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People upthread are arguing about the senate as a system, but how much does that really matter when wildly popular things, like legalizing marijuana, are not ev
by dfxm12 1y ago
People upthread are arguing about the senate as a system, but how much does that really matter when wildly popular things, like legalizing marijuana, are not even considered by anyone in congress? A majority of Americans are in favor of this, and have been for over a decade.
- mrguyorama 1y ago> wildly popular things, like legalizing marijuana, are not even considered by anyone in congress? Because it's not "not considered by anyone". Democrats have been demonstrably decriminalizing and legalizing weed all over the country, and the Democrats in the federal government have been pushing and submitting and trying to make it happen. It's republicans. They are the ones that continually stonewall a measure the vast majority of their constituents support, and they are the ones that somehow still get elected despite that. Show me the democrats preventing legalization of weed federally. Show me the democrats who invite cop associations to talk at their meetings about how dangerous weed is. Show me the democrats who are taking money from cop associations or prison lobbying organizations who very explicitly want to keep weed illegal. Stop overgeneralizing! It's literally how things are this bad! Blame who is actually at fault!
- hemp_is_canvas 1y agoI'm confused, only 22 democratic senators tried to stop this, plus Paul and Cruz. They just did outlaw it only because it is not called "marijuana". Is it necessary to recount how this entire split is partially due to racism, anyway?
- HDThoreaun 1y agoThis law is about banning hemp companies from selling psychoactive products. It is about protecting weed companies from unregulated competition. The libertarians voted against it because they want to get rid of the regulation the weed companies face, not because they care more about legalizing weed,
- throwup238 1y agoThe DEA started hearings on rescheduling marijuana last year. It’s currently on hold pending an appeals court case.
- heavyset_go 1y agoIf it's scheduled at all, you aren't getting it without a regular prescription from a medical doctor, and its production will be highly regulated, subject to DEA limits and quotas, and patients will need to carry their prescription with them at all times if they leave their home with marijuana on them. That's not the same thing as legalization as it's implemented elsewhere in the US.
- ApolloFortyNine 1y agoI had read a while ago, and I struggle to really argue with it, that legalizing marijuana is simply the carrot on the stick. Many Republicans are just against it out right, and many Democrats are either indifferent or know that promising to legalize it will mobilize a subset of voters who prioritize it above else (or may just not vote at all otherwise, over 30% of Americans don't vote after all). It'd explain why there's been so many opportunities to reschedule the drug, and why in some states even when they had the numbers to pass legalization, they still don't. Or do so with extra incentives (often the actual sale of it) to come later (vote next cycle!).
- mebizzle 1y agoAKA, the system at work and our issues just become bargaining chips for influence by the parties.