‘The View’ Hosts Feel President Obama is Wrong About His VICE Comments on Cannabis & Millenials

Obama made some recent comments that young people should not
be so focused on cannabis legalization, but the women who host The View had a thing or two to say about
that.

Obama’s comments were made in a sit-down
interview with VICE where he was
quoted as saying, “It shouldn’t be young people’s biggest priority; let’s put
it in perspective. Young people, I understand this is important to you, but you
should be thinking about climate change, the economy, jobs, war and peace.
Maybe way at the bottom you should be thinking about marijuana.”

On Tuesday, during an episode of the daytime talk show “The
View,” co-host Whoopi Goldberg stated“I’m not sure I agree. Because, if you
legalize it, it becomes something that grows an economy, as we’ve seen it do in
other places. So I think young people should be concerned about all of these
things. But this is another way that the economy can be grown. I think young
people are concerned about a lot of things, but this is something that they’re
aware of that is being misrepresented because it’s a Schedule I drug, which a
Schedule I drug means there is no reason for it to exist, which is not true,
because people have been using hemp and marijuana for centuries for all kinds
of things.”

“I thought that he didn’t give a lot of young people enough
credit in regards to their knowledge about the legalization
around marijuana because it does include the economics,” added co-
host Rosie Perez.“It also includes the crime in this country and the crime
abroad. And it will decrease a lot. And I think that it’s a very important
issue because if you look at the states that have legalized it, their economy
is booming. And also it will create jobs because it’s not just about selling
weed, like, ‘Ooh, I got a joint, I got an ounce, you wanna buy?’ No. There are
other businesses surrounding the legalization of marijuana,” she said. “It’s
the same thing with prohibition with alcohol… I do agree with you that
young people should be concerned with other issues, but that is also an
important issue.”

When a respectable (yet not widely-left-field liberal) show like The View comes out with such nearly
unanimous support for young people’s political agenda, it spells out good
things for the future of cannabis reform. Support for legal cannabis is no
longer seen as something only supported because young people “want to get high;”
it is seen as a viable and desirable part of the future.