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US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

bbc.co.uk

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Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#71

Post by lotsofpulp »

boogies wrote: post #63
frankbreetz wrote: post #21

I know hn doesn't like politics, but it amazes me how popular one party's policies are(see polls for single payer healthcare, gov funded college, wealth tax, etc ), but it is still competitive. Republicans are certainly better at "politics". It will be fun to see how they spin this into the vague notion of socialism or somehow this is taking away your freedom.

> somehow this is taking away your freedom IIUC it could indirectly reduce some people’s freedom to live, because marijuana can impair driving but is harder to diagnose as the cause for accidents than alcohol — because tests only show whether it has been taken in the last few weeks, not whether the subject is intoxicated at the moment of the test. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

As could mobile phones, putting on make up, working a 24 hour shift at the hospital...

In fact, all the things listed above make someone a far more dangerous driver than marijuana use. Yet working extra long hours and sleep deprivation in the name of "productivity" is celebrated.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#72

Post by dragonwriter »

t-writescode wrote: post #30
minikites wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Senate is an incredibly un-democratic institution and a truly massive barrier standing in the way of a functioning government. Mitch McConnell alone can dictate Senate business at his whims.

It is democratic, just not the sort one might expect. It’s a democracy of the states. That’s by design. The House is an approximate democracy of the people in the states (with some weighting so that the most populous states don’t have a complete monopoly) and the senate is a democracy of the states. Together they form an approximate republic of the country’s opinion... in an ideal world.

> It is democratic,

No it's not.

> It’s a democracy of the states.

The “demo-” in “democracy” means something, and it's not “the states”.

If you mean “its a majoritarian body of which the constituents are States”, that's partly true (although in some ways the Senate is nonmajoritarian), but that is, by definition, not a “democracy”.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#73

Post by AdmiralAsshat »

ahoy wrote: post #45

This means very little while the republicans control the senate, I imagine.

In theory, this would be the kind of ideological thing Rand Paul would get behind. But I doubt he will, because he lacks his father's integrity: he only votes along Libertarian lines when it's inconsequential.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#74

Post by djcollier »

TrainedMonkey wrote: post #57
ahoy wrote: post #45

This means very little while the republicans control the senate, I imagine.

At the very least it is a statement. I think it will be interesting to see how individual senators vote.

I think it is very unlikely we will get to see how the individual senators vote with McConnell at the helm.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#75

Post by skrtskrt »

bransonf wrote: post #55

> not expected to advance further as long as the Senate remains in Republican hands. > “This legislation does not legalize cannabis across the country. It stops the federal government from interfering with what states have decided to do” In all seriousness, isn’t the Republican platform weaker central government? Why the exception?

A proper conservative position would be weaker central government.

In the US both parties want a stronger central government, just with different priorities.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#76

Post by _11rr »

TrainedMonkey wrote: post #57
ahoy wrote: post #45

This means very little while the republicans control the senate, I imagine.

At the very least it is a statement. I think it will be interesting to see how individual senators vote.

Unfortunately that’s not how it works. If republicans remain in control of the senate (Georgia runoff races in January will decide) then they control what they vote on and what they don’t. So there wouldn’t even be a vote.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#77

Post by ceejayoz »

free2OSS wrote: post #52
ahoy wrote: post #45

This means very little while the republicans control the senate, I imagine.

The timing here is awfully Political. I imagine Democrats wouldn't do this if they had control of the government. Seems like lip service to their bases.

> I imagine Democrats wouldn't do this if they had control of the government.

Why not? It's already decriminalized in virtually the entire country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_cannabis_by_U.S._j...

35 states have legalized it for medical use, and 15 have legalized it recreationally. From the map, it looks like Idaho stands alone on it being completely illegal and criminalized.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#78

Post by twalla »

bransonf wrote: post #55

> not expected to advance further as long as the Senate remains in Republican hands. > “This legislation does not legalize cannabis across the country. It stops the federal government from interfering with what states have decided to do” In all seriousness, isn’t the Republican platform weaker central government? Why the exception?

At this point the whole "small government" thing seems to just be a dog whistle for the Republican base that roughly translates to "if it helps people I don't like we won't fund it."

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#79

Post by JKCalhoun »

ble wrote: post #54
ahoy wrote: post #45

This means very little while the republicans control the senate, I imagine.

I can imagine some GOP senators voting for this bill but I feel I have to get pretty imaginative to imagine it passing.

Two from Alaska, for example.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#80

Post by baldeagle »

TrainedMonkey wrote: post #57
ahoy wrote: post #45

This means very little while the republicans control the senate, I imagine.

At the very least it is a statement. I think it will be interesting to see how individual senators vote.

It likely won’t come to a vote. Then no one has to make a hard opinion.
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