Your Chance to Ask Obama About Criminal Justice Reform

Three months after taking office, President Obama took part in a town hall-style meeting where he answered questions voted on by Americans – about 3 ½ million of them, to be exact.

But when the top vote-getter turned out to be a question about legalizing marijuana, the president's response wasn't as respectful and dignified as a whole lot of people had hoped it would be, consisting of a hefty dose of condescension spliced with laughter, which is all too typical of politicians confronted with the opinions of the unwashed masses they claim to represent.

“[T]here was one question that was voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy,” Obama said, chuckling. “I don't know what this says about the online audience … The answer is, no.”

And I don't know what it says about our elected officials that they are so dismissive of maybe, just possibly, pursuing a different strategy than the tried-and-failed one of the last few decades of spending billions of dollars incarcerating evermore Americans for non-violent drug offenses; in 2009, more than 858,000 people were arrested for marijuana violations alone. Well, actually, I do know what that says about our politicians, but the words that come to mind aren't printable.

Later this week, Americans will again get a chance to ask President Obama why he's so committed to a marijuana policy – and a war on drugs – that is so costly in terms of lives and taxpayer money, but has achieved little more than the largest prison population in world history.

Thanks to the folks at YouTube, you can submit and vote on questions to ask Obama during an interview that will be streamed live on Thursday, January 27. And if the current frontrunners are any indication, the president will again have to answer for why, amid record budget deficits caused in part by the cost of incarcerating more than 2.3 million Americans, he believes people should be put in jail for the same non-violent offenses he engaged in before he entered politics.

What I would personally like to see? Obama answer this question: “Mr. President, in your autobiography you admit to having used both marijuana and cocaine as a student in college. Do you think you would be better off today had you been convicted of a felony and sentenced to prison? And if the answer's no, how can you support locking up young men and women for doing the same thing you did?”

Let's see him laugh that one off.

If you'd like to vote for that question to be asked on Thursday, go here and give it a "thumbs up." Or if you'd like to ask one of your own, visit http://youtube.com/askobama and follow these recommendations from the folks at YouTube:

1. Video questions are highly preferred. Videos should be about 20 seconds long and be sure to ask the question directly.
2. Speak clearly and try to film in a place with minimal background noise. Keep the camera as still as possible.
3. Feel free to be creative (use props, charts, etc.) to help your question stand out. If you have time, find an interesting backdrop that may help reinforce your message.
4. Submit your question early.

The deadline to submit questions and vote on those you'd like to be ask is this Wednesday, January 26, at midnight Eastern Time.

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Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons