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America Is Giving Away the $30B Medical Marijuana Industry

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Re: America Is Giving Away the $30B Medical Marijuana Industry

#31

Now that there are some people who are surely becoming considerably rich from the sale of cannabis in the US, it's strange that they aren't pushing for this kind of research to be allowed - i.e. out-lobbying the anti-cannabis lobby. Is there really still that much money going against legalisation? Are the people who have been getting rich just not politically savvy enough yet? This seems unlikely because it's not lik…

The FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) is a very, very powerful union. Up there with the NRA in terms of political power. Because the FOP as an organization typically endorses the GOP, they were spared all the anti-union rhetoric over the past 40 years. While workers' unions crumbled, the FOP grew in power. Of course they are for the drug war, because that's the majority of what they do. It justifies their existence. Pot is the largest drug seized (by far), so for them, it's an existential fight.

Re: America Is Giving Away the $30B Medical Marijuana Industry

#32
post #29

>But there’s just something wrong with the DEA. I don’t know what else to say. … Somehow, marijuana’s got a bad name. And it’s tough to let go of. The thing that is wrong is the DEA (and state and local police) justify their high salary and high headcount with the War on Drugs. The vast majority of busts on the WoD is from pot. https://www.bjs.gov/content/dcf/enforce.cfm In pure weight of seizure, pot accounts for 90…

The DEA regularly takes everything from the people it targets, and throws them in a cell. When those people get out, they get to look forward to struggling to find any kind of work for the rest of their lives.

The people perpetuating this idiotic "war on drugs" very much deserve to be unemployed.

In many ways, feeling bad for them would be like feeling bad for an unemployed slave trader. They make their living by actively imprisoning and permanently damaging other human beings.

Re: America Is Giving Away the $30B Medical Marijuana Industry

#33
post #6

> Since 1970 marijuana has been a DEA Schedule I substance, meaning that in the view of the federal government, it’s as dangerous as LSD, heroin, and Ecstasy, and has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” > Every year the percentage of Americans who favor legalization of marijuana climbs. Last year it topped 60 percent for the first time. A remarkable 94 percent support medical use. At t…

I still have to regularly remind people that Trump did not win the election with a majority of votes. I am flabbergasted by how frequently I hear Americans say of Trump "... well he was chosen by the people".

The electoral college, like it or not, is the law of the land. I don't think anybody is truly claiming he was chosen by the people- it would be hard to make that argument in good faith given the obvious facts.

Re: America Is Giving Away the $30B Medical Marijuana Industry

#34
post #29

>But there’s just something wrong with the DEA. I don’t know what else to say. … Somehow, marijuana’s got a bad name. And it’s tough to let go of. The thing that is wrong is the DEA (and state and local police) justify their high salary and high headcount with the War on Drugs. The vast majority of busts on the WoD is from pot. https://www.bjs.gov/content/dcf/enforce.cfm In pure weight of seizure, pot accounts for 90…

> If the demand for drug fighting just lost 90% of it's target, why do we need so many drug fighters? In terms of a real war, if an army just decimated 90% of it's enemy, it's time to send some troops back home.

Well, those people wouldn't be jobless as there are (serious) drugs to fight: Heroin and cocaine. But, that would be against the imperial interests of the USA, one powerful agency in particular. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_involvement_in_Contra_coca...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegations_of_CIA_drug_traffi...

[3] https://www.globalresearch.ca/a-conspiracy-theory-that-becam...

[4] https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Heroin-Complicity-Global-Tra...

[5] https://www.amazon.com/Whiteout-Drugs-Press-Alexander-Cockbu...

Re: America Is Giving Away the $30B Medical Marijuana Industry

#36
post #29

>But there’s just something wrong with the DEA. I don’t know what else to say. … Somehow, marijuana’s got a bad name. And it’s tough to let go of. The thing that is wrong is the DEA (and state and local police) justify their high salary and high headcount with the War on Drugs. The vast majority of busts on the WoD is from pot. https://www.bjs.gov/content/dcf/enforce.cfm In pure weight of seizure, pot accounts for 90…

> If the demand for drug fighting just lost 90% of it's target, why do we need so many drug fighters? In terms of a real war, if an army just decimated 90% of it's enemy, it's time to send some troops back home. Well, those people wouldn't be jobless as there are (serious) drugs to fight: Heroin and cocaine. But, that would be against the imperial interests of the USA, one powerful agency in particular. [1] [2] [3] […

What about the domestic opioid epidemic...? Or is big pharma an unacceptable target for the WoD?

Re: America Is Giving Away the $30B Medical Marijuana Industry

#37
post #31

Now that there are some people who are surely becoming considerably rich from the sale of cannabis in the US, it's strange that they aren't pushing for this kind of research to be allowed - i.e. out-lobbying the anti-cannabis lobby. Is there really still that much money going against legalisation? Are the people who have been getting rich just not politically savvy enough yet? This seems unlikely because it's not lik…

The FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) is a very, very powerful union. Up there with the NRA in terms of political power. Because the FOP as an organization typically endorses the GOP, they were spared all the anti-union rhetoric over the past 40 years. While workers' unions crumbled, the FOP grew in power. Of course they are for the drug war, because that's the majority of what they do. It justifies their existence. Po…

Yeah, I realise there are a lot of strong lobbies against legalisation, it's just surprising that they are still winning in the face of so much profit.

On the topic of FOP though, I think they are spared anti-union practices because they do not pose the typical threat to entrenched power structures which conventional unions do. They in fact reinforce it and protect the interests of the ruling class, so of course the government supports them.

The FOP is one of the worst players out there. There is a horrifying statistic that over 40% of police officers are known to be domestic abusers[0] and yet the FOP has fought for such criminals to maintain the right to have weapons and to give them positions of authority and the power to use force on others in society. Truly monstrous.

[0] http://womenandpolicing.com/violencefs.asp

Re: America Is Giving Away the $30B Medical Marijuana Industry

#38
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If the demand for drug fighting just lost 90% of it's target, why do we need so many drug fighters? In terms of a real war, if an army just decimated 90% of it's enemy, it's time to send some troops back home. Well, those people wouldn't be jobless as there are (serious) drugs to fight: Heroin and cocaine. But, that would be against the imperial interests of the USA, one powerful agency in particular. [1] [2] [3] […

What about the domestic opioid epidemic...? Or is big pharma an unacceptable target for the WoD?

Given their track record, do you think the government would help or harm the opioid epidemic? If history serves, they will make it worse. They already have. Their crackdown on pills has made the heroin epidemic skyrocket. Heroin is not the best of two evils.

Re: America Is Giving Away the $30B Medical Marijuana Industry

#39
This is what happens when you have entrenched interests -- with capital to protect.

Innovation gets stifled.

And this shows that it doesn't matter whether those interests are private, commercial, or governmental -- nor whether the capital is material or political. (Or whether it is religious, I'll add, if you distinguish that from political.)

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