So how are you all with this? What’s the strategy?
Every time you look up the administration is doing something stupid. But is there is a conservative base who hates people who smoke weed that much that they just want to see them get fucked with? Not in my family. Quite the opposite. They’re growing their own this year.
Are you going along with the program, to make america great again, you conservatives out there?
FYI there’s another Pit thread about this topic (though it’s not specifically asking Conservatives for their input).
IANAC, but it’s unclear that anything is actually going to be done about this. People aren’t going to get up in arms until and unless something happens.
Also not a conservative, but the dispensary owners I know lean that way. It’s a business opportunity, after all.
I’ll be surprised if many people who self-identify as conservative will give a hoot about this.
For one thing, it’s not especially important.
For another, the wonderful thing about conservative ideology is how flexible it is (on some issues):
- Libertarian-style conservatives favor legalization.
- Cultural conservatives oppose it.
Check the wind, and take your stand.
And be sure to bring up an example of liberal flip-flopping.
Is merely being Republican close enough to conservative in your mind? Assuming that a moderate, swing-voting, but always registered as a Republican during my life counts…
It’s fucking stupid. It sets up an unnecessary and ugly fight between the federal government and multiple states. That fight makes the cost-benefit calculation even worse than it was during previous enforcement efforts when pot wasn’t legal anywhere. Did I mention that I think this is fucking stupid?
To quote Mr Garrison from South Park “Drugs are bad mmmmmkay?” I can’t see much beyond that. Drugs (including marijuana) cause enough social costs, in their opinion, that fighting them with law enforcement is a worthy aim. It’s not more complicated than that IMO.
Marijuana was an issue that came up way back in October 2015 during the debate in Denver where it was legal. This is not an issue with a broad party consensus. Paul was, unsurprisingly, on the legalize it side. He went so far as to bring up racial disparities in enforcement being an issue. Christie, as a former prosecutor, basically took the position being implemented. Bush self-disclosed being a bit of a pot head in high school (no Bill Clinton once and not inhaling …he did it right! :p) Most fell somewhere in the middle ground. Generally, they didn’t support recreational legalization. There was more openness to medical marijuana or research into medical usage. There was pretty broad support for this being a states’ rights issue where they wouldn’t override state laws. Using the “O-word,” that they wouldn’t, the biggest chunk were effectively campaigning to continue Obama’s policy.
Sure there’s some that really don’t like drugs and like “law and order.” Maybe there’s some political advantage to pandering to that minority. Most GOP candidates didn’t seem to think there was. Mostly, I imagine Mr. Garrison’s voice in Jeff Sessions’ head.
I talked two Bernie Sanders into holding their noses and joining me by voting for Clinton. What do you think?
As mentioned in another thread, support for legal marijuana has the majority even among Republicans.
Bernie Sanders supporters. Not clones 
Nah, we all got that. If you’d meant the latter, you’d undoubtedly have used the proper plural form: Bernies Sander.
I beg your pardon, but I have it on good authority that by 2050, everyone born in Baltimore will be Ernest Borgnines. If you can’t trust Drew Friedman on grammar and spelling, who can you trust? The guy has drawn both Ernest Borgnine and Tor Johnson multiple times ffs; you can’t beat that kind of dedication to excellence.
If we are referring to the Cole Memo, this particular piece of the U.S. Cannabis conundrum always was ever about doing nothing. Now it’s official - nothing’s been done. A piece of paper signed by a former AG which never accomplished a single thing and protected nobody from anything, no longer exists.
That this timely do-nothingness happens immediately following recreational legalization in the most populous state speaks volumes.
It protected states’ rights, as well as the will of the people.
You really should have a read, then. See if the term “state’s rights” appears anywhere in it. :rolleyes:
Because the only way something can serve to protect state rights is to explicitly have those words in it.
I can :rolleyes: too.
Let me just add then: …or any terminology implied or related to said rights."
You know what else you can do then, too?
I disagree that the Cole Memo (or the Ogden Memo) had nothing to do with states’ rights. It seems to me pretty clear to me that it did–it served to delineate where Federal authority began and ended. De facto, sure, and not de jure.
But it sounds like you’re dismissing the Cole memo as *entirely *useless and meaningless, and I don’t that’s a sustainable position.
It gives the feds the option to act, if they choose. And it probably makes the grower’s and seller’s lives a bit more complicated. I could be wrong, but the only way I see them actually doing anything is if for some reason they think their unfavorability rating is too high. There is no upside for Trump to do anything.
As far as I recall, all of the “legal” states came about through voter approval rather than legislative action. If these Federal Prosecutors have any political ambition or even just want to keep their jobs, they aren’t going to do a damn thing.
I don’t really see mj being schedule 1 for longer than another decade. As more people coming of voting age with the knowledge that it’s not killing people and is in fact, beneficial to some, combined with the solid data on the amount of money being generated for the states where it’s legal. Social and political pressure are going to do their thing. Sessions is one of the last of the old guard who’s going kicking and screaming into the long night. Soon enough, he will go, and it’s anyone’s guess if someone will step up to replace him. Sure, it’s going to be annoying for a while, but this too shall pass.