Kamala Harris signals she'll go further than Biden on marijuana legalization "we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior"
Kamala Harris signals she'll go further than Biden on marijuana legalization "we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior"
Kamala Harris has historically supported marijuana legalization, but had yet to clarify her stance since launching her current campaign.
The president can order agencies to reschedule it, which makes it defacto legal in a lot of states, and means federal employees in states where it's legal can use, including military.
She should do that asap, because the fight to actually legalize is a lot harder.
I don't want to see her say it needs to be legalized and then refuse to take any step thats not the hardest
Biden already started that process to move it to schedule 3. It's been moving through slowly but it's got a public hearing on December 2nd
Schedule 3 for weed is a joke when Xanax and Ambien are schedule 4
It’s moving slowly because the DEA and police want it to stay illegal because that’s where half their funding comes from
Rescheduling is a lot more complicated than that. The president can not just wave a wand and make it legal. Congress could pass a law doing so, but they are not going to do that. The other way is via the Controlled Substances Act which is, to put it mildly, is a cluster fuck.
In a nutshell, administrative rescheduling begins when an actor—the Secretary of Health and Human Services or an outside interested party—files a petition with the Attorney General or he initiates the process himself. The Attorney General forwards the request to the HHS Secretary asking for a scientific and medical evaluation and recommendation, as specified by 23 USC 811(b-c). HHS, via the Food and Drug Administration conducts an assessment and returns a recommendation to the Attorney General “in a timely manner.” The Attorney General, often through the Drug Enforcement Administration, conducts its own concurrent and independent review of the evidence in order to determine whether a drug should be scheduled, rescheduled, or removed from control entirely—depending on the initial request in the petition.
If the Attorney General finds sufficient evidence that a change in scheduling is warranted he then initiates the first stages of a standard rulemaking process, consistent with the Administrative Procedures Act. During rulemaking and consistent with Executive Order 12866, if the White House—through the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of information and Regulatory Affairs—determines the rule to be “significant,” it will conduct a regulatory review of the proposed rule—a very likely outcome given the criteria in the EO.
FYI, Biden already initiated this process to reschedule marijuana in 2022. At this point, it has been reviewed and the Attorney General has submitted a rule change to the DEA. They will have a public comment period which they will no doubt drag out as long as possible. If approved, marijuana will be reclassified at the same level as steroids (schedule III). It is disappointing that Biden only requested changing the schedule rather than descheduling it all together. Not ideal, but a hell of a lot better than now.
It is disappointing that Biden only requested changing the schedule rather than descheduling it all together. Not ideal, but a hell of a lot better than now.
Which is actually the reasonable thing to do here. Marijuana is not something that doesn't have brain-altering side effects. It has pretty clear effects which could impair driving, etc - It doesn't need to be descheduled completely; that would be asinine.
Canadian here.
It’s been fully legal for… 5 years? We haven’t fallen apart yet!
There’s some people working on that, but they aren’t the stoner type.
Last year Michigan received about 290 million in weed taxes, around 90 went to municipalities and county governments, 100 million to schools, and 100 million to roads.
It's crazy to me how cheap it is. Like, they could double the taxes and it would still feel incredibly affordable when compared to alcohol.
I'll believe it when it happens. I can only get my hopes up so many times
Saying, “we need to” is about as noncommittal as not saying anything at all. That’s like my girlfriend pointing out that the kitchen is a mess and me saying “yeah we really need to do the dishes”.
She has no control over it, the only thing she can do is what Biden did, ask them to investigate it and reschedule it. The executive branch does not make laws. That's on the Senate/Congress. The number of people arrested for marijuana by the federal government isn't the number of people in prison/jail for it. They are/and will be arrested by states. A law must be written to superseed state laws on marijuana... As the president cannot pardon people from state laws.
Vote for new senators/Congress members... The only 1 the president puts in place is the Vice President in the Senate.
Biden promised the same thing and then didn’t do shit. They clearly like to dangle this carrot without acting on it so they can continue to leverage it for votes.
Decriminalization is not the same as legalization. In terms of legalization, he only supported legalization for medical marijuana which is the process he started. He actually pledged to move it to schedule 2 but has started the process to move it to schedule 3. That process is getting closer for what it's worth. The DEA has really dragged it out but it's nearly at the end with the public hearing in December
From the source that politico links to
he will support the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes
[...]
reschedule cannabis as a schedule II drug so researchers can study its positive and negative impacts.
Copying my comment from elsewhere
The DEA has really dragged it out
Color me surprised. It's not like they've made millions by confiscating people's possessions in the name of "the drug war". Oh wait, that's exactly what they've been doing since they were established. Seriously, fuck the DEA.
Yea it’s still full of “is going to” and “process getting closer” stuff. He had 4 full years and didn’t do anything until halfway through his last year specifically so the next election cycle could continue to have a carrot to dangle. That was 3 more years of people having their lives permanently ruined.
You should learn how the drug schedule system works. The president can't just snap his fingers and make it legal.
Then why are they even talking about it? They haven't the power to do anything about it, so stop claiming you will do it.
Oh wait! Making empty promises fools idiots into voting for them.
Works every time!! I'm 40, I thought legalization was right around the corner 20 years ago.
Hey, we did it up in Canada. It's 100% viable for the US to do the same. I can't say for sure the dems will or won't but it's not unrealistic for them to follow through.
I would like to reiterate that A LOT of the entrenched Cannabis industry assholes that run the business are pro-Trump. I'm talking well over a majority of the most psychotic Trump supporters I know are directly involved in the interstate Cannabis market. They are even more prone to conspiracy brainrot than the average Yall'Qaeda folks.
I'm sounding the alarm for the millionth time that the Cannabis industry attracts some of the most degenerate, unethical, fucked up people into positions of power. I've said this like 10 times on Lemmy at least, and I always get downvoted into oblivion even though I have more direct experience with the Cannabis industry than 99.9999% of people on earth.
Trust me when I say a lot of these people are fully fucked in the head, and giving them legitimacy is a problem. While I am still 100% pro-legalization, I am also aware of the dark side of that equation as well. There is a lot of exploitation and evil in the industry. It needs to be unionized, and there needs to be common sense regulation that is not captured by the corporations within the industry itself.
Source: Worked in the black, gray, and recreational Cannabis industry for 14 years. Have directly facilitated the sale of tens of millions of dollars worth of Cannabis. Worked with thousands of different people, and hundreds of different vendors over that time.
I'm sounding the alarm for the millionth time that the Cannabis industry attracts some of the most degenerate, unethical, fucked up people into positions of power
I worked at a delivery dispensary for like 2 months in 2021 or so:
- our main product was one which the owner also owned, but only under the table through a kid of his, so we'd regularly get weird orders that didn't match what we were getting in product, and heavily push the garbage house brand for him. Pretty sure money laundering was happening
- the safe was regularly left unlocked and open. The safe was in the cage (where the weed is) which was also unlocked and open. So was the back door ~10ft away from that, and the roll-up ~20ft from that. Any random homeless person could easily have sprinted in, yoinked money, weed, and bolted. Well, until:
- right after I quit the guy who hired me (the "co owner") took 10k cash out of the safe AND the wife of the girl in accounting and dipped, idk if they ever found that guy actually
- they absolutely were trafficking significant amounts of hard drugs as well
If I told you stories about some of the things I've seen first hand over the years, or heard about from associates you wouldn't even believe me.
Harris is from Oakland. She gets it. There are nice dispensaries everywhere in Oakland. Even in very family-friendly or affluent parts of town.
You do understand she is the one that was jailing black men on possession charges because it made her look good, right?
Our policy was that no one with a marijuana conviction for mere possession could do any (jail time) at all,” said Paul Henderson, who led narcotics prosecutions for several years under Harris. Defendants arrested for the lowest-level possession would typically be referred to drug treatment programs instead of being charged, and weightier charges for marijuana sales would routinely be pleaded down to less serious ones, he said.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/09/11/kamala-harris-prosecuting-marijuana-cases/
Believe it when I see it.
Ok. What's her plan?
I think to say something broadly popular with the voting base and then forget about it after the election. Decent plan TBH.
Same is true with health care, minimum wage, sick leave for workers, there are numerous issues that large majority's on both sides support that nothing will be done about because billionaires and corporate donors. She is a neoliberal after all.
There's a couple of different ways she could do it. She could start the descheduling process (doable with existing law, but DEA slow it down like they are with Biden trying to move it to schedule 3). Or if there's a democratic trifecta, she could also push for legislation to legalize it
She did push for legislation like that in 2018 when she was a senator
I'm aware of the avenues by which it could be legalized. I asked what Harris' plan is. If she hasn't released one yet, fine. She only just announced it. But I would like some specifics from her campaign at some point, because Biden's efforts have been disappointing to everyone who considers Biden to be fallible.
Remember when Biden "signaled" he would be a one term president in his first campaign, then proceeded to put the entire country at risk by running again?
god i wish we would do the same across europe
So far it's just a campaign promise. I wouldn't envy us yet. She made a career out of putting people in jail for MJ.
While I don't agree with the criminalization of marijuana, it's really rough when it comes to a prosecutor and a law they may not like. Step back and ask the question, "should an Attorney General (AG) be allowed to not prosecute laws they don't agree with?" You might be willing to say, "yes" for laws you also don't agree with; but, what happens when it starts to cover laws you want to see enforced? Should "prosecutorial discretion" effectively allow an AG a complete veto power over the laws as passed by the State and Federal legislatures?
As much as it may suck for the person in that position, it would be really bad for democracy to allow that sort of power. We empower an AG to enforce the law as written. But, we also expect that they will enforce the law as written. So ya, I would expect that Harris (or her office), as AG, prosecuted marijuana cases. That's really what the whole "rule of law" thing means. It means the laws, as written, being enforced on all people. And it's up to us, the people, through our representatives to get that law changed.
And hopefully, this will work out to be more than an empty campaign promise. Though, I don't plan to hold my breath.
Trump told the crowd, "One rough hour, and I mean real rough, the word will get out, and it will end immediately. End immediately. You know, it'll end immediately."
You see, we shoot them in the head to send a message. /s
I think we should start adopting all of Trump's shitty day-one policies.
- We win, the purge starts on domestic terrorists for a day, terrorism will 'end immediately'
- Kamala gets to be dictator day one only, like how trump says. She deports all republicans to the nations of their ancestors.
- Courts packed with 29 more SCOTUS justices.
- Build a wall between Texas and the US
If all of this is fine for Trump to do, then why not Kambala??
She deports all republicans to the nations of their ancestors.
Believe me, they don't want these people either. However, my understanding is Russia has open arms for disenfranchised Republicans. Please, don't let me stop you. No taksies backsies though.
She deports all republicans to the nations of their ancestors.
😂 🤣
If no one is being harmed and all parties have the access to information to know enough about whether or not to consent, and if all parties do consent.
Nothing wrong is being done.
I sure hope so. The notion that there still are not free states when it comes to cannabis is just beyond ridiculous.
Shit. I love that she came out for it but this means the race is closer than we thought. Fuxing vote people!
The US policy on pot has 100% negatively impacted our ability to defend in cyberspace.
Just legalize it (and psychedelics) already.
if it is fully legalized at the federal level it has the potential to put a gigantic dent in the the housing crisis
Please explain more.
We build houses...
... with weed
So she plans in taking about it even after the election?
"Maybe when they're stoned they'll stop asking about Gaza"
Paywall, didnt read
Normalize personal freedom again. If you don’t have personal freedoms you ain’t free in the least. Fuck all cops and the idea you can control me. Fuck you! I do what I want!
Leaving this here.
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https://www.businessinsider.com/harris-marijuana-legalization-biden-views-election-2024-9
Just a reminder that she was responsible for putting thousands of people in jail for petty marijuana crimes.. but you know. Democrats are allowed to change their stance on things... Republicans aren't... right?
Prosecutors prosecute, not legislate. She won't be a legislature if she becomes president either.
How long have Democrats been saying this now?
No democratic as a presidential nominee has publicly stated they would fully legalize it until now as far as I am aware. Biden has made moves to reschedule, but he has not said something like this
Bernie didn't say he'd legalize weed? I've got a tough time believing that tbh
Edit: I'm a dumbass lol "nominee" does not in fact mean "candidate" 😂
If you could do it as president, just make Joe do it immediately. We might not get another chance if you wait.
Mfs always wait until election time to say they’ll do cool stuff then never fucking do it.
You might notice that Kamala Harris is not in fact Joe Biden. Even if she wants to do it, that doesn't mean she can make Joe do it.
It's not immediate. There's a process involved in rescheduling or descheduling. Biden started the process to move it to schedule 3 in 2022 which would efficiently make it legal medically. The DEA has been dragging it out as much as possible. There's a public comment period in December
Biden has also not publicly said he wants full legalization, so convincing him to do so may be difficult. As senator, harris pushed for full legalization, so it's clear that she has a very different attitude about it to Biden
I bet she commits suicide by shooting herself in the head...twice.
I expect to see frequent attempts on her life if she wins.
You know who that was in '98? I know there are over a dozen now who read this uneducated to wit I refer. Or just buy that and assume he did just that. Twice.
I have a mixed opinion on this. One the one hand, I don't like drugs because of the dependence it's builds on its users, the harmful medical effects in the long term, and how many people use it while driving or doing other dangerous tasks (for those that cause incapacitation). This isn't just my opinion for marijuana, but for other drugs such as alcohol and tobacco.
However, I don't want people who do use it to end up paying massive fines or ending up in jail, because ultimately they are victims. Of course, the reason this isn't the case for alcohol and tobacco is because of its historical foundation in the US.
So I guess I'm left wondering what is an ideal solution for this problem? My best guess is to decriminalize, but also help improve resources available for treatment of addiction and education of its medical effects.
She’s the VP right now. There is nothing stopping her from putting forward legislation on marijuana.
VPs cannot introduce legislation. When she was senator she did co-sponsor a bill in 2018 to legalize weed federally
What are you talking about. Anyone can write bills. If you want to argue semantics yes she can’t actually call for a vote on a bill but there is nothing stopping her from writing the bill and telling the American people that the plan is out there and the bill just needs to be sponsored by a member of congress.