The Political Pot Thread

[emay]

CO first state to collect more in taxes from weed than alcohol.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/09/15/colorado-just-became-the-first-state-in-history-to-collect-more-taxes-from-marijuana-than-alcohol/

[mehead]

CO first state to collect more in taxes from weed than alcohol.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/09/15/colorado-just-became-the-first-state-in-history-to-collect-more-taxes-from-marijuana-than-alcohol/

:smoke:

[Buffalo Budd]

Now this actually blows my mind.


http://houston.cbslocal.com/2015/05/07/texas-house-panel-approves-full-legalization-of-marijuana-in-unprecedented-move/?utm_content=bufferaacd6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

[runawayjimbo]

Now this actually blows my mind.


http://houston.cbslocal.com/2015/05/07/texas-house-panel-approves-full-legalization-of-marijuana-in-unprecedented-move/?utm_content=bufferaacd6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Not sure what's so unprecedented about it: we're already have 4 states that have passed full scale legalization measures (as the article notes in the first graf). Surprising maybe, but certainly not without precedent.

Also, talk about doing the right thing for the wrong reasons:

The deeply conservative, Tea Party-backed Simpson explained in an op-ed last month that his belief in God, distrust of government and criticism of the "War on Drugs" led him to sponsor the marijuana legalization bill.

"As a Christian, I recognize the innate goodness of everything God made and humanity's charge to be stewards of the same," wrote Simpson. "I don't believe that when God made marijuana he made a mistake that government needs to fix."

If everything made by God is innately good, how do you explain Skrillex?

But,

And although the bill is not expected to survive the full path to becoming a law in this legislative session, Texas anti-drug law advocates are labeling the move as historic.

Boo

[Buffalo Budd]

I made that statement because it's Texas dude.
This isn't a crunchy granola state, people have been incarcerated for a few grams of bud.

[emay]

Think were gonna be seeing a good mix of red and blue states trying to legalize just for the monetary value it brings to the states. Its funny how fast some politicians change their stance on marijuana once they see the $$$

[runawayjimbo]

I made that statement because it's Texas dude.
This isn't a crunchy granola state, people have been incarcerated for a few grams of bud.

My reply wasn't a swipe at you. It was directed at the headline (or, more accurately, the dude from the advocacy group who said it).

I agree with emay: until it is finally put to bed at the federal level, this issue is likely to cross typical political preconceptions. Hell, if anything Republicans should be more likely to support legalization since they claim to hold limited gov't and personal responsibility as the loftiest of ideals. It's a goddamned shame they've been flaming hypocrites on this issue (and many, many others) for so long, but thankfully both parties are starting to come around (albeit entirely too slowly).

[VDB]

Well, within the context of Texas politics, that move certainly is unprecedented and therefore the headline is surely accurate.

P.S. I love a good semantics argument.

Now speaking of things you might not have been expecting, this news came out of my state today:

South Carolina senate panel approves medical marijuana proposal

Not surprisingly but no less shittily, the head of our statewide law-enforcement bureau opposes this idea. Hmm, I wonder if that might have anything to do with the fact that police jobs and budgets depend heavily on the drug war. Perhaps he should stick to enforcing laws and not trying to influence them.

[sls.stormyrider]

meanwhile, some guy that I used to work with, who was quite good at his job, got canned for flunking his random test.
the substance - weed

yea, the guy should have known better considering the random tests, but...

[runawayjimbo]

Well, within the context of Texas politics, that move certainly is unprecedented and therefore the headline is surely accurate.

P.S. I love a good semantics argument.

By that logic, any state (or at least red ones, or so the "theory" goes) that enacts a change in policy with regard to marijuana would be considered unprecedented. To me, that doesn't accurately describe the nationwide changes in attitude and policy that we are seeing (which, BTW, may accurately be described as unprecedented). Once CO and WA legalized it (I guess technically when CA passed medicinal), the train left the station and all the other states following suit are just smart enough to hop on.

And if I could preemptively answer your question: yes, yes I am still talking about this. :wink:

[runawayjimbo]

OH SHIT I'M FEELING THE BERN

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sanders-will-propose-nixing-marijuana-from-federal-list-of-dangerous-drugs/2015/10/28/be8c3adc-7da2-11e5-b575-d8dcfedb4ea1_story.html

Sanders will propose nixing marijuana from federal list of dangerous drugs

Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders will announce his support Wednesday for removing marijuana from a list of the most dangerous drugs outlawed by the federal government — a move that would free states to legalize it without impediments from Washington.

The self-described democratic socialist senator from Vermont plans to share his proposal during a town hall meeting with college students that will be broadcast on the Internet across the country from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

"Too many Americans have seen their lives destroyed because they have criminal records as a result of marijuana use," Sanders says in prepared remarks for the event provided to The Washington Post. "That's wrong. That has got to change."

No other presidential candidate has called for marijuana to be completely removed from the schedule of controlled substances regulated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Longshot Democratic hopeful Martin O'Malley has said he'd put marijuana on Schedule 2, a less strict designation. The party's front-runner, Hillary Rodham Clinton, has repeatedly said she wants to see how legalization experiments in Colorado, Washington and other states play out before committing to any changes at the federal level.

Sanders's plan would not automatically make marijuana legal nationwide, but states would be allowed to regulate the drug in the same way that state and local laws now govern sales of alcohol and tobacco. And people who use marijuana in states that legalize it would no longer be at risk of federal prosecution.

His plan would also allow marijuana businesses currently operating in states that have legalized it to use banking services and apply for tax deductions that are currently unavailable to them under federal law.

In a 2013 memo, the Justice Department essentially agreed to look the other way in states where marijuana is legal, provided that the marijuana industry in those states remained in compliance with state laws. But this memo isn't legally binding, and a new administration or a new attorney general could easily reverse course.

Marijuana's current classification is reserved for drugs with no medically accepted use and a "high potential for abuse."

Most researchers who work in drug policy say that this designation isn't appropriate. Last week, the Brookings Institution said that marijuana's current scheduling status is "stifling medical research." The American Medical Association has called for marijuana's scheduling status to be "reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research."

Sanders has hinted at his position previously, including during a broadcast last week on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on ABC during which he said: "I am not unfavorably disposed to moving toward the legalization of marijuana."

"We have more people in jail today than any other country on earth," Sanders told Kimmel. "We have large numbers of lives that have been destroyed because of this war on drugs, and because people were caught smoking marijuana and so forth. I think we have got to end the war on drugs."

In response to a question during the first Democratic debate, Sanders said he would vote in favor of a local Nevada measure that would legalize recreational pot use.

"I would vote yes because I am seeing in this country too many lives being destroyed for non-violent offenses," he said. "We have a criminal justice system that lets CEOs on Wall Street walk away, and yet we are imprisoning or giving jail sentences to young people who are smoking marijuana."

In the first debate, Clinton said she supports the legalization of marijuana and alternatives to imprisoning people for non-violent drug crimes. But she stopped short of endorsing legalization, saying she wants "to find out a lot more than we know today" about the experiences of states like Colorado and Washington.

Sanders's proposal is in line with the thinking of a growing number of Americans and a solid majority of Democrats.

According to a Gallup poll published earlier this month, national support for legalizing pot is at an all-time high, with 58 percent of those surveyed supporting such an outcome.

Still, the ability of Sanders or any Democratic president to move the needle on federal marijuana policy through a reclassification of the drug is likely to face stiff resistance in a Republican controlled Congress.

Medical marijuana is now sold in nearly half of all states, and even one red state has legalized it for recreational use. Veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are clamoring for access to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. Loosening pot laws polls better in three swing states than any 2016 presidential candidate.

But in July, conservative House Republicans killed a bipartisan proposal to create a sub-class for marijuana so researchers could simply study the substance legally and offer fresh guidance on whether it should continue to be classified alongside heroin and ecstasy as one of the most dangerous.

[mistercharlie]

He already had my vote, now I wish I could vote for him twice.  :mrgreen:

[emay]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/03/ohio-could-legalize-marijuana-on-tuesday-it-could-also-change-the-entire-legalization-game/

the wrong way to legalize weed

[ytowndan]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/03/ohio-could-legalize-marijuana-on-tuesday-it-could-also-change-the-entire-legalization-game/

the wrong way to legalize weed

I've never seen so many people (of all ages) voting in a non-presidential election.  My precinct was about as busy as it was in 2012.  It was definitely busier than it was for last year's midterms. 

Having said that, I voted for it.  Some of the specifics of the measure really blow, but that can be fixed with another ballot initiative next year. 

[Hicks]

Honestly I'm kind of glad to see that it failed because fuck Nick Lachey.