Obama's prompt no to the query "Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion-dollar industry right here in the U.S.?" dashed the hopes of many who thought our young, hip, new president—who long ago dabbled in the stuff and, by his own admission, inhaled—would come to marijuana's rescue. In a "new era of responsibility," somehow a fat new billion-dollar U.S. His message was delivered on his website, , even before he placed his hand on the Grange Bible.

Obama Was Right to Say No Puff the Magic Dragon—in his naughtier incarnation—bit the dust when President Barack Obama recently made it clear that he is against legalizing marijuana. Yes, even above stem cell research, the war in Iraq, and Wall Street bailouts. Astonishingly, legalization of marijuana ranked as Priority No. 1 for the new administration among the thousands of possible actions voted upon on the website by the public. Marijuana industry doesn't quite square with a world that almost universally outlaws the stuff.

Listen to the president's inauguration speech, and it seems clear why he's unwilling.