U.S. President Barack Obama's first online town hall meeting went ahead as advertised -- an old-school fireside chat on the sputtering economy but aimed at the YouTube generation -- but with more marijuana questions.
During Thursday's town hall-style meeting, Obama took questions directly from the public that were submitted and voted on by visitors to the White House website.
The questions were meant to focus on jobs and the economy, but John Q. Public had a few other subjects in mind.
Two of the most popular questions had to do with drugs, including one which asked: "Do you plan on letting science end the failed 'war' on marijuana for personal and medical use?"
Obama said he noticed that there was a lot of support online for legalizing and taxing marijuana as a way to help boost the economy.
"The answer is, no, I don't think that is a good strategy to grow our economy," he said to laughs.
That drug legalization came up as one of the most popular questions from Americans during one of the worst economic periods in modern history shows the potential pitfalls of online democracy.
Wired magazine noted there were over 250 questions asked about marijuana, compared to less than 100 about manufacturing.
The New York Times reported Thursday that the drug advocacy group, NORML, was making a concerted effort to "swarm" the website, to popularize questions to their liking.
While there may have been some vote-hijacking, the online forum allowed for youth-focused questions to take centre stage - a rarity considering such issues are often ignored by the mainstream news agenda.
Obama spoke at length about the burden that student loans have on many young Americans and the subsequent drag on the economy.
"If you come out of college with $50,000 worth of debt, it's hard for you to then start making a decision about wanting to be a teacher, or wanting to go into social work, or wanting to be a scientist and research to find the next innovation," the president said.
Obama said banks make billions in profit on student loan interest, but said that should change since Washington could instead guarantee such loans and give student's a break.
"They can make profits on other things, but let's not have them make profits on this," he said.
According to the White House, more than 100,000 questions were submitted and about 3.5 million Americans voted on the questions.
The town hall meeting marks Obama's first major attempt as president to use the democratic power of the web - a tool he successfully harnessed as a presidential candidate.
White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs seemed pleased with the results and said that more online town halls were in the planning stages.
Obama has been on an unprecedented public relations blitz over the past two weeks, speaking directly to the nation in an attempt bolster support for his economic plans.
He appeared on Jay Leno's late night talk show, held two in-person town halls in California, was on CBS' "60 Minutes" and also held a prime time press conference on Tuesday.
