Obama when you enter your contact information below.

Show your support! Head over to NORML and use the pre-written letter to allow your sentiments be heard.

During a Virtual Town Hall Meeting a much sought after question was finally answered about marijuana legalization. The exact question that was asked was if legalizing marijuana would bring a solution to the failing economy and perhaps influence job creation. The answer of course was no.

It wasn’t the answer itself that was annoying. Despite nearly 3.5 million people being polled online on which questions to address and this question being high on the list, President Obama chuckled and then made a comment that seemed to patronize the online community, the very same online community that took part in the other questions.

As soon as he mentioned legalizing marijuana the audience behind him all laughed. No one in the audience had a disgusted or angry look on their face. Did he think that they were laughing because the question was a ridiculous notion… or do we have some smokers in the audience. Notice when he says no, certain people are still laughing but they aren’t clapping in approval. It’s curious to note as well that President Obama used the phrase “grow the economy,” because that’s exactly the issue.

I don’t know why President Obama thinks this is a laughing matter. Not only did the people online at the Virtual Town Meeting think that it was a legitimate question but other people online felt the same way. In fact a lot of them are regretting for even voting for him. Maybe more people need to contact the White House online and tell them how they feel about the issue and the way that President Obama handled the situation.

He’s been laughing a lot lately while being interviewed. It’s a type of laughter that feels like he’s hiding some big secret that’s in store for this country and it doesn’t matter what ails this nation. Bush did the same thing, but he only smirked like a fool when talking about terrorism and about how the bad guys are going to get us. Well the bad guys have gotten us. They got us alright, they got us in our pockets, where it hurts the most.

The most frustrating thing of it is that President Obama just simply said no, legalizing marijuana would not be a viable solution. He didn’t explain why it would be such a bad idea or why it would never work. All the research behind the plant itself shows that it has medicinal properties but it threatens the pharmaceutical industry.

Using the stalk itself, Hemp can be made. Hemp is a product that threatens numerous industries like the paper, plastic and oil industry. Marijuana has been demonized in this country for those reasons. Henry Ford had built a car completely made from hemp in 1941. It was bought out and destroyed by Rockefeller and associates. Cars like these will never be produced because they will eliminate the fossil fuel industry. They run clean, have no smog check and there’s no oil change. It was also made to run on ethanol made from hemp seed oil. BMW and Mercedes Benz use hemp fibers in the interior plastics of their cars because it is up to 14 times stronger than steel. The car that Ford built was lighter than steel and was 10 times stronger.

All this and more can be obtained from the wonderful marijuana plant. It’s time that the people come before big business. Legalizing marijuana and hemp will bring so much change to this country, the kind of change that President Obama promised to bring. All the change he’s brought so far is the change jingling around in your pocket. And there isn’t much of that either.

The more I hear about our new director of national drug policy, Gil Kerlikowske, more I’m thinking he might not be a total disaster. Naturally, anything short of complete and utter legalization, or views more conservative than Marc Emery, and the MPP and NORML is disappointing. But there have been signs throughout Kerlikowske’s 36-year career that have shown he might not be a rank-and-file drug-war advocate.

Alison Holcomb, drug policy director for the ACLU of Washington, said Kerlikowske’s officers have “demonstrated compassion” in not arresting known growers and users in medical marijuana cases.

He recently gave his blessing to a pilot program in drug-plagued Belltown for officers to send drug users to treatment or job centers instead of jail. Treatment advocates praised Kerlikowske for setting a respectful tone emulated by the rank and file toward the city’s many innovative services for addicts.

In 2003, the chief had initially opposed Initiative 75, a measure approved by Seattle voters that made enforcement of marijuana for adult personal use the lowest priority for police and city attorneys. However, activists say he has since ordered his officers to implement the law.

These are all good signs for those holding out hope for an end to federal raids.

The more and more we learn about Obama, the more he seems to be like one of us, complete with family members he barely even knows, causing him grief.

Barack’s brother, George Obama was recently arrested in Kenya for marijuana possession (it’s called Bhang in Kenya according to CNN reports) over the weekend.

The brothers share a father neither of them knew very well. The pair have met, but are not very close to one another, having grown up with different families about a continent away.

The younger Obama, who is in his mid-20s, is active in the community and studying to be a mechanic.

Update: Charges have been dropped. Imagine that.

In a break from the norm, Obama met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon to discuss violence and drug trafficking in his country. Since FDR, presidents have been severely scrutinized with what they do in their first 100 days, and expected to work on domestic issues first, especially in light of the nation’s economic woes.

The meeting is an indication of just how out of control the violence down there has become in the world’s No. 1 producer of marijuana.

The issue of violence south of and near the border however, was the No. 1 issue of national security people asked about on Change.gov.

This is an interesting one…

Produced by WeedSnob for NORML, this video is a 1:00 piece on what would happen if Obama had a dream about marijuana law reform – think of it as a Ghost of Marijuana Past.

I’m not exactly sure what this animation will be used for, but it seems like the ‘Yes We Cannabis’ phrase is starting to catch on with people.

President-elect Barack Obama has repeated several times he is not for legalization, he is for de-criminalization.

Obama continually refers to “changing paradigms” with how we police drugs, referring to the drug war as “an utter failure.” Unfortunately, how much of it is partisan rhetoric, how much he wants to change, and how much he can change are all still in the speculation stages.

What is known is that the economy is by and large an overwhelming concern. And if you look at the popular support afforded presidents who have turned around the economy, they usually enjoy political dominance in a second term – which is when many predict, if ever, we’ll see legitimate action on drug policy legislation by Obama and his administration.

Straight from Obamablunt.com, here’s a great picture of the president-elect from his youth smoking a cigarette. In recent interviews, the president’s cigarrette-smoking habit has come under scrutiny, especially in light of a no-smoking policy in the White House since the Clinton administration. That gave us all the opportunity we need to justify posting this picture.

On Obama’s Change.gov website, the soon-to-be president addressed the issue of marijuana legalization:

President-elect Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana.

Update: Looks like our friends over @ CelebStoner got the jump on Lisa Jack’s 1980 shots of Barack Obama, his fancy hat and what looks like a cigarette. Good find.

A few people have written to us for an opinion on the recently updated ‘Open for Questions‘ feature on the President-elect’s official Change.gov website.

It’s a pretty simple format. People submit questions that they would like answered by Obama’s transition team, then those questions are voted up or down depending on their popularity / relevance. The 5 most voted on questions then get answered.

Out of the 5, here is the question that most of us are interested in:

Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion dollar industry right here in the U.S.? – S. Man, Denton

And here is the transition team’s expansive response:

President-elect Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana.

It might not be the answer we wanted, but at least their reasoning is clear. And by clear, I mean non-existent.

Before everyone gets worked up about this, let’s think about the venue more than the response. Is a Change.gov blog post really going to be the launching point for an incoming administration’s marijuana policy? I don’t believe so.

Instead, this feels more like a boilerplate response than a final answer. Out of all 5 questions, the marijuana response was the shortest answer (only 1 sentence) and there was no attempt made to delve into any of the root issues.

In other words, this isn’t what marijuana progressives wanted to see, but it’s not an end-all / be-all either. I’m sure the MPP, NORML and LEAP will all continue to push just as hard for marijuana reform. I also bet they’ll hold the incoming administration accountable for a logical and thorough response to the legalization movement as a whole.

Not due in office for at least another six weeks, President Obama’s cabinet decision has already triggered some preemptive signs of concern.

The National Black Police Association, and other nonprofit organizations, recently wrote a letter to Obama voicing concerns over news that Rep. James Ramstad (R-Minn.) would be Obama’s Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, commonly referred to as the “drug czar”.

The NBPA cited Ramstad’s past opposition to medical marijuana, needle exchange and sentencing reform for drug users as their main objections with the choice.

Excerpt from the letter:

While we applaud Representative Ramstad for his courageous and steady support for expanding drug treatment access and improving addiction awareness, and honor his own personal and very public triumph over addiction, we have strong reservations about his candidacy for the drug czar position.

While Ramstad is generally considered a “rank-and-file” Republican according to his voting history, he also has a record of bi-partisan effort, which may have been a factor in his nomination.

Obama has yet to publicly respond to the letter.