While I am convinced pot, especially after the way it has evolved the last 30 years, is not a net good, I think it is time pot was legalized and regulated in much the same way we regulate alcohol. The Sessions approach is hasn’t worked for decades. Two thirds or more of the American people agree with me. The Republican Congress fails to address this issue at its peril.
Looks like the elf needs a distraction.
The problem is the anti-pot side has fought scientific and clinical studies tooth and nail. I never trust people who try to obfuscate the facts.
I think your position is a very reasonable, personally opposed, but let people make their own choice.
It’s actually much worse than that. Even if it isn’t a net good, the opioid crisis makes it look like a hang nail.
The past approach was to amputate the arm at the elbow. The cure has been far worse than the disease, IMHO.
There is a specific policy change that will solve this problem overnight. It is called “Schedule 2” reclassification.
Please encourage people to ask for this specific change. The problem is that the drug war is so complicated and involves different levels of government that even people who want a sensible policy don’t know what to ask for.
Schedule 2 is the best next step – it will allow objective scientific study and will allow dispensaries to use credit cards and banks instead of cash. This is the same legal status as cocaine, meth, oxycontin.
Ask for “Schedule 2” by name!
Sessions and some law enforcement officials blame legalization for a number of problems, including trafficking black market weed. Authorities are also concerned about stoned drivers and fear that widespread acceptance of the drug could increase its youth appeal.
Advocates for the drug that is classified in federal law in the same category as heroin have argued that it has medicinal qualities and causes less harm than alcohol. They have said the government needs to focus on rampant opioid abuse and allow a regulated marijuana market that will reduce crime by eliminating the need for a black market.
If only there were some data to see what the effects of legalization are.
Yuba County Sheriff Steve Durfor said he’s hopeful Sessions’ actions signal a new willingness of federal authorities to help the impoverished region enforce marijuana laws. His department outside Sacramento has struggled to slow a large and growing influx of illegal operations setting up shop in the region. Officers destroyed a record 30,000 plants last year, surpassing the previous record of 8,800 plants destroyed in 2016.
A classmate of mine went to Humboldt State in the early 1980’s. The record bust theme, and demands for ever more money have been a consistent feature of the drug war.
I’m not sure if they realize this refrain is very damning, and essentially admits abject failure in their approach.
I would say drug warriors spend money like drunken sailors, except that would be an insult to drunken sailors, when a drunken sailor runs of money he has to stop.
So a couple of questions, and I’m not a pot user so please don’t make fun of me:
If Sessions returns to the days of old won’t that encourage more drug smuggling over the border? How would that fit in with MAGA and bringing jobs back home?
With the opioid crisis why isn’t Sessions and US Attorneys going after drug companies? A problem that really is killing people.
…which is precisely what GOP reactionary authoritarianism is against.
And I’m not sure the current policies on the three drugs you mentioned – cocaine, meth, and oxycontin – are considered satisfactory.
It’s not about saving lives. The GOP is OK with killing people.
It will certainly increase the price and therefore the incentives for trans-national cartels.
It’s part of the many contradictions of conservatism. They claim to be against regulations, and be pro-business, unless it is a business they object to, like abortion clinics or cannabis. Cannabis has many commercial and industrial uses, excluding medicinal and recreational uses.
That is the $1 million question. I wish I knew. My best guess is that cannabis has gotten wrapped up in the tribalism and culture wars that started in the 1960’s and have only intensified since. Pot is inherently evil because it is associated with hippies. The drug companies come in suits and ties.
It goes way further back than that. Are you familiar with the 1936 propaganda film “Reefer Madness”?
Initially, pot fright’s origins in early 20th century America were tied to racism.
Unfortunately they all seem to be ok with killing people:
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/index.htm
“Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including more than 41,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure. This is about one in five deaths annually, or 1,300 deaths every day.”
Not sure why tobacco is always left out of this conversation. 480,000 deaths per year. Deadliest drug we produce.
And the notorious racist Harry Anslinger, who lied repeatedly about the “dangers” of the evil weed.
He was largely responsible for pot getting classified with heroin as a Schedule 1 drug.
Yes, of course you are right. I had forgotten about that.
And William Randolph Hearst.
https://www.massroots.com/learn/the-man-responsible-for-marijuana-prohibition/
I smoked a pack a day of Marlboro lights for 30 years. I made my first attempt at quitting at 26, after I had been smoking for 10 years. It took dozens and dozens of attempts to quit, and was finally able to make it stick at 46. Nicotine is an insidious drug. I enjoyed a few cigarettes a day, but most of them were to alleviate the craving you feel an hour or so after your last cigarette.
It is an intensely addictive substance, at least for me it was. I know some people who could have a few cigarettes and quit. I never understood how they could do that. For me, it was 1 was too many, and 100 wasn’t enough.
From this point onward the following words are not allowed in government documents and communications:
Marijuana, cannabis, maryjane, reefer, grass, boo, weed, toke, bhang, dope, hemp, herb, tea, ganja, hash, joint, roach, doobie, loco weed, sinsemilla, bud, cola, dab, diesel, ditch weed, fire, hydro, indica, flower, green, kind, kush, laughing grass, lid, loud, mota, nug, Pakalolo, purps, sticky icky, sungrown, treefer, trim, wacky tabacky, yerba, zone, Acapulco gold, Maui Wowie, Panama Red, KGB, Killer Bud, and of course,
pot
Or kettle, or black. For that matter.
BTW, I think there is a legitimate 10th amendment issue here. Using the Interstate Commerce clause to regulate pot is dubious at best.
If we are going to claim to be a Federal Republic when it comes to Bush and Trump claiming the Presidency after getting the 2nd most votes, then Senators representing representing 600,000 people in Wyoming, or Alaska, or North Dakota, have no business telling 40 million Californians how to regulate a purely state marijuana market.
Not at all. The interstate commerce clause is the basis for about 80% of the laws and regulations in this country—and that includes regulating pot, which is almost always an act of interstate commerce.
The 10th amendment doesn’t really enter into it very much.
All this discussion of the history of pot is well and good but here is the number that rules them all. Sixty four percent of Americans are in favor of legalization.