Dear Friends, "I donât know what this says about the online audience," joked President Obama during his first virtual town hall meeting. He was dismissing an idea submitted by tens of thousands of Americans: making marijuana legal. This week, President Obama is visiting Mexico and seeing first hand the drug war violence that is spilling over our southern border, violence you and I know is fueled by marijuana prohibition. Now that heâs seen whatâs really happening, you have the chance to tell the president it's time for a serious discussion about the consequences of marijuana prohibition. Thousands of people have been killed in the drug war in Mexico in the last couple of years. The drug traffickers are stockpiling machine guns and grenades and now are operating in hundreds of U.S. cities. This level of violence is the inevitable result of policies that create a lucrative black market. You and I understand that ending marijuana prohibition would reduce violence and corruption the same way ending alcohol Prohibition did. I hope now that President Obama has seen the grisly consequences of marijuana prohibition first hand, he will no longer joke about marijuana law reform. Join me in telling him: This issue is deadly serious, and it's time to put all options on the table. Sincerely, Bill Piper
Director, Office of National Affairs
Drug Policy Alliance Network | 
