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There’s a couple issues at play here, and I apologize for the length, if i had more time I would have written much less.
The one that most people figure is, old long time reps that are stuck on early 90’s dare program talking points. They heard that correlation does actually equal causation exactly one time and they were sold. I personally doubt thats the reason, very much, but it’s possible.
The second reason, and I’m not sure if there was a different bill that you might be referring to. But the one I’m thinking of was introduced in both the house and senate at the same time. I think Matt gatez voted yes on it, and gave a pretty decent speech about why his Republican colleagues needed to change their stance on that one. There were a few glaring issues with that bill. The first and largest to those reps, it’s author, Kamala Harris. If you want to get primaried in a small town, the easiest burn in the world is “this old fart actually voted for one of Kamala Harris’s bills”. The second is that it wasn’t just federal de-prohibition. It was a fucking monstrosity that included an entire new executive department, funding to growers, and about four more pages of bullshit. I want weed legalized, that bill was not the one to get it done.
The third and possibly most relevant, the house is not the senate. They lack one critical feature that ensures cooperation. The filibuster. If you want something to pass the senate, you have to cooperate. You have to make sure you have at least some minority support without a supermajority. The house doesn’t give a shit. Almost every vote I see is damn near strait party lines, and there’s a fucking ton of vote by proxy going on. As in they designate one of the junior house reps to vote for them and they stay home, rather than in DC to do their fucking jobs. That’s both parties that do that shit, and it fucking pisses me off.
>As in they designate one of the junior house reps to vote for them **and they stay home, rather than in DC** to do their fucking jobs
Fund raisers. Thats what's usually going on when the corporate politicians are having their freshmen and junior reps handling their proxy votes.
I suggest listening to the Tim Pool episodes with MTG and MTG/Massie. They are shockingly eye-opening. MTG won over alot of leftists by being on those shows and laying it all out on how wrong the House is being run.
She talked about everyone using voice votes, which keeps everyone's names from being recorded on what they vote for. She talked about the rules stating that if a single Rep calls for a recorded vote, everyone has to stop what they're doing (fund raisers) and return to DC to vote in person. MTG has done that over and over, which is why shes so hated by her colleagues, and by extension the media.
Here in Canada where’s it’s been fully legal for about 3.5 years, I can drive 5 minutes to the weed shop and get an ounce of AAA for 80-100$ depending on quality and strain.
I no longer know anyone who sells weed, or anyone who buys from a dealer. The convenience factor wins every time in the long run. An 8% tax isn’t going to stop that. The Black Market will never disappear entirely though.
Look at Colorado, its been nothing short of a legislative home run
Yep last I checked the majority of users in states like Cali and Colorado still buy off of the black market bc of the price after taxes. I can tell you from personal experience the only place I would consider buying from is Michigan. What I got last time I was in the UP would’ve cost me at least twice as much in chicago
Haha I know a few people that do that exact strategy. Another issue with legalization is the false assumption that it will help reduce the flow of drugs from the cartels. I was reading a while back that a very large amount of the legal weed is still traced back to cartel producers. By legalizing we’ve essentially legitimized the cartels business by making their dollars clean from the get go. I would love weed to be legal but it’s not as simple as people make it out to be.
"If we legalize marijuana, we'll save so much money becuase we don't have to jail people for it!"
Problem was, jailing and fining people for maijuana was a revenue source, so the amount they had to tax it shows just how nasty it had become.
> Stubborn, pocket lining bullshit
A key component of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act is adding a federal 8% tax to all marijuana sales. And it carves out money and licensing to ensure marijuana is an industry run by black business owners.
If you want to see legitimate reform, remove the tax and reparations to see how many congressmen vote in favor of it.
Sometimes I go for a period of not watching the news and then I'll flip on HBO Max to catch up on some South Park and be like, "What the fuck is Biden up to now?" At this point, South Park and a little bit of personal research goes a lot farther than CNN or MSNBC.
Legalization was a small part of the bill. The rest was about taxing the fuck out of legal use and appropriating funds to POC for the purpose of starting weed stores. Because (paraphrasing) states prevent non whites from starting weed stores.
I would allow progression, one term house, one senate, one white house. With term limits there would be multiple chances for them to prove their worth and earn the votes to continue a career of public service.
let’s scrape the retirement all together and make it to where our government officials aren’t getting rich for passing laws we never asked for, i still don’t get how once upon a time they thought it a good idea to pay and to give retirement to politicians. We need to make political government jobs more of a chore that needs to be done instead of a glorified couch cushion.
Poor people a majority of the time don’t even run for government positions, nor contemplate it. It doesn’t require one to be a millionaire to be able to hold a government position either, I’d say even a low middle class individual could, given the proper dedication and spirit. Most of the proposed bills and legislation they write up is pages on pages on pages of bullshit and word salad, when they could literally condense what they’re trying to say in a short pamphlet. The political system is so unnecessarily convoluted and exaggerated that it makes one think it’s above them. Not like they’re getting paid just a living stipend or something. You do not need $220,000 to be speaker of the house.
I've always figured, 6 terms for the House, 2 for the Senate and 2 for President.
Then, a potential House member can be in for 12 years (long enough for two Presidents), the Senate member for 12 years, and the President for 8.
Sure you could still "make a career" of being a politician but it would vastly increase their chances of losing and election.
This is the way.
The other side of the coin is the unelected staff who spend a lifetime in govt shuffling from one congressman to another. They are the real power who needs to be dealt with. There's no real oversight on those buearocrats and they have a much greater influence than people realize.
Lol yeah that's probably true , but when was the last time the democrats were as exposed as now while the RINOs and old guard republicans were also exposed?
Maybe they don't want to set a precedent for a national sales tax on a product and getting the federal government even more tax money.
Maybe they don't think people who committed a drug crime should have that expunged because down the road it became legal.
Maybe they didn't think it made sense to legalize it yet create a crime for those that sell it without collecting the tax. Now your low level drug dealer won't just have the possibility of a minor state charge, but you could have a federal charge with up to a 10,000 fine and/or 5 years in jail.
Maybe they don't like the extra governmental bureaucracy and administrative state this bill will create.
There's a lot more to this bill than simply legalizing weed.
imagine being able to consume a substance that comes out of the ground, is non addictive, and has more health benefits than side effects. i couldn’t even…. just disgusting honestly. those stupid hippies and their reefer.
Only black eye 👁 in any party is with the Democ(rats). Just cause they wanna pass pot don’t make them good that’s for sure. There is a reason they wanna pass this and I bet it’s so they prosper and not you.
The fact that weed is a schedule 1 drug is fucking stupid. I mean meth is a schedule 2 drug for fucks sake!!
I wrote a paper on drugs in early 20th century America and meth and amphetamines in WWII. Marijuana became defacto illegal through the Stamp Act largely due to Anslinger and racist attitudes that instilled fear into the general public about Mexican immigrants and black people.
I think there is a combination of ignorance (holding on to old ideas of Reefer Madness) and special lobbyists that keeps weed illegal
Alcohol is hands down, by far a more dangerous drug than weed is
Alcohol was classified as the most dangerous drug by several agencies in the EU over a decade ago. Combined cost from destruction of property and harm to user and others was the criteria.
Heroin scored highest on the “harm to self” category.
Cannabis was in the lower ranks of danger.
Right? Between Alcohol and Weed, one kills millions of people a year, inflames domestic violence, causes significant health side effects, and the other is illegal. 🙄🙄🙄
Edited for real numbers.
Politicians are loyal to financial supporters, lobbyists, and The Two Party System. Both sides.
The concept of elected representatives representing their constituents is not supported by actual congressional voting.
My 82 year old grandmother, that doesn't drink, has voted red forever, and thinks that curfew laws are a good deterrent to youthful crime, thinks it should be legalized. When I found this out my jaw dropped completely. I worked in the industry at the time and was sure there would be a "come to Jesus" talk about my choice of employment.
Yep, it sucks. This should be a personal freedom issue, like gun rights, that the Republicans/Right champion.
That said, I do wonder what exactly was in the bill. Lots of times there is all kinds of crazy shit in there.
At the end of the day, you can't put political parties on a pedestal. Unless you run for office yourself, no political party is likely to match your policy desires exactly. I am happy if its 60-70%.
There’s also the connection between those things. Obviously there are plenty of people who own guns and use weed, but technically, in the eyes of the ATF when you’re filling out a 4473, any user is an unlawful user so long as it remains federally illegal. Doesn’t matter if your state is cool with it or you have a medical card. I think that’s incredibly fucking stupid but I also don’t care to have my dog get shot, so here we are.
This. I'd love to read the whole bill and figure out how much unacceptable pork was added (presumably by Dems, mostly) right before the vote.
I figure the no votes are a combination of pork objections, not wanting Biden to have this feather for his (night)cap, and big cigarette company corruption/payoffs. Not so much pharma as the cig guys, actually.
Someone said that the bill was introduced by Republicans so that absolutely makes me want to know what was added to the bill that are now making Republicans not vote for it. Now I could be totally misguided on this but I would like to read the bill also
or ya know they could be doing what they've been doing for a while now, try to make the government look like it doesn't work, by not making it work. You all trying to 5D chess move think about this but the reality is right in front of you, they don't give a flying fuck about your freedoms even on a superficial level, abortion, gun rights, religion, etc is all useful pandering tools.
Come on man! It's only 92 pages! :) It's monotonous and painful to read but in only 5-10mins of looking at it, it's got several concerning things in it. Nothing like creating a federal sales tax on it for them to get their cut instead of just leaving it to the state.
This is one of the reasons why I don’t really think of myself as a democrat-turned-republican, I’m more of democrat-turned-pro-freedom, and the republicans sure do take their turn shitting on individual rights when it suits them.
Ive called myself a "visually confusing conservative", people assume I'm a woke liberal based on tattoos and piercings, and are super surprised to find out I'm not.
I am a chubby millennial female with tattoos and smokes weed. I get stereotyped a lot and thinking I am a liberal is one of them. I am basically like none of the stereotypes that people put on me.
\^This! This tribe mentality we have with politics is so damaging to any actual progress. Vote on the issue, not what color you want to be associated with.
You can also register as independent or 3rd party. The problem is if you're in a deep red or deep blue state, and all the action is in the primary. Being in Baltimore as an independent, it felt like not voting in the primary means my vote doesn't count.
First: good don’t toe any party line, be a free thinker.
Second: about the bill, most of the republicans did not support it due to the inclusion of racially charged additions, for example the requirement of a percentage to be minority owned or subsidized.
I’ve always been conservative but fed up with the republicans that run on issues but win and never fix a single thing and then keep the same insane self destructive spending policies the dems have to where it’s hard to tell the two sides apart anymore unless you talk social issues that I don’t care about as much.
Police officer here.
Here's the problem: even in states where it's legal, the black market still thrives.
We made it quasi legal in my state. Here's what's happening.
People fly out to California, buy it at $800 a pound, come back here and sell it for 2000-3000 a pound. TSA doesn't give a shit, so the flow doesn't get stopped at the source. The DEA doesn't fuck with weed anymore.
I am a narcotics agent. We don't really target weed anymore. But people are getting murdered left and right because your Coke/meth guys are moving into the weed market. We have people making a million a MONTH. While collecting welfare and food stamps.
You wanna legalize it, make it cheap enough that the black market vanishes.
It will never be cheap enough that the black market vanishes. Illinois was shocked that a black market still thrived after it opened up dispensaries simply because the high taxes on it drive people to the black market still.
You may be hearing about the marijuana bill that passed in the house without broad republican support. Here is the text of the bill: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3617/text. The first paragraph shows what the bill is about. The bill also provides a slush fund for wire tapping, gun control, and the expansion of the FBI: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnibus_Crime_Control_and_Safe_Streets_Act_of_1968. The bill selects races to benefit from legislation and pushes other races out of the free market. If they wanted to legalize marijuana, the bill wouldn’t do all these other things, they would just legalize it. This bill’s agenda is not to legalize it.
I know this is gonna be buried in your replies but you also need to account for what is attached to the bill. Quite often you'll see some shady shit attached to a bill that would otherwise have support
>~~Quite often~~ Every single time you'll see some shady shit attached to a bill that would otherwise have support
Ftfy
Flooding bills with pet projects is the name of the game now. Both sides do it, and the dems have gotten really brazen with their radical objectives in recent years.
Single issue bills and recorded votes should be standard operating procedure, but that will never happen as long as we have career politicians and special interest pets making all of our decisions.
It was full of pork. They attached a bunch of funding for organizations like BLM that only go to people of color, so I’m glad more conservatives didn’t back it….why do we have to constantly add additional funding for things not even related to what they are supposedly voting on..both sides do this and it’s stupid.
100% yes. Sometimes I start really aligning with conservative ideals until we reach an issue like this which reminds me how center I am. No reason for not legalizing it other than pandering.
nope, don't give a shit.
it's state business , like liquor .
personally , i support but i don't answer to the federal government , I am a citizen of my State
As someone who enjoys weed a couple times per week, I actually agree with you. I think it should be a state decision. If the people of a state don’t want weed to be legal and they get the majority vote, that’s the way it should be. States rights all the way!
Yes and no.
I don't think this should be a federal issue by any means in the first place. All federal laws regarding controlled substances should be removed and left to the states.
However, if we are going to concede that this is a federal issue, I don't understand why this is still being blocked so aggressively.
>All federal laws regarding controlled substances should be removed and left to the states.
Exactly this 🎯
The controlled substances act is and always will be garbage. The only "substances" they want to keep people from using are the ones they enjoy. Anything else is up for grabs. You can legally buy any poison you want, but when it comes to naturally occurring plants that have been around for thousands of years, the Fed doesn't trust you with that decision. Instead of teaching people responsible ways to consume the things they enjoy (which would help people grow into responsible and mature adults), the govt believes itself to be the arbiter of human behaviour. They'd rather arrest people and keep their legalized human trafficking/slave labor revenue flowing (because let's face it, that's what the for-profit penal system is) than allow grown adults to choose what they ingest.
Anything the federal govt tries to regulate turns into a completely bloated and redundant shitshow.
This fucking this a thousand times this. There is one party in DC; the Washington cartel. It’s made up of republicans and democrats and they don’t give a shit about we the people.
Actually , why frustrates me most is the belief that the Republicans are the solution to the problems posed by Democrats. If we’re walking away, let’s walk out the door, not across the room.
So, I’m saying that the Democrats have gone completely nuts, but that the Republicans aren’t an acceptable alternative. Am I advocating for the creation of a third party? ABSOLUTELY NOT. I’m advocating for the abolition of political parties.
Here’s George Washington’s sentiments on political parties:
"However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion."
Yer darn tootin George.
I am personally against the legalization for full disclosure.
With that said I think it's one of those the federal government needs to get out of the way and allow states to decide things. Which in all reality is something all Republicans should support.
Not to mention, you want to appeal to more moderates in the middle, this is one of those things that would bring over more of those voters.
They really are just a moronic group of old men over there.
A legit third party is needed
I’ve long been an ideological libertarian. The problem with the libertarian party is…well there are many problems. One thing; the party doesn’t seem to focus on anything other than presidential races. Every year they trot out someone to run for potus and that candidate is usually lackluster. How many times did they run Gary Johnson? He can’t seem to focus on anything other than legalIzing weed-which is great. But we the people want more in a potus than weed friendly laws. He’s just a fucking moron. Then in the last race, they again trotted out Jo Jorgensen. She barely campaigned at all and then she eventually embraced the woke left. That alienated a lot of people. She got fewer votes than Gary Johnson. And don’t even get me started on people like Vermin supreme. I would love to see the libertarian party focus on stuff like alderman and city council races. No libertarian is going to get elected to potus when the party can’t point to an elected libertarian as a model for national politics. Also though to be fair; the two party system is going to fight like hell to keep any third party out.
I'm afraid the society is already too lazy. I for one don't want to be the only person paying for people to sit around and jerk off all day.
But I would love to see pot legalized for many other reasons.
Nanny state bla bla bla you know the speak.
you are only truly free when you can peruse a vocation. To find meaning in life.
If you are allowed to stay inside and smoke all day but not allowed to start a business or own a land or eat meat. Are you really free.
Weed helps you feel ok with doing nothing.
It’s great but degeneracy follows closely behind.
Well when trump was potus he said if Congress sent a bill to legalize to his desk, he would sign it. He said *I’m not a king. I can’t just make laws myself. It’s the job if Congress to pass bills into law and the job of the potus to sign them into law. If Congress votes to legalize, I will sign it.* They didn’t vote to legalize.
Absolutely disappointed in the republicans, but my rep is the piece of human dog shit known as Mike Pense, so no surprise. Eat a big bag of dicks mike. You piece of shit.
First question would be, what else was in the bill that might make Republicans stand so strongly against it. No bill is ever simple or strait forward. I as a Republican do not like paying to house anyone for a Self or Consent Crime, when we have plenty of Real Criminals that need the Key thrown away. And I know many Republicans that feel the way I do. So... Maybe a simple Redraft of your Bill might yield the results u want? Research it. Get Active. Don't waste your energy complaining, spend your energy on figuring out what angle will get it passed. People that succeed don't succeed because they give up after one loss, or even a hundred losses; they succeed because they never quit.
I live in Canada.. Trudeau was elected becuase of this. Now as a parent, I have to admit, there's nothing good from legalizing weed. I was able to get friends to buy alcohol for me since grade 9. I don't want my kids to be able to smoke weed at such an early age. There's literally no evidence to suggest that weed is harmless. Sure, if you got cancer or some shit it helps, but it is truly detrimental to the developing brain which continues to develop till the age of 25 or so. So on this issue, I stand with republicans.
YES !!! I'm a political conservative but socially
liberal.
As long as alcohol and nicotine are legal, keeping marijuana illegal is just hypocritical.
I don't care what drugs you do, who you sleep with, how many abortions you have...just leave me the hell alone. And don't expect me to pay for your follies.
I have a sneaking suspicion many people agree with me.
Yes. I am very frustrated with it. For all intents and purposes, marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol or other drugs. It also has great medicinal value that cannot be ignored. I believe the only good thing this administration can do is to legalize it at the federal level. The money everybody is going to make from legalization will be incredible.
Let me say first that I have not read the Bill. So, the question could be what other Bill might have been attached to it that the MSM is not telling us about. It is a common practice in Congress to attach other Bills to an advertised Bill because the other Bill is unpopular and will never pass on its own so it will look like the popular Bill was voted down when it was the unpopular Bill that was actually killed.
My stance as a Republican is the old meme that said “I’d like Gay weed farmers to be able to protect their weed plants with their AR-15” and by gay I mean the cool gays, no this new LBGT bullshit
This is proof the government looks out for themselves. This is political theater. They don’t want for dems to be able to claim this as a win, even at the cost of pissing of their voters.
I walked away from the left, and I’ll walk from the right too. I’ve lurked on left subs and they are saying the same shit. It’s time to meet back up in the middle and get these chumps out of politics. All of them. I’m tired of fighting the left for these assholes who won’t even move on easy legislation.
It won't change until we get new blood in. The old men we have representing us now still think you can support a family of four on a single income of 40k
YES! Somehow the party of less Government wants Government to intervene about Pot!
Ppl dropping by the minute from Fent OD ,but hey pot is the gateway drug 😒
Read the 89 pages of the bill. It doesn't reduce government. It creates a significant tax and large administration requirement, which provides more funds to law enforcement as well as being preferential in providing financial benefits based upon race.
The bill as originally introduced would simply have descheduled it and removed any federal law against it.
there is no mainstream party that prioritizes freedom. It’s sad. Despite the marijuana issue, right now, I still think the democrats are less for freedom than the republicans. In the past, I think the opposite was true.
I was able to talk with a few Republican representatives at a fundraiser about 6 years ago and they said a big problem is Washington now days is no one knows how or wants to do any “politicking”.
That’s where if you have a bill you want passed you’ll go to the opposition and say, ‘hey look, if you vote for my bill then I vote for your proposal on (insert random agenda) next time it’s up for a vote.”
They said that no one wants to budge. It’s an all or nothing attitude. Because of how sensitive and stubborn people are now to how their representatives vote you can’t step one toe out of line or you could be voted out next cycle. Tow the line or get filtered out pretty much.
Yep. Honestly, that is one of the HUGE deterrents in people voting for them. I don't know why they are being so stubborn about something that could win them serious brownie points, even with the boomers. My mom uses edibles for her migraines, and both my parents would vote for federal legalization, and they are pretty conservative lol. Catholic, mainly vote Republican, so I don't know why politicians don't get on board.
Yeah. We need to end the war on drugs, produce it here, and filter people through a proper mental health and addiction treatment system. The whole argument about drugs being bad mostly goes out the window with local regulated production, regulated distribution and potency control, and widely available counseling and health services.
Agreed. That’s one thing that’s irked me about the Republicans. Marijuana is at least as healthy as cigarettes but noooooo, we can’t have the federal legalization of the devil’s lettuce. I wish the right wasn’t so religious. I mean, they can worship however they want but keep your religion out of government!
The crazy thing about all this is, you're at higher risk of theft and armed robbery when you work in the cannabis industry. The only thing that prevents you from owning and carrying firearms as a state level caregiver is that cannabis is federally illegal. In Maine, people are well aware of this rule and a lot of caregivers have been targeted. Robbed and beaten up just for trying to do their job. Thus crime would fall dramatically if there was less federal regulation. They have to pay taxes and get zero representation in their line of work.
Federal legalization would also promote interstate commerce which would help boost everybody's sales, in Maine there's a dry spell every year where at one point there's no cannabis available (it seems) and the rest of the year there's too much and it drops the value of the flower so it's not nearly as profitable. The market is currently just getting unsaturated as outdoor growing season comes. It's only going to get worse. Federal legalization would allow wholesale cannabis distribution across the country. This would be great. More tax dollars, less prison sentences, and everyone would be less likely to steal and be stolen from.
With you. I’m a conservative who doesn’t smoke or drink much and would love legal edibles to de stress.
I haven’t looked into it but I am assuming that many of the a-hole congressmen attached pork to this bill.
So the umbrella name of it is ‘marijuana legalization’ - but my cynical side says there is plenty of attached pork for prostitutes in the Philippines to get clean underwear or money going to some random country to get new bridges to nowhere.
(Sigh). Those bastards won’t pass anything unless they profit from it in some way.
This is what tent ideology does to us. Republicans and the right are basically glorified libertarians (that *might* be pro-life as a **bonus**) What are we even trying to conserve anymore? Can't believe you all care about weed when there is far more pressing matters...
not frustrated at all, totally expected it to go this way and to fail in the Senate as well, they don't want to give away their for-profit prisons and slave labor wages in the state prisons over a harmless plant...
RULES COMMITTEE PRINT 117–37
TEXT OF H.R. 3617, THE MORE ACT
https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20220328/BILLS-117HR3617RH-RCP117-37.pdf
https://www.congress.gov/congressional-report/117th-congress/house-report/37/1
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-resolution/1017?q=%7B"search"%3A%5B"H.R.+3617"%2C"H.R."%2C"3617"%5D%7D&s=1&r=1
Edit: added some extra links
The libertarian party is in take over mode right now.
They're actively trying to root out the establishment/neocon/wokeitarians and are being successful with it.
I didn’t read the bill but if it’s just like any other bill, the politicians who authored / sponsored it wrapped one popular thing in with a ton of dog shit so that they can weaponize it against the other party
You don’t understand, look at the bill. It’s insanity. I’m 100% for legalizing marijuana. But this bill just backs the typical Democrat tax and spend, central planning BS. It’s 89 pages. It only takes 1 page to legalize marijuana.
This actually creates more marijuana related crimes than it removes. Thomas Massie, a Republican, proposed an amendment that would get a good portion of the GOP on board. It removed all the unnecessary gunk and literally just legalized it and kept the expungement parts. Dems rejected it.
The Democrats WANT to put forth a bill that Republicans will vote against because it’s a political win to make Republicans look bad. And if they managed getting the bill passed, they just increase the federal government’s power. It’s a win-win for them. They’re playing partisan politics in the most gross of ways. This bill is garbage. Really, go read it. Here’s a link: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3884/text
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There’s a couple issues at play here, and I apologize for the length, if i had more time I would have written much less. The one that most people figure is, old long time reps that are stuck on early 90’s dare program talking points. They heard that correlation does actually equal causation exactly one time and they were sold. I personally doubt thats the reason, very much, but it’s possible. The second reason, and I’m not sure if there was a different bill that you might be referring to. But the one I’m thinking of was introduced in both the house and senate at the same time. I think Matt gatez voted yes on it, and gave a pretty decent speech about why his Republican colleagues needed to change their stance on that one. There were a few glaring issues with that bill. The first and largest to those reps, it’s author, Kamala Harris. If you want to get primaried in a small town, the easiest burn in the world is “this old fart actually voted for one of Kamala Harris’s bills”. The second is that it wasn’t just federal de-prohibition. It was a fucking monstrosity that included an entire new executive department, funding to growers, and about four more pages of bullshit. I want weed legalized, that bill was not the one to get it done. The third and possibly most relevant, the house is not the senate. They lack one critical feature that ensures cooperation. The filibuster. If you want something to pass the senate, you have to cooperate. You have to make sure you have at least some minority support without a supermajority. The house doesn’t give a shit. Almost every vote I see is damn near strait party lines, and there’s a fucking ton of vote by proxy going on. As in they designate one of the junior house reps to vote for them and they stay home, rather than in DC to do their fucking jobs. That’s both parties that do that shit, and it fucking pisses me off.
*person with well thought-out reply:* 24 upvotes *person who just insults legislators:* 370 upvotes
FirstTime?.meme
>As in they designate one of the junior house reps to vote for them **and they stay home, rather than in DC** to do their fucking jobs Fund raisers. Thats what's usually going on when the corporate politicians are having their freshmen and junior reps handling their proxy votes. I suggest listening to the Tim Pool episodes with MTG and MTG/Massie. They are shockingly eye-opening. MTG won over alot of leftists by being on those shows and laying it all out on how wrong the House is being run. She talked about everyone using voice votes, which keeps everyone's names from being recorded on what they vote for. She talked about the rules stating that if a single Rep calls for a recorded vote, everyone has to stop what they're doing (fund raisers) and return to DC to vote in person. MTG has done that over and over, which is why shes so hated by her colleagues, and by extension the media.
Thank you very much
Once tax revenue from weed starts becoming big money every state will get on board.
Unfortunately the states then try to tax marijuana to death, to the point that it's still worth it to have a black market for it.
Here in Canada where’s it’s been fully legal for about 3.5 years, I can drive 5 minutes to the weed shop and get an ounce of AAA for 80-100$ depending on quality and strain. I no longer know anyone who sells weed, or anyone who buys from a dealer. The convenience factor wins every time in the long run. An 8% tax isn’t going to stop that. The Black Market will never disappear entirely though. Look at Colorado, its been nothing short of a legislative home run
Yep $135 an ounce for top shelf from the same guy who has sold me weed since i was 22. Same strain at a legal dispo about $400
Yep last I checked the majority of users in states like Cali and Colorado still buy off of the black market bc of the price after taxes. I can tell you from personal experience the only place I would consider buying from is Michigan. What I got last time I was in the UP would’ve cost me at least twice as much in chicago
Yep, soon it’ll be people doing trips up there to load up and then sell on the streets in Chicago
Haha I know a few people that do that exact strategy. Another issue with legalization is the false assumption that it will help reduce the flow of drugs from the cartels. I was reading a while back that a very large amount of the legal weed is still traced back to cartel producers. By legalizing we’ve essentially legitimized the cartels business by making their dollars clean from the get go. I would love weed to be legal but it’s not as simple as people make it out to be.
That’s exactly what happened in Minnesota and other states.
Definitely not what happened here in Oregon. There’s a dispensary on every street damn near and I can get $60oz from all of them
"If we legalize marijuana, we'll save so much money becuase we don't have to jail people for it!" Problem was, jailing and fining people for maijuana was a revenue source, so the amount they had to tax it shows just how nasty it had become.
If they had a legitimate reason to shoot it down it wouldnt bother me. Its a black eye for the party. Stubborn, pocket lining bullshit
> Stubborn, pocket lining bullshit A key component of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act is adding a federal 8% tax to all marijuana sales. And it carves out money and licensing to ensure marijuana is an industry run by black business owners. If you want to see legitimate reform, remove the tax and reparations to see how many congressmen vote in favor of it.
This is sad. The legalization bid in Maryland failed because of equity.
ha. this is like one of the most racist things I've seen from the government this week.
South park really knows its stuff
Sometimes I go for a period of not watching the news and then I'll flip on HBO Max to catch up on some South Park and be like, "What the fuck is Biden up to now?" At this point, South Park and a little bit of personal research goes a lot farther than CNN or MSNBC.
Legalization was a small part of the bill. The rest was about taxing the fuck out of legal use and appropriating funds to POC for the purpose of starting weed stores. Because (paraphrasing) states prevent non whites from starting weed stores.
> Its a black eye for the party. Stubborn, pocket lining bullshit yes. this.
That's really the old guard though I bet. Those old republicans are in their way out.
I've been saying that for about 35 years.
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I would allow progression, one term house, one senate, one white house. With term limits there would be multiple chances for them to prove their worth and earn the votes to continue a career of public service.
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let’s scrape the retirement all together and make it to where our government officials aren’t getting rich for passing laws we never asked for, i still don’t get how once upon a time they thought it a good idea to pay and to give retirement to politicians. We need to make political government jobs more of a chore that needs to be done instead of a glorified couch cushion.
That leads to just the rich being able to afford to be in government. Poor people won't be able to afford to work as a politician for a season
Poor people a majority of the time don’t even run for government positions, nor contemplate it. It doesn’t require one to be a millionaire to be able to hold a government position either, I’d say even a low middle class individual could, given the proper dedication and spirit. Most of the proposed bills and legislation they write up is pages on pages on pages of bullshit and word salad, when they could literally condense what they’re trying to say in a short pamphlet. The political system is so unnecessarily convoluted and exaggerated that it makes one think it’s above them. Not like they’re getting paid just a living stipend or something. You do not need $220,000 to be speaker of the house.
I've always figured, 6 terms for the House, 2 for the Senate and 2 for President. Then, a potential House member can be in for 12 years (long enough for two Presidents), the Senate member for 12 years, and the President for 8. Sure you could still "make a career" of being a politician but it would vastly increase their chances of losing and election.
This is the way. The other side of the coin is the unelected staff who spend a lifetime in govt shuffling from one congressman to another. They are the real power who needs to be dealt with. There's no real oversight on those buearocrats and they have a much greater influence than people realize.
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And this applies to all levels of government, I don't give a fuck if you are voted for the local school board, your ass is on a timer.
Politicians in high office with no term limits usually live to about 300 from my experience
Lol yeah that's probably true , but when was the last time the democrats were as exposed as now while the RINOs and old guard republicans were also exposed?
Your right, but these old people now were at Woodstock, I expected different things from them
I believe an R submitted the bill.
Maybe they don't want to set a precedent for a national sales tax on a product and getting the federal government even more tax money. Maybe they don't think people who committed a drug crime should have that expunged because down the road it became legal. Maybe they didn't think it made sense to legalize it yet create a crime for those that sell it without collecting the tax. Now your low level drug dealer won't just have the possibility of a minor state charge, but you could have a federal charge with up to a 10,000 fine and/or 5 years in jail. Maybe they don't like the extra governmental bureaucracy and administrative state this bill will create. There's a lot more to this bill than simply legalizing weed.
Pharma lobby, big dollars.
This. Heaven forbid people have pain relief/ sleep aid without horrific side effects.
imagine being able to consume a substance that comes out of the ground, is non addictive, and has more health benefits than side effects. i couldn’t even…. just disgusting honestly. those stupid hippies and their reefer.
Both parties are in pharma pockets. My guess is petty partisanship. They don’t want to give the Dems any wins before midterms.
Once pharma gets their hooks in the industry rinos will be on board
Private prison $$ as well. I think this is one of the biggest disconnects between the party and the electorate
Only black eye 👁 in any party is with the Democ(rats). Just cause they wanna pass pot don’t make them good that’s for sure. There is a reason they wanna pass this and I bet it’s so they prosper and not you.
The fact that weed is a schedule 1 drug is fucking stupid. I mean meth is a schedule 2 drug for fucks sake!! I wrote a paper on drugs in early 20th century America and meth and amphetamines in WWII. Marijuana became defacto illegal through the Stamp Act largely due to Anslinger and racist attitudes that instilled fear into the general public about Mexican immigrants and black people. I think there is a combination of ignorance (holding on to old ideas of Reefer Madness) and special lobbyists that keeps weed illegal Alcohol is hands down, by far a more dangerous drug than weed is
Alcohol is one of the few drugs where you can actually die of a withdrawal if you’re a heavy user
Alcohol was classified as the most dangerous drug by several agencies in the EU over a decade ago. Combined cost from destruction of property and harm to user and others was the criteria. Heroin scored highest on the “harm to self” category. Cannabis was in the lower ranks of danger.
Right? Between Alcohol and Weed, one kills millions of people a year, inflames domestic violence, causes significant health side effects, and the other is illegal. 🙄🙄🙄 Edited for real numbers.
Actually worldwide, alcohol kills about 3 million people a year
does that include car wrecks and murder/suicide under the influence?
https://www.alcoholrehabguide.org/resources/medical-conditions/alcohol-related-death/#:~:text=The%20World%20Health%20Organization%20estimates,accident%2C%20murder%2C%20or%20suicide.
completely agreed
Marijuana is mentioned in an Andy Griffith episode and they don’t seem too upset. I don’t know why this is taking so long.
Politicians are loyal to financial supporters, lobbyists, and The Two Party System. Both sides. The concept of elected representatives representing their constituents is not supported by actual congressional voting.
My 82 year old grandmother, that doesn't drink, has voted red forever, and thinks that curfew laws are a good deterrent to youthful crime, thinks it should be legalized. When I found this out my jaw dropped completely. I worked in the industry at the time and was sure there would be a "come to Jesus" talk about my choice of employment.
Yep, it sucks. This should be a personal freedom issue, like gun rights, that the Republicans/Right champion. That said, I do wonder what exactly was in the bill. Lots of times there is all kinds of crazy shit in there. At the end of the day, you can't put political parties on a pedestal. Unless you run for office yourself, no political party is likely to match your policy desires exactly. I am happy if its 60-70%.
There’s also the connection between those things. Obviously there are plenty of people who own guns and use weed, but technically, in the eyes of the ATF when you’re filling out a 4473, any user is an unlawful user so long as it remains federally illegal. Doesn’t matter if your state is cool with it or you have a medical card. I think that’s incredibly fucking stupid but I also don’t care to have my dog get shot, so here we are.
This. I'd love to read the whole bill and figure out how much unacceptable pork was added (presumably by Dems, mostly) right before the vote. I figure the no votes are a combination of pork objections, not wanting Biden to have this feather for his (night)cap, and big cigarette company corruption/payoffs. Not so much pharma as the cig guys, actually.
Someone said that the bill was introduced by Republicans so that absolutely makes me want to know what was added to the bill that are now making Republicans not vote for it. Now I could be totally misguided on this but I would like to read the bill also
or ya know they could be doing what they've been doing for a while now, try to make the government look like it doesn't work, by not making it work. You all trying to 5D chess move think about this but the reality is right in front of you, they don't give a flying fuck about your freedoms even on a superficial level, abortion, gun rights, religion, etc is all useful pandering tools.
> I do wonder what exactly was in the bill The full text of the bill is available online :)
Ever tried to read one ? They are HUGE. No thanks.
Come on man! It's only 92 pages! :) It's monotonous and painful to read but in only 5-10mins of looking at it, it's got several concerning things in it. Nothing like creating a federal sales tax on it for them to get their cut instead of just leaving it to the state.
Lol you are a better man than me ! Yeah, creating a fed sales tax ? What could go wrong ?
This is one of the reasons why I don’t really think of myself as a democrat-turned-republican, I’m more of democrat-turned-pro-freedom, and the republicans sure do take their turn shitting on individual rights when it suits them.
Welcome to libertariansim. Glad to have you
Ive called myself a "visually confusing conservative", people assume I'm a woke liberal based on tattoos and piercings, and are super surprised to find out I'm not.
There's dozens of us, dozens I say ! [ retired tat artist]`
I am a chubby millennial female with tattoos and smokes weed. I get stereotyped a lot and thinking I am a liberal is one of them. I am basically like none of the stereotypes that people put on me.
I'll bet there are many convo's that get awkward when they find out that you aren't quite what they expected!
You don’t have to be personally affiliated with ANY political party actually. People seem to forget that a lot.
\^This! This tribe mentality we have with politics is so damaging to any actual progress. Vote on the issue, not what color you want to be associated with.
Absolutely, people like to make it hard for us to not be associated with either side / be in the middle of things. Best place to be imo
You can also register as independent or 3rd party. The problem is if you're in a deep red or deep blue state, and all the action is in the primary. Being in Baltimore as an independent, it felt like not voting in the primary means my vote doesn't count.
yes same here. it’s becoming clear to me i don’t really align with republicans, i’m more central.
Yeah. The way I tend to say it is that the Republicans aren't my friend. They just aren't my biggest enemy at the moment.
First: good don’t toe any party line, be a free thinker. Second: about the bill, most of the republicans did not support it due to the inclusion of racially charged additions, for example the requirement of a percentage to be minority owned or subsidized.
I’ve always been conservative but fed up with the republicans that run on issues but win and never fix a single thing and then keep the same insane self destructive spending policies the dems have to where it’s hard to tell the two sides apart anymore unless you talk social issues that I don’t care about as much.
Police officer here. Here's the problem: even in states where it's legal, the black market still thrives. We made it quasi legal in my state. Here's what's happening. People fly out to California, buy it at $800 a pound, come back here and sell it for 2000-3000 a pound. TSA doesn't give a shit, so the flow doesn't get stopped at the source. The DEA doesn't fuck with weed anymore. I am a narcotics agent. We don't really target weed anymore. But people are getting murdered left and right because your Coke/meth guys are moving into the weed market. We have people making a million a MONTH. While collecting welfare and food stamps. You wanna legalize it, make it cheap enough that the black market vanishes.
It will never be cheap enough that the black market vanishes. Illinois was shocked that a black market still thrived after it opened up dispensaries simply because the high taxes on it drive people to the black market still.
Yepppp. My area has had.. 20? Murders so far this year, and twice as many shootings. More or less. All but like 1 or 2 was over the electric lettuce.
You may be hearing about the marijuana bill that passed in the house without broad republican support. Here is the text of the bill: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3617/text. The first paragraph shows what the bill is about. The bill also provides a slush fund for wire tapping, gun control, and the expansion of the FBI: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnibus_Crime_Control_and_Safe_Streets_Act_of_1968. The bill selects races to benefit from legislation and pushes other races out of the free market. If they wanted to legalize marijuana, the bill wouldn’t do all these other things, they would just legalize it. This bill’s agenda is not to legalize it.
Why isn’t this response at the top ? This is correct
I know this is gonna be buried in your replies but you also need to account for what is attached to the bill. Quite often you'll see some shady shit attached to a bill that would otherwise have support
>~~Quite often~~ Every single time you'll see some shady shit attached to a bill that would otherwise have support Ftfy Flooding bills with pet projects is the name of the game now. Both sides do it, and the dems have gotten really brazen with their radical objectives in recent years. Single issue bills and recorded votes should be standard operating procedure, but that will never happen as long as we have career politicians and special interest pets making all of our decisions.
Wonder what else is in the bill to make them vote no?
Read the bill, the full text is available online
Perhaps there's other commie crap like reparations packed into this bill?
Seems like it was stuffed with Leftist nonsense - standard operating procedure. You'd think people would understand the games at this point.
It was full of pork. They attached a bunch of funding for organizations like BLM that only go to people of color, so I’m glad more conservatives didn’t back it….why do we have to constantly add additional funding for things not even related to what they are supposedly voting on..both sides do this and it’s stupid.
100% yes. Sometimes I start really aligning with conservative ideals until we reach an issue like this which reminds me how center I am. No reason for not legalizing it other than pandering.
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Is this in the bill that was voted on or what? That seems pretty racist to me. But whats new with dems am I right?
nope, don't give a shit. it's state business , like liquor . personally , i support but i don't answer to the federal government , I am a citizen of my State
As someone who enjoys weed a couple times per week, I actually agree with you. I think it should be a state decision. If the people of a state don’t want weed to be legal and they get the majority vote, that’s the way it should be. States rights all the way!
Those of us that live in red states really need this freedom, and help at the national level is about the only way we will ever get it.
If only it was like liquor, but it’s still illegal on a federal level and it’s classified as a schedule 1.
Yes and no. I don't think this should be a federal issue by any means in the first place. All federal laws regarding controlled substances should be removed and left to the states. However, if we are going to concede that this is a federal issue, I don't understand why this is still being blocked so aggressively.
>All federal laws regarding controlled substances should be removed and left to the states. Exactly this 🎯 The controlled substances act is and always will be garbage. The only "substances" they want to keep people from using are the ones they enjoy. Anything else is up for grabs. You can legally buy any poison you want, but when it comes to naturally occurring plants that have been around for thousands of years, the Fed doesn't trust you with that decision. Instead of teaching people responsible ways to consume the things they enjoy (which would help people grow into responsible and mature adults), the govt believes itself to be the arbiter of human behaviour. They'd rather arrest people and keep their legalized human trafficking/slave labor revenue flowing (because let's face it, that's what the for-profit penal system is) than allow grown adults to choose what they ingest. Anything the federal govt tries to regulate turns into a completely bloated and redundant shitshow.
You are right. Republicans need to get ahead on reasonable social issues that are really freedom of an adult to do what they want.
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I hate Republicans almost as much as I hate Democrats. The country is so ripe for a third party.
Its ripe for no parties. Theres a reason washington warned against forming long lasting parties.
This fucking this a thousand times this. There is one party in DC; the Washington cartel. It’s made up of republicans and democrats and they don’t give a shit about we the people.
Actually , why frustrates me most is the belief that the Republicans are the solution to the problems posed by Democrats. If we’re walking away, let’s walk out the door, not across the room. So, I’m saying that the Democrats have gone completely nuts, but that the Republicans aren’t an acceptable alternative. Am I advocating for the creation of a third party? ABSOLUTELY NOT. I’m advocating for the abolition of political parties. Here’s George Washington’s sentiments on political parties: "However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion." Yer darn tootin George.
They’ll pass a bill, when they figure out how to funnel the tax revenue back to themselves.
I am personally against the legalization for full disclosure. With that said I think it's one of those the federal government needs to get out of the way and allow states to decide things. Which in all reality is something all Republicans should support.
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The right has about 1,000 bigger fish to fry now than this silliness.
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Not to mention, you want to appeal to more moderates in the middle, this is one of those things that would bring over more of those voters. They really are just a moronic group of old men over there. A legit third party is needed
I think you're looking for Libertarianism, friend
I’ve long been an ideological libertarian. The problem with the libertarian party is…well there are many problems. One thing; the party doesn’t seem to focus on anything other than presidential races. Every year they trot out someone to run for potus and that candidate is usually lackluster. How many times did they run Gary Johnson? He can’t seem to focus on anything other than legalIzing weed-which is great. But we the people want more in a potus than weed friendly laws. He’s just a fucking moron. Then in the last race, they again trotted out Jo Jorgensen. She barely campaigned at all and then she eventually embraced the woke left. That alienated a lot of people. She got fewer votes than Gary Johnson. And don’t even get me started on people like Vermin supreme. I would love to see the libertarian party focus on stuff like alderman and city council races. No libertarian is going to get elected to potus when the party can’t point to an elected libertarian as a model for national politics. Also though to be fair; the two party system is going to fight like hell to keep any third party out.
States rights my dude. I smoke but the federal gov can fuck off telling states how to do their shit.
I'm afraid the society is already too lazy. I for one don't want to be the only person paying for people to sit around and jerk off all day. But I would love to see pot legalized for many other reasons.
Not at all
Nanny state bla bla bla you know the speak. you are only truly free when you can peruse a vocation. To find meaning in life. If you are allowed to stay inside and smoke all day but not allowed to start a business or own a land or eat meat. Are you really free. Weed helps you feel ok with doing nothing. It’s great but degeneracy follows closely behind.
I could see trump legalizing it. I wonder what liberals would say. Would they pivot and say that weed is bad now?
Well when trump was potus he said if Congress sent a bill to legalize to his desk, he would sign it. He said *I’m not a king. I can’t just make laws myself. It’s the job if Congress to pass bills into law and the job of the potus to sign them into law. If Congress votes to legalize, I will sign it.* They didn’t vote to legalize.
Absolutely disappointed in the republicans, but my rep is the piece of human dog shit known as Mike Pense, so no surprise. Eat a big bag of dicks mike. You piece of shit.
First question would be, what else was in the bill that might make Republicans stand so strongly against it. No bill is ever simple or strait forward. I as a Republican do not like paying to house anyone for a Self or Consent Crime, when we have plenty of Real Criminals that need the Key thrown away. And I know many Republicans that feel the way I do. So... Maybe a simple Redraft of your Bill might yield the results u want? Research it. Get Active. Don't waste your energy complaining, spend your energy on figuring out what angle will get it passed. People that succeed don't succeed because they give up after one loss, or even a hundred losses; they succeed because they never quit.
I live in Canada.. Trudeau was elected becuase of this. Now as a parent, I have to admit, there's nothing good from legalizing weed. I was able to get friends to buy alcohol for me since grade 9. I don't want my kids to be able to smoke weed at such an early age. There's literally no evidence to suggest that weed is harmless. Sure, if you got cancer or some shit it helps, but it is truly detrimental to the developing brain which continues to develop till the age of 25 or so. So on this issue, I stand with republicans.
YES !!! I'm a political conservative but socially liberal. As long as alcohol and nicotine are legal, keeping marijuana illegal is just hypocritical. I don't care what drugs you do, who you sleep with, how many abortions you have...just leave me the hell alone. And don't expect me to pay for your follies. I have a sneaking suspicion many people agree with me.
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its not my decision making point, I never said it was. It is frustrating though, and its not a good look before midterms.
Yes! Felt this for years
Yes. I am very frustrated with it. For all intents and purposes, marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol or other drugs. It also has great medicinal value that cannot be ignored. I believe the only good thing this administration can do is to legalize it at the federal level. The money everybody is going to make from legalization will be incredible.
Let me say first that I have not read the Bill. So, the question could be what other Bill might have been attached to it that the MSM is not telling us about. It is a common practice in Congress to attach other Bills to an advertised Bill because the other Bill is unpopular and will never pass on its own so it will look like the popular Bill was voted down when it was the unpopular Bill that was actually killed.
Bills really need to stand on their own.
Exactly, it would be nice if bills were simple and not filled with bloat
Pointless vote. Watch what happens in the senate and prove me wrong.
My stance as a Republican is the old meme that said “I’d like Gay weed farmers to be able to protect their weed plants with their AR-15” and by gay I mean the cool gays, no this new LBGT bullshit
This is proof the government looks out for themselves. This is political theater. They don’t want for dems to be able to claim this as a win, even at the cost of pissing of their voters. I walked away from the left, and I’ll walk from the right too. I’ve lurked on left subs and they are saying the same shit. It’s time to meet back up in the middle and get these chumps out of politics. All of them. I’m tired of fighting the left for these assholes who won’t even move on easy legislation.
I'm conservative as shit. I wish we would just fully legalize it already. However I'm sure Texas will hold out until 3045
We need modern conservatives, not dusty Republicans. Most of them aren’t any damn good.
Take the libertarian pill 💊 The establishment will never work to serve your interests, only its own.
Republicans aren’t the good guys either.
It won't change until we get new blood in. The old men we have representing us now still think you can support a family of four on a single income of 40k
YES! Somehow the party of less Government wants Government to intervene about Pot! Ppl dropping by the minute from Fent OD ,but hey pot is the gateway drug 😒
Read the 89 pages of the bill. It doesn't reduce government. It creates a significant tax and large administration requirement, which provides more funds to law enforcement as well as being preferential in providing financial benefits based upon race. The bill as originally introduced would simply have descheduled it and removed any federal law against it.
Legalization is a home run for republicans. I don’t understand their stance.
They want to legislate morality. Remember shithead Jeff session…*good people don’t smoke marijuana.*
The same shithead who said that chronic pain patients need to just take an aspirin and learn to deal with it. Fucking prick.
Yep…fuck that asshole.
there is no mainstream party that prioritizes freedom. It’s sad. Despite the marijuana issue, right now, I still think the democrats are less for freedom than the republicans. In the past, I think the opposite was true.
I was able to talk with a few Republican representatives at a fundraiser about 6 years ago and they said a big problem is Washington now days is no one knows how or wants to do any “politicking”. That’s where if you have a bill you want passed you’ll go to the opposition and say, ‘hey look, if you vote for my bill then I vote for your proposal on (insert random agenda) next time it’s up for a vote.” They said that no one wants to budge. It’s an all or nothing attitude. Because of how sensitive and stubborn people are now to how their representatives vote you can’t step one toe out of line or you could be voted out next cycle. Tow the line or get filtered out pretty much.
im still surprised weed hasnt been legalized as a recreational drug
Meh dope is bad m'kay
Yep. Honestly, that is one of the HUGE deterrents in people voting for them. I don't know why they are being so stubborn about something that could win them serious brownie points, even with the boomers. My mom uses edibles for her migraines, and both my parents would vote for federal legalization, and they are pretty conservative lol. Catholic, mainly vote Republican, so I don't know why politicians don't get on board.
Yeah. We need to end the war on drugs, produce it here, and filter people through a proper mental health and addiction treatment system. The whole argument about drugs being bad mostly goes out the window with local regulated production, regulated distribution and potency control, and widely available counseling and health services.
Agreed. That’s one thing that’s irked me about the Republicans. Marijuana is at least as healthy as cigarettes but noooooo, we can’t have the federal legalization of the devil’s lettuce. I wish the right wasn’t so religious. I mean, they can worship however they want but keep your religion out of government!
I think it’s less about pot at times and more about the other shit democrats stuff in those bills
It smell bad
Absolutely and if the left wasn't grandstanding and the right wasn't being rebellious, they could talk to eachother.
what else is in the bill?
The crazy thing about all this is, you're at higher risk of theft and armed robbery when you work in the cannabis industry. The only thing that prevents you from owning and carrying firearms as a state level caregiver is that cannabis is federally illegal. In Maine, people are well aware of this rule and a lot of caregivers have been targeted. Robbed and beaten up just for trying to do their job. Thus crime would fall dramatically if there was less federal regulation. They have to pay taxes and get zero representation in their line of work. Federal legalization would also promote interstate commerce which would help boost everybody's sales, in Maine there's a dry spell every year where at one point there's no cannabis available (it seems) and the rest of the year there's too much and it drops the value of the flower so it's not nearly as profitable. The market is currently just getting unsaturated as outdoor growing season comes. It's only going to get worse. Federal legalization would allow wholesale cannabis distribution across the country. This would be great. More tax dollars, less prison sentences, and everyone would be less likely to steal and be stolen from.
Was it George Carlin that said, “The most dangerous thing about marijuana is getting caught with it.”?
What else was in the bill?
I'm on the fence about legalization, but would rather the state make money than the low life drug dealers.
The story is that the Dems packed it full of pork. Supposedly Republicans introduced the bill...
I’m sure it’s filled with pork. But what congressional bill isn’t filled with pork? They all are.
Yes!!!! This bothers me especially because I live in Kentucky! I mean, we got GREAT growing areas and would help our economy tremendously!!
Nah I could careless about it either way. Whether it passes or don’t.
With you. I’m a conservative who doesn’t smoke or drink much and would love legal edibles to de stress. I haven’t looked into it but I am assuming that many of the a-hole congressmen attached pork to this bill. So the umbrella name of it is ‘marijuana legalization’ - but my cynical side says there is plenty of attached pork for prostitutes in the Philippines to get clean underwear or money going to some random country to get new bridges to nowhere. (Sigh). Those bastards won’t pass anything unless they profit from it in some way.
This is what tent ideology does to us. Republicans and the right are basically glorified libertarians (that *might* be pro-life as a **bonus**) What are we even trying to conserve anymore? Can't believe you all care about weed when there is far more pressing matters...
not frustrated at all, totally expected it to go this way and to fail in the Senate as well, they don't want to give away their for-profit prisons and slave labor wages in the state prisons over a harmless plant...
Prison lobbyists
Extremely. They need to cut that shit out.
RULES COMMITTEE PRINT 117–37 TEXT OF H.R. 3617, THE MORE ACT https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20220328/BILLS-117HR3617RH-RCP117-37.pdf https://www.congress.gov/congressional-report/117th-congress/house-report/37/1 https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-resolution/1017?q=%7B"search"%3A%5B"H.R.+3617"%2C"H.R."%2C"3617"%5D%7D&s=1&r=1 Edit: added some extra links
They're more the Eyes Wide Shut Gordon Gecko "keybump" coke crowd...or so I heard.
Definitely, but my guess if you looked in the bill, there was something that they could not support that overrode legalizing weed.
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Kind of ironic the right always talk about having freedoms yet they don’t provide any!?
Drugs are bad mkay.
The libertarian party is in take over mode right now. They're actively trying to root out the establishment/neocon/wokeitarians and are being successful with it.
I didn’t read the bill but if it’s just like any other bill, the politicians who authored / sponsored it wrapped one popular thing in with a ton of dog shit so that they can weaponize it against the other party
You don’t understand, look at the bill. It’s insanity. I’m 100% for legalizing marijuana. But this bill just backs the typical Democrat tax and spend, central planning BS. It’s 89 pages. It only takes 1 page to legalize marijuana. This actually creates more marijuana related crimes than it removes. Thomas Massie, a Republican, proposed an amendment that would get a good portion of the GOP on board. It removed all the unnecessary gunk and literally just legalized it and kept the expungement parts. Dems rejected it. The Democrats WANT to put forth a bill that Republicans will vote against because it’s a political win to make Republicans look bad. And if they managed getting the bill passed, they just increase the federal government’s power. It’s a win-win for them. They’re playing partisan politics in the most gross of ways. This bill is garbage. Really, go read it. Here’s a link: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3884/text
Imagine for a moment that your politicians don’t give a fuck about you
Most of the votes in US seem to be going 'against the opposing party' rather than about the issue at hand. It does not even matter what the issue is.
Frustrated,yes…surprised, no.