When I first interviewed Assemblymember Tom Ammiano's press representative, Quintin Mecke, about Assembly Bill 390–the measure that would legalize, regulate and tax marijuana in California, the spokesman seemed optimistic that the Obama administration represents a real possibility that the United States is poised to adopt more humane and reasonable drug policies.
"If you see Attorney General Holder's comments and the federal government with a clear shift about its approach–first to medical marijuana–that certainly leaves the door open for consideration about marijuana in general," Mecke told me, but at the time I voiced skepticism about Obama's intentions. Isn't Obama going out of his way to cater to a conservative crowd?
Mecke responded by recalling Obama's accounts on the campaign trail of his mother who had used cannabis while undergoing treatment for cancer. The implication was that since he had personal experience with marijuana's efficacy, he and his administration would be more sympathetic, which is reasonable.
Coincidentally, however, this March 25 interview concluded just a few hours before the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) raided Emmalyn's cannabis dispensary in San Francisco–Ammiano's district, in what immediately struck me as a warning to the legislator.
The next day I talked with Ammiano at the capitol and asked him if he thought the raid in his district had been a warning shot. He said the raid was a warning to him and also the Obama administration. "I think it has to do with the AG's edict about no more raids on medical marijuana dispensaries," he said, citing the DEA's "institutional" mentality. "They're little vigilantes in my mind."
"Polls show here in California that medical marijuana is accepted, and the polling that we're getting around the recreational use being taxed and regulated is very positive, so doing this (raid) is just kind of rubbing people's noses in it, going against the will of the people," Ammiano said. "It's a little paramilitary and a little scary."
So how much control does Ammiano think Obama has?
"That's going to be the test. Is it a policy? Is it a federal law? In my mind I think he has a lot of control, and you want to mess with the president and his delegates then you take on a lot more than a law in California that allows for medical marijuana or a potential law that allows for its taxation and regulation," he said.
That same night, Obama held a virtual online town hall meeting during which he dissed the online community–hardly a fringe group– when he answered a question about legalizing marijuana. His response was patronizing and condescending, exemplifying neatly the suspicions I had expressed to Quintin Mecke the previous day.
Bill Maher called Obama's comments "infuriating" saying, "For Obama to mock, 'I don't know what's going on the Internet,' well excuse me...the Internet is America now. That sounded like John McCain."
It did sound like John McCain.
Mecke had pointed out in our interview that the Clinton Administration had "fought against medical marijuana tooth and nail" during his administration–an interesting position for someone widely reputed to have indulged himself although his technique has been widely criticized (not inhaling is considered wasteful).
In examining that prospect I ran across an interesting article by American cultural and political commentator, Virginia Postrel, who was attempting to explain why the "Clintonistas [were] going crazy" over ballot propositions in Arizona and California that would allow sick people legal access to marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. She said that the propositions subverted the War on Drugs by threatening to expose its propaganda and attacked the favorite argument for big, technocratic government: health and safety.
"They (the propositions) dare to suggest that health is, for the most part, an individual, private matter; that safety depends on how each person weighs relative dangers; and that knowledge about both is not the sole possession of centralized bureaucrats," Postrel said. "The initiatives explode the most beloved premises of paternalistic Progressivism."
Is Obama's position change we can believe in, or is it simply Big Brother with a kinder, gentler face?
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Examiner.com
Author: Shawn E. Hamilton
Contact: Examiner.com
Copyright: 2009 Clarity Digital Group LLC d/b/a Examiner.com
Website: Obama Disses Online Community: Pisses Off Bill Maher With Town Hall Cannabis Comments
"If you see Attorney General Holder's comments and the federal government with a clear shift about its approach–first to medical marijuana–that certainly leaves the door open for consideration about marijuana in general," Mecke told me, but at the time I voiced skepticism about Obama's intentions. Isn't Obama going out of his way to cater to a conservative crowd?
Mecke responded by recalling Obama's accounts on the campaign trail of his mother who had used cannabis while undergoing treatment for cancer. The implication was that since he had personal experience with marijuana's efficacy, he and his administration would be more sympathetic, which is reasonable.
Coincidentally, however, this March 25 interview concluded just a few hours before the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) raided Emmalyn's cannabis dispensary in San Francisco–Ammiano's district, in what immediately struck me as a warning to the legislator.
The next day I talked with Ammiano at the capitol and asked him if he thought the raid in his district had been a warning shot. He said the raid was a warning to him and also the Obama administration. "I think it has to do with the AG's edict about no more raids on medical marijuana dispensaries," he said, citing the DEA's "institutional" mentality. "They're little vigilantes in my mind."
"Polls show here in California that medical marijuana is accepted, and the polling that we're getting around the recreational use being taxed and regulated is very positive, so doing this (raid) is just kind of rubbing people's noses in it, going against the will of the people," Ammiano said. "It's a little paramilitary and a little scary."
So how much control does Ammiano think Obama has?
"That's going to be the test. Is it a policy? Is it a federal law? In my mind I think he has a lot of control, and you want to mess with the president and his delegates then you take on a lot more than a law in California that allows for medical marijuana or a potential law that allows for its taxation and regulation," he said.
That same night, Obama held a virtual online town hall meeting during which he dissed the online community–hardly a fringe group– when he answered a question about legalizing marijuana. His response was patronizing and condescending, exemplifying neatly the suspicions I had expressed to Quintin Mecke the previous day.
Bill Maher called Obama's comments "infuriating" saying, "For Obama to mock, 'I don't know what's going on the Internet,' well excuse me...the Internet is America now. That sounded like John McCain."
It did sound like John McCain.
Mecke had pointed out in our interview that the Clinton Administration had "fought against medical marijuana tooth and nail" during his administration–an interesting position for someone widely reputed to have indulged himself although his technique has been widely criticized (not inhaling is considered wasteful).
In examining that prospect I ran across an interesting article by American cultural and political commentator, Virginia Postrel, who was attempting to explain why the "Clintonistas [were] going crazy" over ballot propositions in Arizona and California that would allow sick people legal access to marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. She said that the propositions subverted the War on Drugs by threatening to expose its propaganda and attacked the favorite argument for big, technocratic government: health and safety.
"They (the propositions) dare to suggest that health is, for the most part, an individual, private matter; that safety depends on how each person weighs relative dangers; and that knowledge about both is not the sole possession of centralized bureaucrats," Postrel said. "The initiatives explode the most beloved premises of paternalistic Progressivism."
Is Obama's position change we can believe in, or is it simply Big Brother with a kinder, gentler face?
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Examiner.com
Author: Shawn E. Hamilton
Contact: Examiner.com
Copyright: 2009 Clarity Digital Group LLC d/b/a Examiner.com
Website: Obama Disses Online Community: Pisses Off Bill Maher With Town Hall Cannabis Comments
