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

reuters.com

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

#41

Post by villasv »

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…

> The research is young.

GP didn't say research on weed wasn't needed, the point is obvious double standards and that agtech should be - but isn't - this thorough (or more, actually, but that's beside the point). So what is notable here is that this call for research doesn't come from being reasonable, it comes from partiality with plausible deniability.

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

#42

Post by cronix »

jimbob45 wrote: post #22
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.

Vaporizing, or using edibles, or other concentrates, eliminates that as you aren't burning/combusting anything, which is where most of those harms come from. There are plenty of ways to ingest now without actually smoking it. You can even get chocolates and gummy bears in legal places.

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

#43

Post by duxup »

NoSorryCannot wrote: post #20
duxup wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I say leave the number-choosing to the states. Regulate medical marijuana like any other non-scheduled drug and leave cultural decisions concerning recreational use to the states, where it belongs. Use federal funding stipulations as leverage when needed.

Pick a number and it is still arbitrary, doesn't matter who does it ;)

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

#44

Post by epicureanideal »

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.

As someone who is not registered to either political party, I don't think the Republicans are really just obstructionists for the sake of it. In many cases they have their own reasons for being against certain laws.

Also, this isn't the 80s-90s. The religious right is much less influential. I could see a bunch of Republicans getting on board with decriminalization if the Democrats phrased it the right way. Unfortunately, they may not want to phrase it the right way and prefer to try to push it through with unfavorable wording just to say the other side is obstructionist.

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

#47

Post by empalms »

Evidlo wrote: post #15

Why not leave this to the states to decide?

Just a guess, but I'd assume this is a step in that direction?

One somewhat related item -- the federal prohibition of alcohol (Amendment 18) and its repeal (Amendment 21) -- stems from the commerce clause, which enumerates the powers held by the Federal legislative branch: including the regulation of intrastate and interstate commerce. IANAL or a constitutional scholar, so grains of salt.

Fun fact: though the 21st amendment came into being in 1933, Mississippi was one of the last states to repeal a state-wide dry law in 1966. [0]

[0] https://www.mdah.ms.gov/timeline/zone/1966/

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

#49

Post by easton »

yupper32 wrote: post #30
galangalalgol wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 togethe…

Cigarettes are 21 in the US as of three years or so ago.
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