By Oscar Pascual |
President Barack Obama visited Jamaica on Wednesday for a town hall meeting in Kingston, and it wasn’t long before someone started legalizing the ganja.
According to an AFP report, Obama answered the inevitable question of legalizing marijuana from the most likely sources – a feared Rastafarian named Miguel Williams.
Williams, who wore a “Rasta4life” wristband and looked like someone from a Morgan Heritage music video, welcomed the president before bringing up the pot topic.
“Thank you! Yes, greetings, Mr. President, life and blessings to you and your family. My name is Miguel Williams, but you can call me and I ‘Steppa’… That’s enough, man,” Williams said. My question has to do with and surrounds US policy regarding the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana.”
“How did I anticipate this question?” Obama was joking.
“We realistically think that the hemp industry, the marijuana industry, offers a very viable alternative to get out of poverty,” Williams said. “So I want to understand and understand how the US views and how would you see Jamaica continue to emphasize decriminalization and legalization.”
Although Obama did not necessarily share his personal opinion on this, he did criticize the War on Drugs.
“I strongly believe that the path we have taken in the United States in the so-called ‘War on Drugs’ has been so heavy in stressing incarceration that it has been counterproductive,” he said.
Ultimately, Obama passed the blame on to Congress.
“I don’t foresee Congress changing the law on a national basis anytime soon,” he said.
While Obama believes that US legalization won’t happen in the near future (although he could just do it himself), while visiting Jamaica, he did a few iri activities, such as visiting Bob Marley’s former home, showing off his spot-on patois accent, and shooting a rainbow from his hand.
Photo credit: supermookinfiends.com
