Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

U.S. Senate Democrats roll out draft bill to legalize weed

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 89 posts

Re: U.S. Senate Democrats roll out draft bill to legalize weed

#21

Post by duxup »

tofuahdude wrote: post #16

Definitely appreciate that this seems to be heading in the right direction. > limited retail sales transactions at the state level to 10 ounces of cannabis at a time What's the intent of a rule like that? Prevent one 21 year old from buying a pound for his under-21 friends? I feel like alcohol has proven that this is pretty futile. Is there some other point?

I always assumed those were dividing lines that let rando citizens do their thing without trouble ... and a way to identify potental illegal traffickers.

Despite being legal, illegal pot I believe is still cheaper / in demand in places.

Re: U.S. Senate Democrats roll out draft bill to legalize weed

#22

Post by jimbob45 »

DaveExeter wrote: post #4

>The draft set the minimum age required to buy cannabis at 21 21? Haven't we as a society progressed past this pernicious discrimination!

Weed is still somewhat dangerous to smoke because of lung cancer and we regulate cigarettes so there's some precedent here.

On the other hand, there are methods with which to use weed that confer 0% risk of lung cancer and my anecdotal evidence suggests more and more people are using those methods.

Re: U.S. Senate Democrats roll out draft bill to legalize weed

#24

Post by anoonmoose »

galangalalgol wrote: post #14
duxup wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At some point you pick a number, it will always seem somewhat arbitrary.

How about the same number that lets you vote, and decide where you live, or get drafted, and get married without parental consent, and get medical care without parental consent?

we should be increasing some of those numbers to 21 too

Re: U.S. Senate Democrats roll out draft bill to legalize weed

#25

Post by handmodel »

jolux wrote: post #8
frankbreetz wrote: post #3

>>He added that marijuana use needs more research. I wish that we had this same attitude towards chemicals sprayed on crops where it seems to be everything is fine until proven to be harmful. Yet with weed it is harmful until proven safe. Also, I suspect there is plenty of research on the safety of weed edit: to all of those arguing that there may be/ are dangers to weed, I don't disagree. How about the fact that I c…

As someone who is extremely pro-legalization (and pro-decriminalization of all drugs) I still think this is perfectly reasonable. We know rough bounds on the safety of cannabis/THC (probably safer than tobacco and alcohol, probably not a good idea if you have a family history of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, or if you’re very young) but we don’t really know in depth what the long-term effects are like, for differ…

Yeah I don't really see any error in the logic of making it safe but also wanting studies on it.

Studies on it were very hard to do for years because it was a controlled substance. I do enjoy edibles (probably do them once a month) and in my case I am 100% sure it has changed my memory somewhat. I'm ok with that risk because I do enjoy it but I would like to know more about people who have been doing this for decades.

Re: U.S. Senate Democrats roll out draft bill to legalize weed

#26

Post by duxup »

frankbreetz wrote: post #3

>>He added that marijuana use needs more research. I wish that we had this same attitude towards chemicals sprayed on crops where it seems to be everything is fine until proven to be harmful. Yet with weed it is harmful until proven safe. Also, I suspect there is plenty of research on the safety of weed edit: to all of those arguing that there may be/ are dangers to weed, I don't disagree. How about the fact that I c…

I don't disagree but I do think if we're talking about smoking something we do want to find out if it has any of the associated risks smoking tobacco does. There are similarities and differences and as far as I know not a good conclusion on that topic.

Re: U.S. Senate Democrats roll out draft bill to legalize weed

#27

Post by petschge »

Bhilai wrote: post #5

> would expunge federal non-violent marijuana crimes, further medical research and allow cannabis companies access to essential financial services. Sounds like all good things but I dont see how this will make it through such a divided senate where obstructionism is the de-facto opposition strategy.

Sure, but you need to ask for at least some things that you will likely not get. That give you some wiggle room while negotiating. If you start with compromise position you will get very little of what you want and mostly what the other party prefers.

Re: U.S. Senate Democrats roll out draft bill to legalize weed

#29

Post by dllthomas »

Evidlo wrote: post #15

Why not leave this to the states to decide?

That's what this does:

> States will control the possession, production, or distribution of cannabis, the draft says, while shipping marijuana into states that have not legalized it will be prohibited.

As opposed to the status quo where in principle the federal government could decide to prosecute... shall we say "marijuana market participants"? in states where it is legal.

Re: U.S. Senate Democrats roll out draft bill to legalize weed

#30

Post by yupper32 »

galangalalgol wrote: post #14
duxup wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At some point you pick a number, it will always seem somewhat arbitrary.

How about the same number that lets you vote, and decide where you live, or get drafted, and get married without parental consent, and get medical care without parental consent?

Voting, moving out, getting medical care, and marriage generally don't negatively impact your body and brain.

Alcohol, weed, cigarettes, etc. all do some kind of damage to your body. If anything we should raise cigarettes to 21. And yes, even weed, especially smoking weed, does damage to your body, even if it's massively less than the other two I said.

(And getting drafted... well that should just go away all together).

Post reply on HN