3 ms·

Pot seems like a natural fit for the banking system that, say, microbreweries use. It's just that we have idiots like Jeff Sessions in the way.

by davidw 9y ago

meddlepal 9y ago
It's hard to blame Jeff Session here... he's just enforcing the law as it is written. Congress needs to do its job.
- wolco 9y ago
  I think its easy to blame him because he is choosing to enforce a policy that was previously not enforced.
  - Turing_Machine 9y ago
    Laws that aren't enforced should be repealed. Selective enforcement is a recipe for tyranny. Though I personally think that weed should be legal, I'm not going to fault Sessions here. The ball's in Congress's court.
    - davidw 9y ago
      Sessions was a Senator until recently, so, yeah, still on idiots like him. I don't consume the stuff, by the way, but it's just been a huge win for Oregon. Millions in tax revenue, and the whole industry is now above board, cutting out any actual criminal types, freeing law enforcement resources for real crimes.
      - Turing_Machine 9y ago
        Then maybe you should be lobbying your idiot Senator to introduce a federal legalization bill, rather than complaining about laws that are on the books being enforced. The problem with laws that "aren't enforced" is that they often do wind up being enforced. Selectively. Against anyone the government doesn't like for whatever reason.
        smcnally 9y ago
        > Laws that aren't enforced should be repealed. or ammended - Enforcing all laws equally at all times is not possible. There will always be priorities and resource allocation. Why cannabis prosecutions have now become a priority is not clear. The immediate impact and chilling effects are clear. What should state governments and businesses do while federal legislation is work-in-progress?
        int_19h 9y ago
        We don't need a legalization bill. Congress has given DEA full authority to reschedule drugs, and this includes removing them from the schedule altogether. Thus, the federal status of marijuana is one executive order away by the DEA director. Or a person said director is reporting to - like, say, the Attorney General. So, as it happens, Sessions could make this whole mess go away with a stroke of his pen. Or Trump could direct him to do so. Congress could then vote to reschedule it again, of course - but I doubt they'd dare, given the polls on the issue.
        andrewla 9y ago
        Interesting if true. I am dubious about this because I know that congress has taken action about specific drugs before (notably crack) and I would be surprised if they hadn't passed legislation requiring marijuana to be restricted. I don't know how to search for this information, though, or how I would be confident that it didn't exist without being a domain expert. Edit: Follow-up, wikipedia has an excellent article [1] about the complexities here. Either congress or the executive could easily make medicinal marijuana legal by rescheduling, but to legalize for recreational use, they would have to amend an international treaty [2], which would require congress to act. Apparently congress has not explicitly scheduled marijuana (as it has other drugs), so the executive is free to act within the constraints of the Single Convention. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Removal_of_cannabis_from_Schedule_I_of_the_Controlled_Substances_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Removal_of_cannabis_from_Sched... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Convention_on_Narcotic_Drugs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Convention_on_Narcotic_...
        dragonwriter 9y ago

Pot seems like a natural fit for the banking system that, say, microbreweries use. It's just that we have idiots like Jeff Sessions in the way.

by davidw 9y ago

Pot seems like a natural fit for the banking system that, say, microbreweries use. It's just that we have idiots like Jeff Sessions in the way.

meddlepal 9y ago

It's hard to blame Jeff Session here... he's just enforcing the law as it is written. Congress needs to do its job.

wolco 9y ago
I think its easy to blame him because he is choosing to enforce a policy that was previously not enforced.
- Turing_Machine 9y ago
  Laws that aren't enforced should be repealed. Selective enforcement is a recipe for tyranny. Though I personally think that weed should be legal, I'm not going to fault Sessions here. The ball's in Congress's court.
  - davidw 9y ago
    Sessions was a Senator until recently, so, yeah, still on idiots like him. I don't consume the stuff, by the way, but it's just been a huge win for Oregon. Millions in tax revenue, and the whole industry is now above board, cutting out any actual criminal types, freeing law enforcement resources for real crimes.
    - Turing_Machine 9y ago
      Then maybe you should be lobbying your idiot Senator to introduce a federal legalization bill, rather than complaining about laws that are on the books being enforced. The problem with laws that "aren't enforced" is that they often do wind up being enforced. Selectively. Against anyone the government doesn't like for whatever reason.
      - smcnally 9y ago
        > Laws that aren't enforced should be repealed. or ammended - Enforcing all laws equally at all times is not possible. There will always be priorities and resource allocation. Why cannabis prosecutions have now become a priority is not clear. The immediate impact and chilling effects are clear. What should state governments and businesses do while federal legislation is work-in-progress?
      - int_19h 9y ago
        We don't need a legalization bill. Congress has given DEA full authority to reschedule drugs, and this includes removing them from the schedule altogether. Thus, the federal status of marijuana is one executive order away by the DEA director. Or a person said director is reporting to - like, say, the Attorney General. So, as it happens, Sessions could make this whole mess go away with a stroke of his pen. Or Trump could direct him to do so. Congress could then vote to reschedule it again, of course - but I doubt they'd dare, given the polls on the issue.
        andrewla 9y ago
        Interesting if true. I am dubious about this because I know that congress has taken action about specific drugs before (notably crack) and I would be surprised if they hadn't passed legislation requiring marijuana to be restricted. I don't know how to search for this information, though, or how I would be confident that it didn't exist without being a domain expert. Edit: Follow-up, wikipedia has an excellent article [1] about the complexities here. Either congress or the executive could easily make medicinal marijuana legal by rescheduling, but to legalize for recreational use, they would have to amend an international treaty [2], which would require congress to act. Apparently congress has not explicitly scheduled marijuana (as it has other drugs), so the executive is free to act within the constraints of the Single Convention. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Removal_of_cannabis_from_Schedule_I_of_the_Controlled_Substances_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Removal_of_cannabis_from_Sched... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Convention_on_Narcotic_Drugs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Convention_on_Narcotic_...
        dragonwriter 9y ago