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Delaware will become the 22nd state to legalize recreational marijuana

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Re: Delaware will become the 22nd state to legalize recreational marijuana

#41

Post by kibwen »

School-Cotton wrote: post #2

The 22nd state to stop separately making marijuana illegal on top of federal laws. Since federal law applies everywhere, marijuana is still technically illegal everywhere in the US. It’s fascinating, however, that under three presidents spanning both parties, the federal authorities have given up on enforcing the ban in states that have removed marijuana laws from their own books. Perhaps this is a glimpse into the l…

> states will simply start ignoring federal law more and more, and its relevance will fade over time.

The next battleground will be abortion rights. If republicans fulfill their goals of banning abortion and birth control the next time that they control the government, watch blue states refuse to enforce those laws and refuse to cooperate with federal authorities.

Re: Delaware will become the 22nd state to legalize recreational marijuana

#42

Post by briHass »

School-Cotton wrote: post #2

The 22nd state to stop separately making marijuana illegal on top of federal laws. Since federal law applies everywhere, marijuana is still technically illegal everywhere in the US. It’s fascinating, however, that under three presidents spanning both parties, the federal authorities have given up on enforcing the ban in states that have removed marijuana laws from their own books. Perhaps this is a glimpse into the l…

If only the states held most of the power (and collected most of the taxes), you know, the way the Founders intended. Marijuana legalization is a good example of why this 'labrstory' model works: State A legalizes and collects tons of taxes, so neighboring states see the success and want in on the action. Likewise, policies that crash and burn are small in scale (i.e. small enough to be reversible) and people can, worst case, move to another state.

We shouldn't really care about the President, because their real influence on our lives would be minimal. As Marijuana shows, it's much easier to affect policy at the state level than Federal, and states would ostensibly spend the tax revenue on things that benefit their direct constituents, rather than being so disconnected from real issues that vast sums of money flows to causes that most taxpayers don't understand or care about.

Re: Delaware will become the 22nd state to legalize recreational marijuana

#43

Post by qup »

bluescrn wrote: post #37

I don't really understand how legalising weed makes sense amidst a push to eliminate smoking (in a world where freedom is increasingly seen as dangerous/selfish) Yeah, it may well be less harmful than cigarettes or alcohol, but if you're smoking it, it's certainly not good for you. Why give people this specific freedom while the trend is to take freedoms away? (Tax revenue, I guess...)

There's many ways to ingest it

Re: Delaware will become the 22nd state to legalize recreational marijuana

#44

Post by Quillbert182 »

benatkin wrote: post #24
d1str0 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can disagree all you want. It’s still illegal at the federal level. A fed could still cite you even though you are in CA, regardless of the CA legalization.

OK I'll keep disagreeing. It's legal here.

It’s illegal in every state. California cannot override the federal government. They can choose not to enforce it, but federal law enforcement will still be able to arrest you.

Re: Delaware will become the 22nd state to legalize recreational marijuana

#45

Post by zarzavat »

pfannkuchen wrote: post #10
School-Cotton wrote: post #2

The 22nd state to stop separately making marijuana illegal on top of federal laws. Since federal law applies everywhere, marijuana is still technically illegal everywhere in the US. It’s fascinating, however, that under three presidents spanning both parties, the federal authorities have given up on enforcing the ban in states that have removed marijuana laws from their own books. Perhaps this is a glimpse into the l…

Is it because the illegality of marijuana is based on a questionable interpretation of the commerce clause which lots of other power is based on and no one in government really wants challenged in court?

Essentially the US has been living under wartime powers since 1942. The Supreme Court vastly expanded the federal government’s powers during WWII, because it seemed like a good and necessary idea at the time to preserve the nation. Power once given cannot be taken away and that comical interpretation of the Commerce Clause stands relatively unscathed to this day.

Re: Delaware will become the 22nd state to legalize recreational marijuana

#46

Post by kibwen »

tiahura wrote: post #34

À nation of lotus eaters. What could go wrong?

As someone who had an alcoholic stepfather growing up, me and my mother would both ultimately have preferred a lotus eater. Alcohol is already legal (and always will be, as prohibition showed us), so there's no point in criminalizing any drug that's less destructive than alcohol is.

Re: Delaware will become the 22nd state to legalize recreational marijuana

#47

Post by rayiner »

briHass wrote: post #42
School-Cotton wrote: post #2

The 22nd state to stop separately making marijuana illegal on top of federal laws. Since federal law applies everywhere, marijuana is still technically illegal everywhere in the US. It’s fascinating, however, that under three presidents spanning both parties, the federal authorities have given up on enforcing the ban in states that have removed marijuana laws from their own books. Perhaps this is a glimpse into the l…

If only the states held most of the power (and collected most of the taxes), you know, the way the Founders intended. Marijuana legalization is a good example of why this 'labrstory' model works: State A legalizes and collects tons of taxes, so neighboring states see the success and want in on the action. Likewise, policies that crash and burn are small in scale (i.e. small enough to be reversible) and people can, wo…

I agree with you. And absolute about “you shouldn’t care about the President.” But that ship sailed probably 100 years ago. Certainly by the FDR administration.

Re: Delaware will become the 22nd state to legalize recreational marijuana

#48

Post by rayiner »

mullingitover wrote: post #26
toomuchtodo wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The government has always selectively enforced laws, it’s simply beneficial in this case. 22 states have legalized recreational marijuana and the world hasn’t ended. Maybe it’s okay federal statute isn’t enforced in this particular circumstance, from a rationalist perspective. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_cannabis_by_U.S....

The problem for the US is that the country went around the world arm-twisting for decades to get other nations to ban drugs. To legalize is obviously the just and correct decision, I think people are just embarrassed to do it at the federal level now purely because of the history.

[flagged]

Re: Delaware will become the 22nd state to legalize recreational marijuana

#49

Post by hibikir »

briHass wrote: post #42
School-Cotton wrote: post #2

The 22nd state to stop separately making marijuana illegal on top of federal laws. Since federal law applies everywhere, marijuana is still technically illegal everywhere in the US. It’s fascinating, however, that under three presidents spanning both parties, the federal authorities have given up on enforcing the ban in states that have removed marijuana laws from their own books. Perhaps this is a glimpse into the l…

If only the states held most of the power (and collected most of the taxes), you know, the way the Founders intended. Marijuana legalization is a good example of why this 'labrstory' model works: State A legalizes and collects tons of taxes, so neighboring states see the success and want in on the action. Likewise, policies that crash and burn are small in scale (i.e. small enough to be reversible) and people can, wo…

You must be in a state that remotely aligns with your perspectives, but many are not that lucky. While theoretically the smaller the government, the more responsive it is, US states are a great counterexample. They associate people under the same government in ways that are divorced of current economic and cultural ties. State governments are also easier to gerrymander: See the many states where the difference in direction between state level elections and the state house is well over 10 points.

Furthermore, the much lower level of oversight in states lead to more extreme, low quality decisions, often which end up with people less happy than with national level decisions. See abortion: Leaving the decision to the states led to fewer people being happy with the laws they had, instead of more. This isn't because there aren't plenty of people that want very strong abortion restrictions, but because state lawmakers in states with Republican legislative majorities are far to the right of not just the median voter of their state, but even the median Republican. Similar things can occur in blue states. And how are legislators acting when they see voter-driven referendums to change legislation? By passing laws demanding 60%+ of the popular vote to overrule the legislature.

You also talk about politicians disconnected from real issues: When I look at the laws my state representatives try to pass recently, they are either not clear 50% of the popular opinion, or focus on key things like, say, legislating high school athletics for trans students. Given that the fact that they know which part of the state votes in favor of the majority of legislators, and which parts don't, how do you think they spend the money? That's right, the parts of the state that don't vote correctly don't get anywhere near the level of investment that matches their contributions to the state coffers. After all, making sure there are fewer people living in those places is a sure way to maintain control of the state government in the long term.

So while I am not unsympathetic to the idea of more local government, States are such a poor example of 'laboratories of democracy' that in a majority of cases, the federal government works less badly. Marijuana is the rare case where things happen to work out.

Re: Delaware will become the 22nd state to legalize recreational marijuana

#50

Post by droidist2 »

bluescrn wrote: post #37

I don't really understand how legalising weed makes sense amidst a push to eliminate smoking (in a world where freedom is increasingly seen as dangerous/selfish) Yeah, it may well be less harmful than cigarettes or alcohol, but if you're smoking it, it's certainly not good for you. Why give people this specific freedom while the trend is to take freedoms away? (Tax revenue, I guess...)

Some states are actually banning most e-cigarette products while legalizing marijuana, it's bizarre.
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