Obama Touches on Violence in America, Marijuana Legalization and Island Life at Town Hall in Jamaica
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MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images(KINGSTON, Jamaica) — During a Thursday town hall meeting in Jamaica, President Obama answered some tough questions, including one he says he saw coming.
Asked during the meeting what must be done to solve the violence issues in the south side of Chicago, which has seen spikes in shooting deaths in the last year, Obama issued a call for “effective policing.”
“There is an element of us retaking our communities and being willing to speak out against violence in our midst that doesn’t ignore all the social factors,” the president said. “But Dr. King used to say, it’s not an either or situation, it’s a both and situation,” he continued.
“We have to have effective policing, which means policing that’s actually protecting as opposed to some of the things we’ve been seeing of late in the United States and I’m sure is true in other countries,” Obama added, referencing the shooting of Walter Scott in South Carolina this past weekend, as well as the recent officer-involved deaths of Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
A young Jamaican man asked the president later on about the legalization of marijuana. “How did I anticipate this question,” the president joked.
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He followed up, though, saying that he is “a very strong believer that the path we have taken in the United States in the so-called war on drugs has been so heavy in emphasizing incarceration that it has been counterproductive.”
He also highlighted the “experiment” that the states of Colorado and Washington have taken on in legalizing recreational marijuana. “Right now that is not federal policy, and I do not foresee anytime soon Congress changing the law at a national basis,” he admitted. “It’s conceivable that that will spur on a national debate, but that’s going to take some time.”
Obama said early in the town hall that he felt comfortable in Jamaica. “I just like the vibe here,” he noted. “It was warm, so I feel right at home.”
Obama even liked the island culture so much, he hinted that he might return to the area after he leaves office. “I’ll do some island hopping once I’m out of office.”
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