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US House Vote 228-164 Approve Legislation Decriminalize Marijuana Federal Level

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Re: US House Vote 228-164 Approve Legislation Decriminalize Marijuana Federal Level

#11

Post by pm90 »

mrguyorama wrote: post #10
pm90 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A smart move for Democrats would be to hammer Republicans on their reluctance to pass this bill in the Republican controlled Senate (Marijuana legalization polls extremely well nationally) before the GA runoffs.

The fact of the matter is, it doesn't matter what republicans do or don't do if the people who vote for them only watch Fox News and don't see this as a bad thing. Democrats can hammer all they want, the voters they need will never see the criticisms and genuinely think democrats are "as bad" or evil or something stupid

You can get your message out in many different ways. Fox News is just one (although a fairly important one). I’m specifically referring to campaign ads, people knocking on doors etc. A sizable chunk of the American electorate is neither Democrat nor Republican so swinging these voters + energizing the Democrat base can form a powerful coalition capable of winning elections, especially in purple states.

Re: US House Vote 228-164 Approve Legislation Decriminalize Marijuana Federal Level

#12

Post by mikestew »

iaHN wrote: post #9
mikestew wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20878445 Whereby I say in response to someone questioning the source of that quote: "That's the best you're going to find, some journalist's reminiscence twenty-some years after the fact. So I would caution anyone to be wary of whipping that quote out to make a point." Until I hear of a better source (and I won't), I am putting this quote in the "urban legend" bucket. All that's m…

Is this journalist untrustworthy?

Is your memory of something someone said twenty-some years ago trustworthy? That quote might have come from a journalist, but it isn't journalism.

Re: US House Vote 228-164 Approve Legislation Decriminalize Marijuana Federal Level

#13

Post by exolymph »

iaHN wrote: post #9
mikestew wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20878445 Whereby I say in response to someone questioning the source of that quote: "That's the best you're going to find, some journalist's reminiscence twenty-some years after the fact. So I would caution anyone to be wary of whipping that quote out to make a point." Until I hear of a better source (and I won't), I am putting this quote in the "urban legend" bucket. All that's m…

Is this journalist untrustworthy?

Anyone's recollection after decades is untrustworthy. Memory is simply not very reliable.

Re: US House Vote 228-164 Approve Legislation Decriminalize Marijuana Federal Level

#14

Post by hajile »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #4
axxxo93 wrote: post #3

It's about time! There is no reason a drug that is considerably less harmful than alcohol should be criminalized to such a high degree.

Unlikely to pass in the Senate due to many Congressional reps who don't believe in decriminalization. Has a chance depending on the Georgia runoff results in January. Would still be helpful to come up for a Senate vote to know who you're up against. Still progress to have the vote and pass in the House. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/12/04/lega... https://www.npr.org/2020/12/04/942949288/house-appr…

Lots of republicans think it should be left up to the state. Their major issue with the last bill was tons of "social justice" riders. Democrats couldn't risk Republicans passing the bill and looking good before the presidential election, so instead they added a ton of stuff that was guaranteed to sink the bill. They then pushed the "republicans hate pot" narrative on news and social media.

This seems likely to be so much more politicking.

Re: US House Vote 228-164 Approve Legislation Decriminalize Marijuana Federal Level

#15

Post by tanseydavid »

exolymph wrote: post #13
iaHN wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this journalist untrustworthy?

Anyone's recollection after decades is untrustworthy. Memory is simply not very reliable.

Having the ability to observe the effect of one's lie on a nation-wide basis over the years, might result in having that memory sharpened and refined rather than dulled.

Re: US House Vote 228-164 Approve Legislation Decriminalize Marijuana Federal Level

#16

Post by gnusty_gnurc »

iaHN wrote: post #6

"You want to know what this was really all about? The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt t…

Let's not forget the Progressive history with Prohibition.

We know practically everyone outside small-l libertarians is gung-ho about prohibitions and the regulating and criminalization of everyday life.

Re: US House Vote 228-164 Approve Legislation Decriminalize Marijuana Federal Level

#17

Post by jklein11 »

pm90 wrote: post #5
toomuchtodo wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unlikely to pass in the Senate due to many Congressional reps who don't believe in decriminalization. Has a chance depending on the Georgia runoff results in January. Would still be helpful to come up for a Senate vote to know who you're up against. Still progress to have the vote and pass in the House. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/12/04/lega... https://www.npr.org/2020/12/04/942949288/house-appr…

A smart move for Democrats would be to hammer Republicans on their reluctance to pass this bill in the Republican controlled Senate (Marijuana legalization polls extremely well nationally) before the GA runoffs.

This is really interesting. I wonder if legalization of marijuana is a hot button issue in Georgia. If it is favorable it could increase the turnout for Democrats in the runoffs. I'm also thinking that those who are strongly opposed to legalization could be convinced to turn out. I'm not sure if this is any indicator but the governor of Georgia gets pretty low marks from NORML.[1]

1. https://norml.org/us-governors/georgia/

Re: US House Vote 228-164 Approve Legislation Decriminalize Marijuana Federal Level

#18

Post by raunakdag »

h2odragon wrote: post #2

Interesting debate; thanks for the cspan link which includes the transcript

After reading the transcript, I’m in shock that any of the republicans who voted against the bill receive any votes.

The arguments they make are awful: 1) still hammering in the nonsense about gateway drugs, 2) comparing marijuana to the opioid epidemic, and 3) saying that marijuana causes more societal damage than alcohol.

It’s disappointing that our legislators are unable to make any forwards progress even in the 21st century.

Re: US House Vote 228-164 Approve Legislation Decriminalize Marijuana Federal Level

#19

Post by mikestew »

tanseydavid wrote: post #15
exolymph wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone's recollection after decades is untrustworthy. Memory is simply not very reliable.

Having the ability to observe the effect of one's lie on a nation-wide basis over the years, might result in having that memory sharpened and refined rather than dulled.

The one who needs to demonstrate a sharp memory (journalist) and the one who lied (Erlichmann) are not the same people.

Re: US House Vote 228-164 Approve Legislation Decriminalize Marijuana Federal Level

#20

Post by wmeredith »

mikestew wrote: post #8
iaHN wrote: post #6

"You want to know what this was really all about? The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt t…

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20878445 Whereby I say in response to someone questioning the source of that quote: "That's the best you're going to find, some journalist's reminiscence twenty-some years after the fact. So I would caution anyone to be wary of whipping that quote out to make a point." Until I hear of a better source (and I won't), I am putting this quote in the "urban legend" bucket. All that's m…

This quote was questioned and outright called a fabrication or misinterpretation by three other Nixon aides who worked alongside John Ehrlichman.

Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/richard-nixon-drug-war-john-e...

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