5 ms·

2/3 of Americans support legalizing cannabis. I don’t understand why this bill is so bipartisan among politicians if so many citizens support it.

by nip180 6y ago

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
farisjarrah 6y ago
Prison Industrial Complex lobbying https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/28/how-for-profit-prisons-have-become-the-biggest-lobby-no-one-is-talking-about/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/28/...
- imglorp 6y ago
  Don't forget pharma [1]. Non-addictive pain management with fewer side effects is not in their interest. And similarly, the alcohol and tobacco industries. It's really never about morality. 1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/07/13/one-striking-chart-shows-why-pharma-companies-are-fighting-legal-marijuana/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/07/13/one-s...
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
mumblemumble 6y ago
Wild accusation: Follow the money. There are a lot of people making a lot of money off of private prisons, generally in red states.
- claudeganon 6y ago
  Alcohol manufactures have also dumped massive amounts of money in lobbying against marijuana decriminalization because they don't want the competition.
  - itronitron 6y ago
    And before that they went after Absinthe >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe#History Absinthe makes you crazy and criminal, provokes epilepsy and tuberculosis, and has killed thousands of French people. It makes a ferocious beast of man, a martyr of woman, and a degenerate of the infant, it disorganizes and ruins the family and menaces the future of the country.
- ac29 6y ago
  Private prisons held only 8.2% of inmates in 2017, with many states having zero use at all. Looking at the map, it doesn't appear there is much of a divide between red and blue states in terms of likelihood to use private prisons, or the percentage of prisoners held in them. https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/private-prisons-united-states/ https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/private-priso...
lhopki01 6y ago
Because Republicans don't need 50% of the support. They need way less because of imbalances built into the system. If your core support still does not support legalizing cannabis then it's not worth it to do it.
- CameronNemo 6y ago
  For some hard numbers, as of 2018 15.95% of the US population lived in the 25 least populous states and elected half of the US Senate. To block an conviction of an impeached president or a constitutional amendment, only 34 senators (17 states) are needed. As of 2018, that was as little as 7.32% of the US population. If you care to do the math yourself, this is my source: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_pop... And some python to help once you have lines to summarize: sum(map(float, open('foo').readlines()))
  - mumblemumble 6y ago
    > For some hard numbers, as of 2018 15.95% of the US population lived in the 25 least populous states and elected half of the US Senate. Unless the Zetas have recently started moving into Wyoming, too, I'm guessing they're also the ones being least harmed by externalities from the war on drugs.
CameronNemo 6y ago
Americans don't make laws (or approve judges), Senators do. <16% of the US population elects 50 senators.
- whythre 6y ago
  It’s almost like the US is a representational republic, not a democracy.
  - CameronNemo 6y ago
    I don't feel represented.
  - chillwaves 6y ago
    That's a clever turn of a phrase, but doesn't justify your position in any meaningful way. Can you tell me why it makes sense for so few people to dominate the wills of so many?
    - fuzzer37 6y ago
      Something something.... Land... something something... Coastal Elites...
  - mmcconnell1618 6y ago
    The problem isn't that we're a representative democracy. The problem is the ratio of representation is very far off from the ratios present when the country was formed. The population growth in urban centers combined with the addition of many states with low population has shifted power significantly to a minority. When the United States was formed and the compromise for 2 Senators per state and house representatives by population was agreed to, the largest state population was 11x the smallest state population. Today, California is 70x Wyoming. This has the effect that Senators from smaller states have way more power in today's world than they did in the 1800s. The ratios are unbalanced and need to be adjusted just like we adjust the apportionment of house representatives via the census every 10 years.
pkulak 6y ago
I assume you mean "partisan"? It's because the people who want it will still vote for you if you keep it criminalized. But a significant number of the ones who want it to stay criminalized will totally write you off if you decriminalize it. In the US, how motivated people are is usually even more important than how many of them there are. Combine that fact with the electoral college and gerrymandering, and there is a constant threat of minority rule. EDIT: Private prisons. Can't believe I forgot about that. Everyone else who replied has got the main reason nailed.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
dudul 6y ago
Isn't it what "bipartisan" usually means? When both parties find common ground? I would expect most laws widely supported by the population to be part of a bipartisan situation.
bryanlarsen 6y ago
2/3rds of old white men don't support it, and that describes most politicians.
nickysielicki 6y ago
There is just a lot of hand-wringing about the right way to do it. Both parties want to earmark the potential tax income for their special interests. Biden is pushing for meaningless rescheduling instead of outright legalization because those breaking federal drug laws are not legally allowed to own guns, and marijuana is the most used drug outside of alcohol in this country, and they like the way that plays out where millions of pot users have to choose between getting high and having their second amendment rights.

2/3 of Americans support legalizing cannabis. I don’t understand why this bill is so bipartisan among politicians if so many citizens support it.

by nip180 6y ago

2/3 of Americans support legalizing cannabis. I don’t understand why this bill is so bipartisan among politicians if so many citizens support it.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

farisjarrah 6y ago

Prison Industrial Complex lobbying https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/28/how-for-profit-prisons-have-become-the-biggest-lobby-no-one-is-talking-about/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/28/...

imglorp 6y ago
Don't forget pharma [1]. Non-addictive pain management with fewer side effects is not in their interest. And similarly, the alcohol and tobacco industries. It's really never about morality. 1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/07/13/one-striking-chart-shows-why-pharma-companies-are-fighting-legal-marijuana/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/07/13/one-s...

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

mumblemumble 6y ago

Wild accusation: Follow the money. There are a lot of people making a lot of money off of private prisons, generally in red states.

claudeganon 6y ago
Alcohol manufactures have also dumped massive amounts of money in lobbying against marijuana decriminalization because they don't want the competition.
- itronitron 6y ago
  And before that they went after Absinthe >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe#History Absinthe makes you crazy and criminal, provokes epilepsy and tuberculosis, and has killed thousands of French people. It makes a ferocious beast of man, a martyr of woman, and a degenerate of the infant, it disorganizes and ruins the family and menaces the future of the country.
ac29 6y ago
Private prisons held only 8.2% of inmates in 2017, with many states having zero use at all. Looking at the map, it doesn't appear there is much of a divide between red and blue states in terms of likelihood to use private prisons, or the percentage of prisoners held in them. https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/private-prisons-united-states/ https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/private-priso...

lhopki01 6y ago

Because Republicans don't need 50% of the support. They need way less because of imbalances built into the system. If your core support still does not support legalizing cannabis then it's not worth it to do it.

CameronNemo 6y ago
For some hard numbers, as of 2018 15.95% of the US population lived in the 25 least populous states and elected half of the US Senate. To block an conviction of an impeached president or a constitutional amendment, only 34 senators (17 states) are needed. As of 2018, that was as little as 7.32% of the US population. If you care to do the math yourself, this is my source: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_pop... And some python to help once you have lines to summarize: sum(map(float, open('foo').readlines()))
- mumblemumble 6y ago
  > For some hard numbers, as of 2018 15.95% of the US population lived in the 25 least populous states and elected half of the US Senate. Unless the Zetas have recently started moving into Wyoming, too, I'm guessing they're also the ones being least harmed by externalities from the war on drugs.

CameronNemo 6y ago

Americans don't make laws (or approve judges), Senators do. <16% of the US population elects 50 senators.

whythre 6y ago
It’s almost like the US is a representational republic, not a democracy.
- CameronNemo 6y ago
  I don't feel represented.
- chillwaves 6y ago
  That's a clever turn of a phrase, but doesn't justify your position in any meaningful way. Can you tell me why it makes sense for so few people to dominate the wills of so many?
  - fuzzer37 6y ago
    Something something.... Land... something something... Coastal Elites...
- mmcconnell1618 6y ago
  The problem isn't that we're a representative democracy. The problem is the ratio of representation is very far off from the ratios present when the country was formed. The population growth in urban centers combined with the addition of many states with low population has shifted power significantly to a minority. When the United States was formed and the compromise for 2 Senators per state and house representatives by population was agreed to, the largest state population was 11x the smallest state population. Today, California is 70x Wyoming. This has the effect that Senators from smaller states have way more power in today's world than they did in the 1800s. The ratios are unbalanced and need to be adjusted just like we adjust the apportionment of house representatives via the census every 10 years.

pkulak 6y ago

I assume you mean "partisan"? It's because the people who want it will still vote for you if you keep it criminalized. But a significant number of the ones who want it to stay criminalized will totally write you off if you decriminalize it. In the US, how motivated people are is usually even more important than how many of them there are. Combine that fact with the electoral college and gerrymandering, and there is a constant threat of minority rule. EDIT: Private prisons. Can't believe I forgot about that. Everyone else who replied has got the main reason nailed.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

dudul 6y ago

Isn't it what "bipartisan" usually means? When both parties find common ground? I would expect most laws widely supported by the population to be part of a bipartisan situation.

bryanlarsen 6y ago

2/3rds of old white men don't support it, and that describes most politicians.

nickysielicki 6y ago

There is just a lot of hand-wringing about the right way to do it. Both parties want to earmark the potential tax income for their special interests. Biden is pushing for meaningless rescheduling instead of outright legalization because those breaking federal drug laws are not legally allowed to own guns, and marijuana is the most used drug outside of alcohol in this country, and they like the way that plays out where millions of pot users have to choose between getting high and having their second amendment rights.