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Obama: Marijuana is Not a Good Economic Route for Recovery
In today's online town hall meeting with President Barack Obama, possible questions were voted on by millions of Americans. Overwhelmingly, and not surprisingly, one of the most popular questions was in regards to marijuana and the economy. "I don't know what this says about the online audience," Obama remarked, adding "no, I don't think that's a good strategy to grow our economy." Jack Cole, the executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), said in response, via the Huffington Post, that "it would be an enormous economic stimulus if we stopped wasting so much money arresting and locking people up for nonviolent drug offenses and instead brought in new tax revenue from legal sales, just as we did when ended alcohol prohibition 75 years ago during the Great Depression."
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
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