Pubdate: Mon, 20 Jan 2014
Source: USA Today (US)
Copyright: 2014 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/625HdBMl
Website: http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/index.htm
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/466
Author: William M. Welch
Page: 1A

ALCOHOL WORSE THAN POT, OBAMA SAYS

Colo., Wash. Laws Key 'Experiments'

President Obama says marijuana use is no more dangerous than alcohol,
though he regards it as a bad habit he hopes his children will avoid.

"As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as
a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I
smoked," he said in a magazine interview. "I don't think it is more
dangerous than alcohol."

He said marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol "in terms of its
impact on the individual consumer."

"It's not something I encourage, and I've told my daughters I think
it's a bad idea," he said.

Obama made his remarks in interviews with The New Yorker, which
published a story about the conversations in its Jan. 27 issue and on
its website.

Marijuana remains illegal to possess or sell under federal law,
although Colorado and Washington have state laws making it legal to
possess and use in small amounts. Several states have authorized pot
for medical use.

Obama said he was troubled by the disproportionate arrests and
imprisonment of minorities on marijuana charges.

"Middle-class kids don't get locked up for smoking pot, and poor kids
do," he said. "And African-American kids and Latino kids are more
likely to be poor and less likely to have the resources and the
support to avoid unduly harsh penalties."

Obama said the legalizations in Colorado and Washington are important
experiments, but legalization is no panacea for social problems, and
the experiment in those states "is going to be, I think, a challenge."

Mason Tvert, of the Marijuana Policy Project in Denver, which
advocates for legalization, said Obama's remarks underscore the need
to reconsider federal and state marijuana prohibitions. "The first
step to improving our nation's marijuana policy is admitting that
marijuana is less harmful than alcohol. ... It's time to adopt a more
fact-based marijuana policy."
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