Politics Of Cannabis Legalization

[temps]

I'm noticing something I find interesting: about 60% of the US population lives in states where recreational cannabis is legal. About 70% of the US population lives in states where medical cannabis is legal.

In the state of Michigan, for example, iirc cannabis has been legal for about 6 years now for recreational purposes. And even longer for medicinal purposes. And so many cannabis stores are opening up all over the state and doing business publicly -- happily ignoring Federal law.

And yet... at the Federal level, they haven't even legalized medical cannabis, let alone recreational cannabis. It's an interesting question why Federal politicians are so reluctant to legalize.

My guess is it's pharmaceutical industry lobbyists. Big pharma corporations probably hate the idea that their expensive billion dollar drugs might not be as effective for treating certain common medical conditions as weeds people could grow in their backyard for pennies...

[HypersleepyNaputunia]

Possibly fear of what happened to china with opium

[DarkCrystalMethod]

The Fed just needs to wake up and jail the states that have legalized it.

The slap is coming.

[Ruckman_Void]

In Australia the drug laws are quite lax only in one region.

It is where Parliament House is and all the Federal pollies live.

They'll still bust you for a spliff in Melbourne if they're having a bad night or you mouth off.

[Ulfrinn]

Big pharma is the ones responsible for the opioid pandemic. But, if you're self medicating an issue using unprescribed drugs, you're not doing yourself any favors. If pain killers were commonly available, could I take one to dull an underlying chronic pain? Sure. But, why that pain exists in the first place is pretty important.

At the federal level, I do think they should stay out of most things domestic, and leave things up to states to decide.

[temps]

Originally posted by DarkCrystalMethod:

The Fed just needs to wake up and jail the states that have legalized it.

The slap is coming.

Most of the public supports legalization though.

And Trump has said he supports legalization too on a couple occasions in the past. (Biden did not.)

[xBCxRangers]

That's why people are going nuts. Smoking that garbage.

[steven1mac]

It was more about control the cannabis. Once the government could no longer go after alcohol, they had to give multiple federal and state agencies something to do, and it provided a way to skirt the rights of citizens, and getting more control over the citizens.

Eventually it will be legalized, and will be one of the issues for the next election.

[temps]

Originally posted by steven1mac:

It was more about control the cannabis. Once the government could no longer go after alcohol, they had to give multiple federal and state agencies something to do, and it provided a way to skirt the rights of citizens, and getting more control over the citizens.

Eventually it will be legalized, and will be one of the issues for the next election.

Police and prison guard unions probably would not respond favorably to someone wanting to legalize drugs even if the drugs were as harmless as marijuana or psychedelic mushrooms.

[Corvus XIII]

More Marijuana availability = More potential people needing shrinks and pharma pills to 'put them together again'.

[funewchie]

Originally posted by DarkCrystalMethod:

The Fed just needs to wake up and jail the states that have legalized it.

The slap is coming.

They can't, as that violates the 10th Amendment and the Constitution.
The states do have that power to make their own rules (within the Constitution's limits, of course).

Indeed, the states combined as a whole, have more authority than the federal government.
(The US Congress can't even ratify amendments or create a state. The state governments are the ones who decide that, by majority)

That's why some states can even defy a federal order (but not if its protected by the Constitution).

[Boblin the Goblin]

Originally posted by xBCxRangers:

That's why people are going nuts. Smoking that garbage.

Ahh, the good ol' War on Drugs(which was admitted to be just a war on minorities) propaganda think pot makes people crazy.

[temps]

It's also weird that the first US president to get elected after saying he supports cannabis legalization happened to be Donald Trump... a Republican considered by many to be fascist. Lol...

[Ruckman_Void]

Originally posted by Boblin the Goblin:

Originally posted by xBCxRangers:

That's why people are going nuts. Smoking that garbage.

Ahh, the good ol' War on Drugs(which was admitted to be just a war on minorities) propaganda think pot makes people crazy.

It's Diablo's salad... or something

[funewchie]

Originally posted by Boblin the Goblin:

Originally posted by xBCxRangers:

That's why people are going nuts. Smoking that garbage.

Ahh, the good ol' War on Drugs(which was admitted to be just a war on minorities) propaganda think pot makes people crazy.

It is more dangerous than alcohol, though.

Alcohol is water-soluble, meaning it gets cleaned out of your bloodstream fairly quickly, within hours.

Marijuana, though, is fat-soluable, so it takes longer to be cleansed out of your system, maybe days. And is estimated to be 10,000 times more potent than alcohol.
Which can add up to some danger, especially if the person takes in more THC (the stuff in MJ that causes the high) than they expected.

[Doctor Go-Go]

Demented people do lose their minds, go crazy, And long term chronic marijuana use has been shown to cause dementia. We ALL KNOW potheads don't want to and won't want to believe it so there's no need to think you're going to convince us otherwise.