Obama Talks Marijuana Decriminalization and Reclassification
The president keeps evolving on pot.
A woman rolls a marijuana cigarette as photographed on August 30, 2014 in Bethpage, New York.
Photographer: Bruce Bennett/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
President Barack Obama is the most powerful former marijuana smoker in America. He's never tried to conceal that, but he has generally laughed off the questions—and there have been many—about whether he'd legalize marijuana.
Only recently, with no more elections to fight for his party, has Obama started to tell interviewers that he wants softer treatment of a popular drug that shares Schedule I status with far deadlier substances like heroin and LSD. In an interview with Vice, after a semi-apologetic question from Shane Smith, Obama expressed optimism that marijuana could be reclassified.