Remove marijuana from the federal Controlled Substance Act and allow the states to decide how they want to regulate it

"Remove marijuana from the federal Controlled Substance Act and allow the states to decide how they want to regulate it" was the largest of three petitions conerning the legalization of Marijuana. It was the first which began on Nov 07, 2012 and ended on January 08, 2013 and received 83,684 signatures. The other two,

"Support a law protecting states' rights to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana like alcohol" began on November 12th, 2012 and received 46,185 signatures along with "Federally Legalize Marijuana" began on November 8th, 2012 and received 44,049 signatures.

Response
"Addressing the Legalization of Marijuana" by Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy

Thank you for participating in We the People and speaking out on the legalization of marijuana. Coming out of the recent election, it is clear that we're in the midst of a serious national conversation about marijuana.

At President Obama's request, the Justice Department is reviewing the legalization initiatives passed in Colorado and Washington, given differences between state and federal law. In the meantime, please see a recent interview with Barbara Walters in which President Obama addressed the legalization of marijuana.

Barbara Walters:

Do you think that marijuana should be legalized?

President Obama:

Well, I wouldn't go that far. But what I think is that, at this point, Washington and Colorado, you've seen the voters speak on this issue. And as it is, the federal government has a lot to do when it comes to criminal prosecutions. It does not make sense from a prioritization point of view for us to focus on recreational drug users in a state that has already said that under state law that's legal.

…this is a tough problem because Congress has not yet changed the law. I head up the executive branch; we're supposed to be carrying out laws. And so what we're going to need to have is a conversation about how do you reconcile a federal law that still says marijuana is a federal offense and state laws that say that it's legal.

When you're talking about drug kingpins, folks involved with violence, people are who are peddling hard drugs to our kids in our neighborhoods that are devastated, there is no doubt that we need to go after those folks hard… it makes sense for us to look at how we can make sure that our kids are discouraged from using drugs and engaging in substance abuse generally. There is more work we can do on the public health side and the treatment side.