In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, President Barack Obama said he believes marijuana use should be treated as a public health issue:
“I do believe that treating this as a public-health issue, the same way we do with cigarettes or alcohol, is the much smarter way to deal with it.”
He also said that he doesn’t believe marijuana legalization is “a panacea.” If you’re anything like me, you most likely had to google “panacea” in order find out that it’s a fancy word for a solution or remedy.
I also hold the belief that legalization won’t solve all the complex issues surrounding marijuana. Issues such as drug abuse, organized crime, and the racist private prison system. However, I am slightly confused by the lack of action President Obama has taken on this issue.
‘No Medical Benefit’
Marijuana is currently a Schedule I drug at the federal level, which labels it as having a high potential for abuse and no medical benefit. This goes against the findings of the many scientific studies that have shown the medical benefits of cannabis.
A popular petition recently forced the DEA to reexamine marijuana’s Schedule I status. To nobody’s surprise, The classification was not changed despite massive amounts of scientific evidence. In the interview, Obama addresses this problem:
“As you might imagine, the DEA, whose job it is historically to enforce drug laws, is not always going to be on the cutting edge about these issues.”
Could Obama Have Done More?
In light of all this, Obama’s pro-legalization comments are slightly perplexing to me. He had eight years to push marijuana legalization, or at least decriminalization, at a federal level. However, the President doesn’t think this is possible:
“Typically how these classifications are changed is not done by presidential edict… but are done either legislatively or through the DEA.”
While this may be partially true, I believe Obama could’ve helped the cause by applying pressure to his attorney general. The attorney general can overrule the DEA and remove drugs from Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act. They can do this if they believe the drug does not meet the requirements for that schedule level, which cannabis clearly does not.
Looking Ahead
On the positive side, Obama’s Justice Department created a policy that allows states to legalize marijuana without federal interference. This was a small step in the right direction, and Obama seems to agree:
“There’s something to this whole states-being-laboratories-of-democracy and an evolutionary approach.”
Unfortunately, this approach now seems to be more in jeopardy than ever given President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet of prohibition dinosaurs. Trump’s administration could use federal marijuana laws against individuals and businesses in states where it has been legalized.
That all remains to be seen. But I still find it odd that Obama hasn’t done more to push federal legislation to reform current marijuana laws. In the Rolling Stone interview, he seemed to suggest that he may be more in support of the issue once he is no longer president:
“I will have the opportunity as a private citizen to describe where I think we need to go.”
It’s too bad he won’t have used his position as the most powerful man in the free world to outwardly promote policy that both science and common sense support.
Watch the video below to see a CBS discussion on marijuana legalization under a Trump Administration:
Featured image credit: janeb13 via Pixabay/CC-2.0
