I'm seeing that there is a top rated diary complaining that Obama laughed off a question about legalization of marijuana. In fact, that's not what he was asked at all. Here's the transript:
THE PRESIDENT: Can I just interrupt, Jared, before you ask the next question, just to say that we -- we took votes about which questions were going to be asked and I think 3 million people voted or --
DR. BERNSTEIN: Three point five million.
THE PRESIDENT: Three point five million people voted. I have to say that there was one question that was voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy -- (laughter) -- and job creation. And I don't know what this says about the online audience -- (laughter) -- but I just want -- I don't want people to think that -- this was a fairly popular question; we want to make sure that it was answered. The answer is, no, I don't think that is a good strategy -- (laughter) -- to grow our economy. (Applause.) So -- all right.
So there you have it, his answer is that no, it is not a good strategy for growing the economy. His answer is not that it is a bad strategy for other reasons. He actually addresses the question asked for the forum. He is silent on the issue of marijana legalization / decriminalization in general.
I personally don't really care what his response was. Just wanted to point out that it is important to listen to the question before jumping on the response.
Update: Thanks so much for the recommends everyone.
I would also point out that if you actually watch the video, he takes the question quite seriously. He actually laughs in response to the audience's laughter. He is serious, he states the question, the audience laughs, he laughs along, and then he finishes up on a serious note by answering the question. I don't interpret the response as being condecending at all. He didn't have to bring the issue up at all.
Here's a link to the vid from Huff Post.