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Obama Withdraws Support for Marijuana Decriminalization

By Jeralyn

First Barack Obama was for decriminalization of marijuana. Then he was against it. Then he said he was for it, explaining he raised his hand by mistake at a debate.

Now he's clear: he opposes decriminalization of marijuana.

What accounts for this latest switch? His campaign says he didn't understand what decriminalization meant.

A spokesman for Obama’s campaign blamed confusion over the meaning of decriminalization for the inconsistencies, and said that while Obama does not support decriminalization, "we are sending far too many first-time, nonviolent drug users to prison for very long periods of time, and that we should rethink those laws."

More on Obama and his limited progressive crime positions here. Update: To be clearer, for people that are new to a discussion of this, in a 2004 video,

As a candidate for the U.S. Senate four years ago, Mr. Obama told Illinois college students that he supported eliminating criminal penalties for marijuana use or possession, according to a videotape of a little noticed debate that was obtained by The Washington Times.

"I think we need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws," Mr. Obama told an audience during a debate at Northwestern University in 2004. "But I'm not somebody who believes in legalization of marijuana."

I think it's a fair question to ask if he's being disingenous now, first about raising his hand by mistake and now saying he was confused about what decriminalization means, or whether in 2004 he was engaging in a campaign ploy to attract the youth vote.

Update: Don't miss the comments to this post, there are some really funny ones.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on March 17, 2008 (boomark / email).