Mr. President, End This War

By Jann S. Wenner, Rolling Stone

12 December 12

s a teenager, Barack Obama liked to get high in the back of a friend's VW bus. His hallmark: a smoking technique he called Total Absorption. He knows, as did George W. Bush and Bill Clinton before him, what we all know: that pot is essentially harmless. Yet the government continues to wage a senseless and costly war on marijuana, treating pot as if it were more dangerous than crack cocaine.

Will Obama Try to Kill Legal Pot?

More than 750,000 Americans were arrested on marijuana charges last year - 87 percent for simple possession. The costs of prohibition are staggering - nearly $8 billion a year wasted on police and prisons alone, with billions more squandered by not taxing pot like tobacco or alcohol. In Mexico - where nearly two-thirds of the pot smoked in this country originates - drug violence has claimed nearly 50,000 lives since 2006. Yet all the while, demand for pot has increased like wildfire: Nearly 30 million Americans enjoyed pot at least once last year.

Obama's War on Pot

Mr. President, this war is a sham, a folly, a colossal waste of money and human potential. And you can end it with a few strokes of your pen. Through executive order, you can advance life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and begin to bring another mindless war to a responsible conclusion. All it requires is the same courage you displayed on gay marriage. Simply say what's in your heart - what you know to be true.