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Mississippi is 37th state to legalize medical marijuana

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Re: Mississippi is 37th state to legalize medical marijuana

#171
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mississippi currently takes the right to vote away from 10.6% of it's voting age population (worst in the country), and 16% of it's black population (3rd worst in the country), due to past felony convictions. And there are many ways to earn yourself a felony in MS, often for things that wouldn't be elsewhere. National averages are 2.3% and 6.3%. https://mississippitoday.org/2020/10/19/study-11-of-all-miss... --------…

> And there are many ways to earn yourself a felony in MS, often for things that wouldn't be elsewhere. Isn't a felony, by definition, a federal offense? How can they be different in different states?

No. A felony is just a classification of serious crime. It has nothing to do with whether it has federal or state jurisdiction.

In theory it has to do with if the prison sentence can last more than a year.

Re: Mississippi is 37th state to legalize medical marijuana

#172
post #84

*Sidelong glance at federal government.* Any day now, folks.

You need only glance directly at the President. No other authority is needed to change the schedule. AG works at the pleasure of the President.

Even if the AG is told to start the rescheduling process, a "study" has to be done to enable it.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2015/02/13/how-to-resc...

The only entity that can end prohibition altogether is Congress. When they setup the drug laws, they made them so that there would be a massive chain of signoffs, and so that any single unreasonable person could stop the whole thing.

Re: Mississippi is 37th state to legalize medical marijuana

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest barrier here is testing, IMO. There is no reliable way to tell if you are under the influence of marijuana _right now_. The only way an employer can guarantee you are sober while working (to shield themselves from liability) is to give a traditional drug test.

Are there reliable ways to tell if you are under the influence of other drugs other than alcohol? Can a similar test be provided for opiates, hallucinogens like DMT and other substances? Cocaine won't show up after a few days, but MJ will show up for weeks after usage.

Most hallucinogens are actually pretty reasonable when it comes to testing. Between the reasonably long effects, and the relatively short period where you won't piss clean, you can pretty much use a standard urine test as a test for being under the influence.

Re: Mississippi is 37th state to legalize medical marijuana

#174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need only glance directly at the President. No other authority is needed to change the schedule. AG works at the pleasure of the President.

Even if the AG is told to start the rescheduling process, a "study" has to be done to enable it. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2015/02/13/how-to-resc... The only entity that can end prohibition altogether is Congress. When they setup the drug laws, they made them so that there would be a massive chain of signoffs, and so that any single unreasonable person could stop the whole thing.

This flowchart makes it seem way more difficult than it actually is. The USAG and the Secretary of HHS both serve at the pleasure of the President. Biden cannot unilaterally reschedule marijuana but he can tell the USAG and Secretary of HHS to do what it takes to reschedule it.

Biden pretending he can't make this happen is equivalent to Tim Cook pretending he can't get Jeff Williams to do something. Everyone ultimately responsible for changing the schedule ultimately reports to Biden.

Re: Mississippi is 37th state to legalize medical marijuana

#175
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My understanding, from knowing someone close to these political circles, is that there is a conflict between the religious faction and the individual-liberty faction. So whenever that gets resolved, we will see further movement on that front. >The devil's lettuce might not be for everyone It’s not for me. Neither is alcohol. Doesn’t mean I think it should be illegal. I don’t get why other people have this attitude ab…

If the religious faction can get over the leaders they supporting lying and cheating all the time they can get over people smoking a plant.

They can cheat, lie and steal but as long as they ask for forgiveness they believe they are more pure than an honest pot smoker. I look forward to the day where most religions are classified as a mental illness. The fact that psychology has kind of made this exception makes me think the whole industry is pretty messed up.

Re: Mississippi is 37th state to legalize medical marijuana

#176
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not even pro cannabis - I recently decided to go completely cold turkey since I realised I was essentially self medicating for other deeper issues and cannabis just gives me brain fog - but I think your comment is pretty nonsensical. If your brother in law transitioned from marijuana all the way to heroine, chances are his drug abuse was a symptom of deeper underlying problems, not the cause. The solution is educ…

You can't legalize marijuana while education is subpar. It has to be done the opposite way. Also, why to legalize something that is harmful to your body and brain [1]? I mean, there are SO many publications about it. [1] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abst...

Easy to justify that one: the amount of deaths prevented from gang crime attributable to cannabis trade would far outstrip any potential harm caused by legalisation.

Besides, that's not a good way to look at it. The better question is why criminalise an activity that does no harm to others?

Re: Mississippi is 37th state to legalize medical marijuana

#178
post #77
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Negro voting disenfranchisement https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/05/01/mississipp... I mean, you could take the time to refute the "analysis"...?

Oh, the mainstream media says so, so it must be true! Paywall. Would love to comment but apparently I’m not allowed.

Your contention is that Mississippi never disenfranchised its Black citizens?

If you could lay aside your hostility, I am open to your perspective. How is what I wrote incorrect?

Re: Mississippi is 37th state to legalize medical marijuana

#179
post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of the lack of Federal push is because many individual states/industries have interests in it not happening. And one thing about the way the US has things set up, the States often function as the laboratories for social experiments. That's why you get things like Colorado being the first to legalize weed and Texas attempting to soft-ban abortion.

"Part of the lack of Federal push is because many individual states/industries have interests in it not happening." Many individual states had an interest in keeping slavery and segregation alive, and yet they were made illegal on the federal level.

...yes, and we had to fight a whole war about that.

I cannot think of politically backlash stronger than "and then we went into Civil war about that topic, with the victors of the war settling the matter".

What point are you intending to make? That individual states/industries do not have the political power to influence a discussion at the Federal level?

Re: Mississippi is 37th state to legalize medical marijuana

#180

You can buy THC gummies and THC vapes in certain Alabama gas stations now as well. I have no idea how this works legally though because it was only relatively recently legalized for medical use here. Must be something to do with some CBD-adjacent regulation that snuck in during COVID.

It's usually either CBD or Delta-8. It's legal because of the Farm Bill a few years back that legalized hemp, making CBD and D8 legal in the process. Just to be clear though, this stuff won't get you high like weed. You might feel a little more relaxed because of the CBD but that's about it.

The stuff I am talking about lists a percentage of THC on the packaging and people are buying it almost exclusively to get high.

I was dubious at first too, but I have talked to several people who have used them and they say they are getting a THC high, and the packaging even communicates the THC content.

But I have no reciepts. It could be an entirely illegal Enterprise given the proprietor.

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