The negative influence of marijuana on the nation’s justice system can often be confused with opinion.
President Barack Obama said, “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer” marijuana is not more harmful than alcohol, writes Washington Post from the Associated Press.
Marijuana typically leads to more arrests, while alcohol leads to more deaths. Yet alcohol is sold in groceries stories and liquor stores across the nation.
In no way is Pres. Obama promoting use of either substance, but rather a different approach on how marijuana users are handled legally.
Obama has mentioned his familiarity with the drug marijuana in his younger years and he also sees “it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person,” writes the Independent.ie .
The Washington Post states that the Obama administration gave states the authority to test out marijuana regulations as they see fit.
A solution that does not involve extreme punishment for users is the president’s goal, because typically “Middle-class kids don’t get locked up for smoking pot, and poor kids do” and unfortunately most of these poorer kids are African-American and Latino, said Mr. Obama reports the Washington Post.
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