Heard on the Hill: Obama’s Drug (Policy) Problem
What do you want to #AskObama? It’s probably about legalizing marijuana, isn’t it?
At least, that’s what the audience has overwhelmingly asked President Barack Obama about during his past two online town halls, first in 2009 and again last January.
The “Open for Questions” feature and the YouTube town hall that the White House hosted over the past few years allowed the public to vote for its favorite questions. Among the top queries for both events? Obama’s drug policy in general and marijuana legalization in particular.
But today’s Twitter town hall might be a bit different. The whims of the stoner masses won’t take over as they have before — this time, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey will be moderating questions according to which he thinks are the most relevant.
When asked how this would work numerous times during a phone conference Tuesday, Macon Phillips, the White House’s director of new media, declined to comment on how much moderating would actually occur.
“Ultimately, the decisions over what questions are asked fall to Twitter,” he said.
Still, the masses cannot be silenced or ignored.
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (Twitter handle @NORML) has already garnered more than 100 retweets with this question, “Pres. Obama: Why can’t we discuss legalizing cannabis to create jobs and save millions annually on enforcement?”
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