Washington, DC: Questions pertaining to the legalization and regulation of cannabis dominated an online poll conducted last week by the website of President-Elect Barack Obama.
According to the Change.gov website, the top question for the incoming administration – as decided by the public – is: “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.?”
Change.gov processed over 600,000 votes on more than 7,300 different public policy issues.
Of the top 50 most popular questions submitted to the website, more than a dozen pertained to marijuana law reform – including the legalization of medical marijuana and industrial hemp.
Despite the popular turnout, officials for Obama’s website dismissed the most popular question with the following one sentence response: “President-elect Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana.”
On a separate website, Change.org, a similar question pertaining to the legalization of marijuana by adults leads in an ongoing online poll. Change.gov is not affiliated with the Obama administration, but intends to submit its top ten questions, as decided by online votes, to President Obama on Inauguration Day.
Commenting on the poll results, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said, “These results affirm the general public’s widespread and vociferous support for amending America’s antiquated and overly punitive marijuana laws.”
Armentano added that he was disappointed with the Obama administration’s curt reply. “It was just over a month ago when statewide marijuana law reform initiatives in Massachusetts and Michigan prevailed with more votes than America’s soon-to-be 44th President,” Armentano said. “It wasn’t clear that the incoming administration was paying attention then and it appears that they aren’t listening now either. President-elect Obama was chosen by the voters, including those millions of American adults who use cannabis responsibly, to lead on a number of significant issues facing the United States today – not to hide his head in the sand and ignore the will of the electorate.”
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500, or Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at:paul@norml.org. Additional information on these online polls is available on NORML’s blog at:http://blog.norml.org/.