I just submitted the letter below to President Obama at the White House's website. I encourage others to do something similar
Dear President Obama,
Let me start this letter just by saying hello. You and I were contemporaries at Columbia (I'm '84), and I have discovered that we were once next door neighbors on West 109th St. Someday, perhaps we will swap stories about how we coped with the experience of cold-water slum living.
I'm disappointed to read that your administration intends to enforce marijuana prohibitions in California. Given your personal background as someone who experimented with drugs, and came through the experience unharmed, I can't help but think that you are doing this for cynical political reasons rather than because you truly believe there is a clear moral basis for imprisoning people for marijuana posession. Perhaps I'm wrong, though, and that you really believe in the merits of this course of action. In order to clear this up for me, I'd appreciate your answer to these questions:
When you were in college experimenting with marijuana and cocaine, do you think you should have been arrested?
If there were no statute of limitations, and you were still potentially in legal jeopardy for these actions, do you think you should be arrested now?
To be fair, I'll give you some relevant personal history and answer the same questions. I was a regular pot smoker roughly between the ages of 16 and 20. I also experimented occasionally with cocaine and psychedelics. I stopped on my own when I found I no longer enjoyed the effects. I suffered no ill effects from any of this. As to the questions, no I do not think that you or I should have been arrested for this, now or ever. Nor do I think anyone else should be.
....
FYI: The contact form at the white house seems buggy, and I'm not sure if this all got through, so I will probably re-submit. If anyone else submits something, watch out for this.
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Dear John, Thanks for your letter. I'm sitting here in the Oval Office rolling a fat doob as I write this. I remember you, from the 109th Street building. Remember how people used to dump garbage down the air shaft? All those chicken bones? That wasn't me. But I do have fond memories of drinking beer at the West End and listening to those old Count Basie band members play. Those were the days. Anyway, you raise some good points in your letter. But the thing is, you have to understand: I'm President now, and I'll do as I please. Good hearing from you. Please don't write me again. Sincerely, Your President Barack Obama
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