Cannabis needs to be reclassified. I think this is the right thing to do, actually, but only if it came at the same time as reclassifying. This is a drug market that should be regulated, but not class 1.
People upthread are arguing about the senate as a system, but how much does that really matter when wildly popular things, like legalizing marijuana, are not even considered by anyone in congress? A majority of Americans are in favor of this, and have been for over a decade.
> wildly popular things, like legalizing marijuana, are not even considered by anyone in congress?
Because it's not "not considered by anyone".
Democrats have been demonstrably decriminalizing and legalizing weed all over the country, and the Democrats in the federal government have been pushing and submitting and trying to make it happen.
It's republicans. They are the ones that continually stonewall a measure the vast majority of their constituents support, and they are the ones that somehow still get elected despite that.
Show me the democrats preventing legalization of weed federally.
Show me the democrats who invite cop associations to talk at their meetings about how dangerous weed is. Show me the democrats who are taking money from cop associations or prison lobbying organizations who very explicitly want to keep weed illegal.
Stop overgeneralizing! It's literally how things are this bad! Blame who is actually at fault!
This law is about banning hemp companies from selling psychoactive products. It is about protecting weed companies from unregulated competition. The libertarians voted against it because they want to get rid of the regulation the weed companies face, not because they care more about legalizing weed,
I had read a while ago, and I struggle to really argue with it, that legalizing marijuana is simply the carrot on the stick.
Many Republicans are just against it out right, and many Democrats are either indifferent or know that promising to legalize it will mobilize a subset of voters who prioritize it above else (or may just not vote at all otherwise, over 30% of Americans don't vote after all).
It'd explain why there's been so many opportunities to reschedule the drug, and why in some states even when they had the numbers to pass legalization, they still don't. Or do so with extra incentives (often the actual sale of it) to come later (vote next cycle!).
If it's scheduled at all, you aren't getting it without a regular prescription from a medical doctor, and its production will be highly regulated, subject to DEA limits and quotas, and patients will need to carry their prescription with them at all times if they leave their home with marijuana on them.
That's not the same thing as legalization as it's implemented elsewhere in the US.
That seems to be an alcohol industry complaint. That it isn't taxed and regulated like booze
Most US problems come down to inability of congress to just figure out basic stuff like regulating weed. Same with the getting rid of the penny, immigration, tariffs/executive power, doing a proper and legal DOGE etc. They mostly just sit on the sidelines of the big ticket items and focus instead on spending money in their own states.
Why should cannabis be regulated at all? 99.99% of problems with marijuana that ive ever seen or heard of stem from its either its illegality or its overzealous regulation.
decriminalized cannabis can still be treated with dangerous pesticides or contain high levels of heavy metals or bacteria that cause serious illness.
i used to be of the mind that decrim was preferable to legalization but testing is a pretty important part of making sure you're getting the safest products.
a lot of people in favor of decrim are either bad actors or are under the mistaken belief that all their flower is coming from some nice hippies who only use organic fertilizer and good vibes.
the legacy market was pretty much exactly the same as any other black market: full of people who were in it for the money and didn't care what it took to produce the highest yield at the greatest margin.
now we have legacy actors gone "legit" AND opportunists who got into the market post-legalization who still have the same profit motive above all else.
