Pot Policy Push Prodded President
When President Obama addressed calls for legalization of marijuana during his March online town hall, he proved that "when the people lead, the leaders will follow," Internet activist Jim Gilliam argued Tuesday at the Personal Democracy Forum's annual conference. Leading up to the big White House event, citizens were asked to vote on economic questions they wanted the commander in chief to answer. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws spearheaded a grassroots effort to push questions tying Mary Jane to economic improvement and job creation to the top of the heap. [Read related Tech Daily Dose coverage here].
"I don't know what this says about the online audience," Obama laughed during the webcast. "The answer is no, I don't think that is a good strategy to grow our economy." Over 92,000 people submitted over 100,000 questions and cast over 3.5 million votes. More than 67,000 people watched the event online. After the town hall, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was pressed for details on the administration's pot policy, the California Budget Office released an estimate on revenue that could be generated by a marijuana tax, and Obama's drug czar Gil Kerlikowske said he would stop referring to the "war on drugs" because it was unhelpful.
"Obama knew what he was doing... He wanted outrage," said Gilliam, the creator of a Web site that imagines how the White House might work if it was run completely democratically by thousands of people over the Internet. On WhiteHouse2.org, decriminalizing marijuana ranks 22nd and legalizing medical marijuana ranks 44th. The site's top five user generated priorities for Obama include: replacing the federal income tax with a "FairTax;" restoring, upholding and defending the Constitution; ending corporate welfare; securing all U.S. borders; and letting banks that make bad loans go out of business.
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