4 ms·

Only cannabis that is prescribed medically or in an FDA-approved product: > Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday changed the classifications of pro

by ezfe 6mo ago

Only cannabis that is prescribed medically or in an FDA-approved product: > Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday changed the classifications of products containing marijuana that are covered by the Food and Drug Administration or that have received a state medical-marijuana licence. They will move from a Schedule I narcotic like heroin to a Schedule III drug - on par with Tylenol with codeine. > He also called a hearing to consider reclassifying all marijuana.

mlinhares 6mo ago
Still boggles my mind the previous administration had the power to do that and did nothing.
- chneu 6mo ago
  Biden is/was extremely pro-cop. Cops love weed legislation because it's an easy way to stop citizens. The prison system also loves weed legislation. So many folks are/were behind bars for weed.
  - dmix 6mo ago
    There has still been a major decline in federal prosecutions for marijuana in the US, something like -50% since 2020. The vast majority of weed prosecutions happen at the state level. Biden also mass pardoned minor weed possession charges https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/biden-marijuana-simple-possession-pardons-1.6608858 https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/biden-marijuana-simple-possess...
    - cucumber3732842 6mo ago
      State vs federal unfortunatly doesn't change the math behind the "if we do W then union X will not support us and then voting block Y will vote against us at a predicted rate of Z%" math upon which most of these political decisions are calculated.
      - dmix 6mo ago
        That is true. Plus DEA doesn't want to lose any power and they'll have the presidents ear.
  - ch4s3 6mo ago
    [flagged]
- pelotron 6mo ago
  Could have had so many easy W's and just didn't.
  - GuB-42 6mo ago
    Politically, it has to be a calculated move. Some people oppose it, others support it. I think most people here are pro-cannabis and liberal, and I think most will see legalization as a "win", but politically, is it really? Will your vote change depending on the result? If you don't your voice don't matter as much. Those who matter are at the fringe: pro-cannabis leaning conservative, anti-cannabis leaning liberals, etc... Legalizing cannabis may win the first group, but lose the second group. Timing is important too. Did a big cannabis-related news broke out lately, can it be used to divert attention from other matters, like an unpopular tax. To me, cannabis seems to be very strategic in partisan politics. Like gender identity, sex work, etc... These are subjects where people has strong opinions and unlike other subjects like economics that are highly dependant on external factors and governments have little power in practice, these can go either way without causing too much disruption.
    - armchairhacker 6mo ago
      I can’t imagine a scenario where the Democrats legalize cannabis and it hurts their elections. You think there are more anti-cannabis liberals than pro-cannabis conservatives? I think that actually, if Democrats just did what seems clearly good for most of the country, they’d have much better electoral outcomes than their current Kafka-esque strategy.
      - Gud 6mo ago
        No, but it may push people on the fence away. The “liberals” will never vote republican anyway.
- soupfordummies 6mo ago
  for real, I was kind of thinking they would pull an October Surprise out of the hat like "Surprise, weed is federally legal!"
  - nekusar 6mo ago
    Joe Biden to rich donors: “Nothing would fundamentally change” if he’s elected https://www.salon.com/2019/06/19/joe-biden-to-rich-donors-nothing-would-fundamentally-change-if-hes-elected/ https://www.salon.com/2019/06/19/joe-biden-to-rich-donors-no... I had no confidence in any mealy-mouth things Biden said. And for that matter, after watching Obama make campaign promises and then completely backing out, I had no confidence for him either. (But elections arent always about voting for. Sometimes its voting against.) Trump's worse, by a LOT. However to his credit, he did completely unban delta6, delta8, delta10, HHC, THC0, and a whole lot other THC based drugs federally. He did do a hell of a lot more than any other democrat or republican, just with a single action.
- panja 6mo ago
  I don't think this is a completely fair characterization: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_policy_of_the_Biden_administration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_policy_of_the_Biden_a...
  - DoneWithAllThat 6mo ago
    Your link does nothing to address OP’s claim. Reclassifying marijuana requires only the stroke of the president’s pen. Biden chose not to do that.
    - lenerdenator 6mo ago
      Apparently not, or Trump would have done it earlier, too. There were investigations into just what reclassification would mean for other regulations, laws and treaties. These were begun during the Biden administration and are now being finished. If you just say "weed's schedule III now", without any other modifications to policy, you'll have confusion over just what that means to a bunch of different federal, state, and local agencies. Also, you don't want a President just doing things with the stroke of a pen. Actually, that's our biggest problem right now, letting an autocrat piss all over separation of powers as a treat.
    - malfist 6mo ago
      Biden didn't want to reclassify it because there's really no point in reclassifying. It's still illegal to possess for recreational use and requires a controlled substance prescription from a doctor. It would take a law to remove it from the control substances scheduling, no president can do that. Which is also why Trump didn't do it. (It's now schedule 3 instead of schedule 1)
      - mlinhares 6mo ago
        Poor Biden, couldn't do anything, but Trump fired thousands of government employees, killed USAID, is about to close the department of education. People really have to stop saying this, he could have done it if he wanted, he and his team choose not to.
- lenerdenator 6mo ago
  That's not true. Biden started this process, and it has continued into the Trump administration.
  - mminer237 6mo ago
    Biden did start the process, but Trump actually just cancelled that process and started a totally different process.
    - tantalor 6mo ago
      Don't give him credit for solving a problem he created.
- superxpro12 6mo ago
  They did. Biden did the "right" thing by starting a 4 years long re-certifying process. That's how "locked down" marijuana was... It was in the same class as heroin. You cant just "sign a piece of paper". (And its worth remembering hemp/marijuana has been locked down for literal centuries for silly reason. First because it was affecting the rope industry, and then later as a tool to suppress minorities and hippies and the counter-culture anti-vietnam movement in the 60's. Cant have black panthers running around with guns, But how can we criminalize them? Well... you make something they all do illegal.... like smoking weed. There's a reason the incarceration for weed-related offenses is VASTLY BLACK. I mean... you can just EO this.... but there's rules you're SUPPOSED to follow. Biden did that. This is simply Trump reaping the rewards of that effort without (of course) giving any acknowledgement to Biden. Oh and BTW, why didn't Trump do this in his FIRST administration in 2016-2020? Oh, and remind me which party consistently voted AGAINST rescheduling over the past 30 years? The private prison industry is affected by this HARD. When you deregulate, all those marijuana criminals (who are mostly black btw) go away. Thats less heads in jail, which is less money to the private prison corporations. My guess is now that this current administration is sending immigrants and americans to immigrant concentration camps, their headcount will be a wash when the marijuana convictions fade away. And guess which party the private prison industry donates to? Ruling by executive order is fundamentally incompatible with democracy.
  - tosti 6mo ago
    Eh, relax... One good hit of the kush would do wonders for reducing your stress level.
- ApolloFortyNine 6mo ago
  I have trouble not believing the 'theory' that it's the carrot that gets some percentage of voters out to vote for you. Actually solving it removes the carrot. And with most presidential elections actually being quite close, and only ~70% of the population voting at best, even getting 3-5% voters, who otherwise don't care at all about politics and wouldn't bother voting for any cadidate, to vote for you simply means you win.
- ranger_danger 6mo ago
  There was a bill introduced during Biden called STATES 2.0 that would have descheduled it entirely, but it was never voted on.

by ezfe 6mo ago

mlinhares 6mo ago

Still boggles my mind the previous administration had the power to do that and did nothing.

chneu 6mo ago
Biden is/was extremely pro-cop. Cops love weed legislation because it's an easy way to stop citizens. The prison system also loves weed legislation. So many folks are/were behind bars for weed.
- dmix 6mo ago
  There has still been a major decline in federal prosecutions for marijuana in the US, something like -50% since 2020. The vast majority of weed prosecutions happen at the state level. Biden also mass pardoned minor weed possession charges https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/biden-marijuana-simple-possession-pardons-1.6608858 https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/biden-marijuana-simple-possess...
  - cucumber3732842 6mo ago
    State vs federal unfortunatly doesn't change the math behind the "if we do W then union X will not support us and then voting block Y will vote against us at a predicted rate of Z%" math upon which most of these political decisions are calculated.
    - dmix 6mo ago
      That is true. Plus DEA doesn't want to lose any power and they'll have the presidents ear.
- ch4s3 6mo ago
  [flagged]
pelotron 6mo ago
Could have had so many easy W's and just didn't.
- GuB-42 6mo ago
  Politically, it has to be a calculated move. Some people oppose it, others support it. I think most people here are pro-cannabis and liberal, and I think most will see legalization as a "win", but politically, is it really? Will your vote change depending on the result? If you don't your voice don't matter as much. Those who matter are at the fringe: pro-cannabis leaning conservative, anti-cannabis leaning liberals, etc... Legalizing cannabis may win the first group, but lose the second group. Timing is important too. Did a big cannabis-related news broke out lately, can it be used to divert attention from other matters, like an unpopular tax. To me, cannabis seems to be very strategic in partisan politics. Like gender identity, sex work, etc... These are subjects where people has strong opinions and unlike other subjects like economics that are highly dependant on external factors and governments have little power in practice, these can go either way without causing too much disruption.
  - armchairhacker 6mo ago
    I can’t imagine a scenario where the Democrats legalize cannabis and it hurts their elections. You think there are more anti-cannabis liberals than pro-cannabis conservatives? I think that actually, if Democrats just did what seems clearly good for most of the country, they’d have much better electoral outcomes than their current Kafka-esque strategy.
    - Gud 6mo ago
      No, but it may push people on the fence away. The “liberals” will never vote republican anyway.
soupfordummies 6mo ago
for real, I was kind of thinking they would pull an October Surprise out of the hat like "Surprise, weed is federally legal!"
- nekusar 6mo ago
  Joe Biden to rich donors: “Nothing would fundamentally change” if he’s elected https://www.salon.com/2019/06/19/joe-biden-to-rich-donors-nothing-would-fundamentally-change-if-hes-elected/ https://www.salon.com/2019/06/19/joe-biden-to-rich-donors-no... I had no confidence in any mealy-mouth things Biden said. And for that matter, after watching Obama make campaign promises and then completely backing out, I had no confidence for him either. (But elections arent always about voting for. Sometimes its voting against.) Trump's worse, by a LOT. However to his credit, he did completely unban delta6, delta8, delta10, HHC, THC0, and a whole lot other THC based drugs federally. He did do a hell of a lot more than any other democrat or republican, just with a single action.
panja 6mo ago
I don't think this is a completely fair characterization: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_policy_of_the_Biden_administration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_policy_of_the_Biden_a...
- DoneWithAllThat 6mo ago
  Your link does nothing to address OP’s claim. Reclassifying marijuana requires only the stroke of the president’s pen. Biden chose not to do that.
  - lenerdenator 6mo ago
    Apparently not, or Trump would have done it earlier, too. There were investigations into just what reclassification would mean for other regulations, laws and treaties. These were begun during the Biden administration and are now being finished. If you just say "weed's schedule III now", without any other modifications to policy, you'll have confusion over just what that means to a bunch of different federal, state, and local agencies. Also, you don't want a President just doing things with the stroke of a pen. Actually, that's our biggest problem right now, letting an autocrat piss all over separation of powers as a treat.
  - malfist 6mo ago
    Biden didn't want to reclassify it because there's really no point in reclassifying. It's still illegal to possess for recreational use and requires a controlled substance prescription from a doctor. It would take a law to remove it from the control substances scheduling, no president can do that. Which is also why Trump didn't do it. (It's now schedule 3 instead of schedule 1)
    - mlinhares 6mo ago
      Poor Biden, couldn't do anything, but Trump fired thousands of government employees, killed USAID, is about to close the department of education. People really have to stop saying this, he could have done it if he wanted, he and his team choose not to.
lenerdenator 6mo ago
That's not true. Biden started this process, and it has continued into the Trump administration.
- mminer237 6mo ago
  Biden did start the process, but Trump actually just cancelled that process and started a totally different process.
  - tantalor 6mo ago
    Don't give him credit for solving a problem he created.
superxpro12 6mo ago
They did. Biden did the "right" thing by starting a 4 years long re-certifying process. That's how "locked down" marijuana was... It was in the same class as heroin. You cant just "sign a piece of paper". (And its worth remembering hemp/marijuana has been locked down for literal centuries for silly reason. First because it was affecting the rope industry, and then later as a tool to suppress minorities and hippies and the counter-culture anti-vietnam movement in the 60's. Cant have black panthers running around with guns, But how can we criminalize them? Well... you make something they all do illegal.... like smoking weed. There's a reason the incarceration for weed-related offenses is VASTLY BLACK. I mean... you can just EO this.... but there's rules you're SUPPOSED to follow. Biden did that. This is simply Trump reaping the rewards of that effort without (of course) giving any acknowledgement to Biden. Oh and BTW, why didn't Trump do this in his FIRST administration in 2016-2020? Oh, and remind me which party consistently voted AGAINST rescheduling over the past 30 years? The private prison industry is affected by this HARD. When you deregulate, all those marijuana criminals (who are mostly black btw) go away. Thats less heads in jail, which is less money to the private prison corporations. My guess is now that this current administration is sending immigrants and americans to immigrant concentration camps, their headcount will be a wash when the marijuana convictions fade away. And guess which party the private prison industry donates to? Ruling by executive order is fundamentally incompatible with democracy.
- tosti 6mo ago
  Eh, relax... One good hit of the kush would do wonders for reducing your stress level.
ApolloFortyNine 6mo ago
I have trouble not believing the 'theory' that it's the carrot that gets some percentage of voters out to vote for you. Actually solving it removes the carrot. And with most presidential elections actually being quite close, and only ~70% of the population voting at best, even getting 3-5% voters, who otherwise don't care at all about politics and wouldn't bother voting for any cadidate, to vote for you simply means you win.
ranger_danger 6mo ago
There was a bill introduced during Biden called STATES 2.0 that would have descheduled it entirely, but it was never voted on.