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US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

bbc.co.uk

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Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#81

Post by free2OSS »

bransonf wrote: post #55

> not expected to advance further as long as the Senate remains in Republican hands. > “This legislation does not legalize cannabis across the country. It stops the federal government from interfering with what states have decided to do” In all seriousness, isn’t the Republican platform weaker central government? Why the exception?

That unfortunately isn't the Republican platform.

We are taught that in school, but their policy doesn't line up with that.

There is a strong debate to be made Biden is more fiscally right leaning than Trump. Where Trump was big into economic intervention (higher taxes through tariffs and SALT Deduction removal, higher deficit, new government spending projects, tax credits, free money, and restricting commerce on bump stocks).

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#82

Post by dragonwriter »

skrtskrt wrote: post #75
bransonf wrote: post #55

> not expected to advance further as long as the Senate remains in Republican hands. > “This legislation does not legalize cannabis across the country. It stops the federal government from interfering with what states have decided to do” In all seriousness, isn’t the Republican platform weaker central government? Why the exception?

A proper conservative position would be weaker central government. In the US both parties want a stronger central government, just with different priorities.

> A proper conservative position would be weaker central government.

That would be a proper minarchist position.

“Conservative” is more about the aims of government than its size, though in an attempt to build a coalition with libertarians, American conservatives selectively use minarchist language when justifying their opposition to things that they really oppose for purpose reasons rather than government size reasons.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#84

Post by jdmichal »

huntermeyer wrote: post #19

> It includes measures to expunge the federal criminal records of those charged or convicted for non-violent cannabis offenses I feel this line is what'll cause the bill to not pass in the Senate. I don't see why the removal of cannabis from the scheduled drugs list needs to be coupled with criminal record expungement. Do one. Then move to do the next. Is this how things are usually done?

Yes, this is typically how politics works. Bills should pass by a very narrow margin. Excess votes represents potential political energy. If a bill passes with a large margin, that means that there was probably something else that could have been added that would have lost some of those votes, but not enough to still not pass. It's all a game of The Price Is Right, getting closest to the number but not going over.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#85

Post by ogre_codes »

bransonf wrote: post #55

> not expected to advance further as long as the Senate remains in Republican hands. > “This legislation does not legalize cannabis across the country. It stops the federal government from interfering with what states have decided to do” In all seriousness, isn’t the Republican platform weaker central government? Why the exception?

The war on drugs has been a long Republican policy, right along with family values.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#86

Post by mullingitover »

The fact that this won't sail through congress in a week (it'll never even come up for a vote in the senate) really illustrates how out of touch legislators are with voters. If there was a nationwide referendum on legalizing (not just decriminalizing) it would pass in a landslide today. Instead, congress will dither on this issue for probably the next five years at minimum.

I realize it's more complicated than giving voters what they want. The US has flexed its policy muscles for the drug war for decades, and fully legalizing now would violate a number of important treaties with other countries. However, decriminalizing should be a no-brainer.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#87

Post by bbrree66 »

jliptzin wrote: post #66
bransonf wrote: post #55

> not expected to advance further as long as the Senate remains in Republican hands. > “This legislation does not legalize cannabis across the country. It stops the federal government from interfering with what states have decided to do” In all seriousness, isn’t the Republican platform weaker central government? Why the exception?

Republicans don't actually stand for anything, other than "do the opposite of what Democrats want"

What a pea brained response.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#88

Post by avolcano »

free2OSS wrote: post #52
ahoy wrote: post #45

This means very little while the republicans control the senate, I imagine.

The timing here is awfully Political. I imagine Democrats wouldn't do this if they had control of the government. Seems like lip service to their bases.

Eh, it's a broadly popular policy with huge moderate appeal: https://news.gallup.com/poll/323582/support-legal-marijuana-...

Centrist Democrats have been trying to get this moderate base for a while, and leftist Democrats are obviously gonna support legalization, so this seems like the rare case where they actually get to be aligned on something broadly and would push it if they were in power.

Re: US House passes federal cannabis decriminalisation bill

#90

Post by whythre »

CameronNemo wrote: post #29
nip180 wrote: post #15

2/3 of Americans support legalizing cannabis. I don’t understand why this bill is so bipartisan among politicians if so many citizens support it.

Americans don't make laws (or approve judges), Senators do. <16% of the US population elects 50 senators.

It’s almost like the US is a representational republic, not a democracy.
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