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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

#91

Post by justaman »

jliptzin wrote: post #66
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?

Republicans don't actually stand for anything, other than "do the opposite of what Democrats want"

Comments like this add nothing. By this logic, the inverse is also true.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#92

Post by CameronNemo »

whythre wrote: post #90
CameronNemo wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans don't make laws (or approve judges), Senators do. <16% of the US population elects 50 senators.

It’s almost like the US is a representational republic, not a democracy.

I don't feel represented.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#93

Post by tnorthcutt »

pwagland wrote: post #42
tnorthcutt wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, often even intentionally to reduce the changes of a bill passing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrecking_amendment

I assume that you mean "reduce chances of the bill passing", adding this rider would increase the changes if the bill passes!

Ah yes, thank you!

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#94

Post by dragonwriter »

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?

> In all seriousness, isn’t the Republican platform weaker central government?

In all seriousness, no.

Though weaker central government is something they trot out tomjustify opposition to functions they don't like government doing, while cheerfully increasing central government power when the central government is doing things that they approve of, like regulating substances, for instance.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#95

Post by grecy »

mullingitover wrote: post #86

The fact that this won't sail through congress in a week (it'll never even come up for a vote in the senate) really illustrates how out of touch legislators are with voters. If there was a nationwide referendum on legalizing (not just decriminalizing) it would pass in a landslide today. Instead, congress will dither on this issue for probably the next five years at minimum. I realize it's more complicated than giving…

> and fully legalizing now would violate a number of important treaties with other countries

I'd be fascinated to know which countries. Obviously Mexico and Canada couldn't care less. Which other ones haven't already moved on?

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#96

Post by Ancapistani »

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?

This is the problem with both parties, I'd say - the party platforms are somewhat consistent with the views of their voting base, but the actions of the politicians don't align very well with either.

The general impression I get is that a majority of Republicans would support federal decriminalization of cannabis. Most of those support legalization as a specific goal, while others would support through their view of federalism.

A supermajority of US citizens support legalization at this point - only around 1/3 poll as be opposed as of last year, and that number is consistently falling over time.

It's honestly not a partisan issue at this point - it's a "politician" issue.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#97

Post by free2OSS »

ceejayoz wrote: post #77
free2OSS wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Big policy changes spends your political capital.

You are going to be getting angry phone calls. Better to get those angry phone calls in exchange for a spending bill that goes to your donors/constituents.

Elections have razor thin margins. What benefit does the politician get?

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#98

Post by headcanon »

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?

They see it as less of a "Big Government" thing and more of a "Tough on Crime" thing, which has traditionally had a home in the Republican party since Nixon and Reagan championed the Drug War.

Its insane to me as well, but the traditional Republican base likes to see "dirty criminals" go away and support police efforts to do so, cannabis is still associated with them in their minds.

Personally I think its changing amongst the voting base but theres still a strong cultural momentum around demonizing these drugs, especially amongst the Evangelical White Southerners that make up the core of their voting base.

Edit: There's a cynical side to this as well - Neither party wants to "give" the party anything without getting something in return. Republicans allowing cannabis reform does nothing for them politically but makes the Democrats look good. Why would they allow that to happen without getting something back?

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#99

Post by tick_tock_tick »

ceejayoz wrote: post #77
free2OSS wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There is a really good point Democrats were almost universally against gay marriage until it cross the public support threshold. Looks at the stark difference between Obama on gay marriage in his first vs second term. If the polling shows enough people support it Democrats will pretty quickly flip to the support side of the issue if it goes anything like marriage.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#100

Post by aisengard »

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?

Because the Republican party is, really more than anything else at this point, the party of white supremacy. Marijuana laws help prop up the existing paradigm, where black people are disproportionally harmed, a leftover (intentional) remnant of Nixon's inherently racist War On Drugs. Repealing that would help black people more than white people, thus the Republicans are against it.
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