5 ms·

House passes bill decriminalizing marijuana at federal level

22 points by Reedx 6y ago

nickysielicki 6y ago
Obviously this isn't passing the senate, so it's moot. The more interesting part of the article is buried here. > "[Biden] would allow states to continue to make their own choices regarding legalization and would seek to make it easier to conduct research on marijuana's positive and negative health impacts by rescheduling it as a schedule 2 drug," Andrew Bates, who is now a spokesperson for the Biden transition, told CNN. I'd like to hear someone argue for why this isn't the worst of both worlds. What good reason is there to leave marijuana as a controlled substance? It seems like they want a law on the books that every marijuana user is technically breaking, but that they plan to not enforce. That's not good policy. That's something they can hold over your head. My take is that they are pushing rescheduling rather than legalization because marijuana serves a valid purpose in the Democratic party agenda of eroding the second amendment. It is a felony for an "unlawful user of [...] any controlled substance" to "possess [...] any firearm." Rescheduling doesn't change anything in that equation, which they like. Under a Biden administration, we're probably going to get half-baked rescheduling solution that appropriates millions of federal tax dollars for expunging records, provides zero additional tax income, and continues the practice of making pot smokers second class citizens with regards to the second amendment. Why can't the government ever do anything right?
- Spivak 6y ago
  I think it's funny because on the Dem side of the house the opinion is that these things are pushed by Republicans to have something to hold over everyone and target "undesirables". Who actually wants this?
  - bobthepanda 6y ago
    A lot of small towns have prisons as their major employer.
- x86_64Ubuntu 6y ago
  Because even on the Left, we still have a sizeable population that is devoted to the War On Drugs and it's stated goals.
- Supermancho 6y ago
  > Obviously this isn't passing the senate, so it's moot. I think it's highly unlikely it would have passed (or been brought to the floor) if there was a Democrat controlled Congress and a (D) President. This is political gaming, imo.
chokeartist 6y ago
I have said it for years and I will say it again: The Republicans are absolutely stupid for missing this opportunity. They market themselves as the party of freedom. Bullshit. To illustrate my contempt, I find it incredibly hypocritical that one can be a raging alcoholic, and own an arsenal of guns... but according to US federal law if you are an "unlawful" user of controlled substances, you are BARRED from gun ownership. That definition includes weed (schedule 1). It really is asinine and not serving any purpose, except for the prison/law-enforcement industry. We need to legalize this plant, and clear out all non-violent (possession-only) offenses from the record. It is time, in my opinion.
redis_mlc 6y ago
> What good reason is there to leave marijuana as a controlled substance? The 2 reasons that I can think of are: 1) currently the THC levels are very high, so it's not a soft drug 2) some users are self-medicating for psychological reasons rather than using it recreationally. So it's worth doing updated research in 2020 before expanding its use further.

22 points by Reedx 6y ago

Obviously this isn't passing the senate, so it's moot. The more interesting part of the article is buried here. > "[Biden] would allow states to continue to make their own choices regarding legalization and would seek to make it easier to conduct research on marijuana's positive and negative health impacts by rescheduling it as a schedule 2 drug," Andrew Bates, who is now a spokesperson for the Biden transition, told CNN. I'd like to hear someone argue for why this isn't the worst of both worlds. What good reason is there to leave marijuana as a controlled substance? It seems like they want a law on the books that every marijuana user is technically breaking, but that they plan to not enforce. That's not good policy. That's something they can hold over your head. My take is that they are pushing rescheduling rather than legalization because marijuana serves a valid purpose in the Democratic party agenda of eroding the second amendment. It is a felony for an "unlawful user of [...] any controlled substance" to "possess [...] any firearm." Rescheduling doesn't change anything in that equation, which they like. Under a Biden administration, we're probably going to get half-baked rescheduling solution that appropriates millions of federal tax dollars for expunging records, provides zero additional tax income, and continues the practice of making pot smokers second class citizens with regards to the second amendment. Why can't the government ever do anything right?

Spivak 6y ago
I think it's funny because on the Dem side of the house the opinion is that these things are pushed by Republicans to have something to hold over everyone and target "undesirables". Who actually wants this?
- bobthepanda 6y ago
  A lot of small towns have prisons as their major employer.
x86_64Ubuntu 6y ago
Because even on the Left, we still have a sizeable population that is devoted to the War On Drugs and it's stated goals.
Supermancho 6y ago
> Obviously this isn't passing the senate, so it's moot. I think it's highly unlikely it would have passed (or been brought to the floor) if there was a Democrat controlled Congress and a (D) President. This is political gaming, imo.

chokeartist 6y ago

I have said it for years and I will say it again: The Republicans are absolutely stupid for missing this opportunity. They market themselves as the party of freedom. Bullshit. To illustrate my contempt, I find it incredibly hypocritical that one can be a raging alcoholic, and own an arsenal of guns... but according to US federal law if you are an "unlawful" user of controlled substances, you are BARRED from gun ownership. That definition includes weed (schedule 1). It really is asinine and not serving any purpose, except for the prison/law-enforcement industry. We need to legalize this plant, and clear out all non-violent (possession-only) offenses from the record. It is time, in my opinion.

redis_mlc 6y ago

> What good reason is there to leave marijuana as a controlled substance? The 2 reasons that I can think of are: 1) currently the THC levels are very high, so it's not a soft drug 2) some users are self-medicating for psychological reasons rather than using it recreationally. So it's worth doing updated research in 2020 before expanding its use further.