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"What do you say to this growing voter constituency?" a retired Los Angeles deputy police chief, Stephen Downing, asked President Barack Obama.
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Downing uploaded his recorded question for Obama to YouTube and submitted it to the White House's "Your Interview with the President" contest, in which Americans can vote on the questions they want Obama to answer Monday at 5:30 p.m.
His question is one of the most "liked" submissions. But the constituency Downing mentioned isn't concerned about immigration, raising taxes on the 1 percent or domestic oil production. Downing, a member of a group called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, is referring to people who want marijuana legal and regulated.
And below Downing's video are pages and pages of inquiries about the president's drug policy and marijuana legalization -- many racking up hundreds, if not thousands of votes. Downing's video was "liked" by 4,501 people, though 196 did not approve of the question.
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For the White House, this is routine. The administration attempts to reach out using social media to learn about and address concerns. Nearly all of the questions are about legalizing marijuana.
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"We always try to take the opportunity to get our message out whenever the White House puts out these public forums," said Tom Angell, media relations director for LEAP, a group that advocates legalizing and regulating the plant. "It appears to be one of our only opportunities to engage with policy makers and our nation's leaders on this issue."
Angell said during the George W. Bush administration, marijuana advocates would have to crash his drug czar's press conferences to get a question answered. Now, they are submitted online and validated by the throngs of supporters who vote for them.
And the Obama administration has tackled their concerns, rather than ignoring them.
In November, Obama drug czar Gil Kerlikowske defended the administration's support for keeping marijuana on the list of Schedule I controlled substances during an initiative called "We the People," which allowed Americans to petition the White House for policy changes. Naturally, the initiative was a magnet for petitions on marijuana legalization.
During last year's "Your Interview with the President" YouTube contest, a LEAP member asked if there will be a time to discuss the legalization of marijuana to combat the illicit drug trade and terrorism financing. Obama, who opposes legalization, replied, "I think this is an entirely legitimate topic for debate."
"We thought it was a huge victory for a sitting president to say that," Angell said.
The White House on Weed
Drug law reform advocates have embraced social media to push the administration on marijuana legalization, which the White House opposes, citing health and safety reasons.
Yet the Obama administration has made notable policy changes on marijuana and drugs. The White House has narrowed the disparity in sentencing for crack and cocaine offenses and focused on alternatives to the War on Drugs and mass incarceration. The administration touts its spending priorities, giving near-equal weight to drug treatment and enforcement.
