In the Loop: March 26, 2009 Archive

Inquiring Internet minds want to know...about POT! POT! POT!

Posted at 11:32 AM on March 26, 2009 by Jeff Horwich (2 Comments)

Been watching President Obama's online press conference, "Open for Questions" for about 45 minutes now. Premise: People have been submitting questions, other people vote on those questions, and Obama takes on the most popular.

There are plenty of good, smart questions in there. But Obama's people might have known what was coming. Here are the #1-rated questions in a number of categories:

Green Jobs and Energy: "Will you consider decriminalizing the recreational/medical use of marijuana?"

Financial Stability: "Would you support the bill currently going through the California legislation to legalize and tax marijuana?"

Jobs: ""What are your plans for the failing War on Drugs?"

Budget: "Why not legalize, control, and tax marijuana?"

Health Care Reform: "Why is marijuana still illegal?" (#2-rated question)

In the end, Obama just couldn't stay true to the premise for the town hall. All the pot questions were bundled into one, which he quickly and curtly dispensed with (to considerable applause from the crowd in the room).

What do you think: Should Obama have respected the outcome of the online question submitters (and voters)? Or did he do the right thing by focusing on other issues?

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