# Rep. Barney Frank introduces federal marijuana-decrim bill **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 18, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909 "2008-04-18T16:37:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/1 "2008-04-18T16:37:39Z")
Story [here.](http://www.mpp.org/news/press-releases/barney-frank-introduces-bold-r.html) This would only repeal the **federal** laws criminalizing the holy hempweed, leaving the rest up to the states. Nice to hear some common sense out of Washington, but is this the time?! I mean, with so much else to occupy Congress, and so many more pressing issues this election year, can we reasonably expect this bill to get any traction at all? (Assuming it were politically viable in the first place . . .) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/2 "2008-04-18T16:39:10Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] I mean, with so much else to occupy Congress, and so many more pressing issues this election year, can we reasonably expect this bill to get any traction at all? [/QUOTE] Any traction? Maybe. Pass? No way in hell. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/3 "2008-04-18T16:41:26Z")
I hope to OG it passes. There have been too many people shot dead over this. Young men, young cops, innocent bystanders. DAMN IT! It isn’t like Heroin! Why can’t we learn from Prohibition? ---
**Author:** ![Snag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Snag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snag)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/4 "2008-04-18T16:44:25Z")
He’s probably just putting the idea on the table that the war on drugs hasn’t worked for the last 30 years and it’s time to rethink it. I’d really like to see stats comparing how many people die from alcohol abuse or from using pot and other such head to head comparisons between the two. But then again, we can’t do many studies on the affects of marijuana because it’s such a dangerous drug that most studies can’t be legally done in the US. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/5 "2008-04-18T16:46:28Z")
[QUOTE=Snag] He’s probably just putting the idea on the table that the war on drugs hasn’t worked for the last 30 years and it’s time to rethink it. [/QUOTE] Sure “it’s time,” generally speaking, but **this year?!** ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/6 "2008-04-18T16:49:05Z")
[QUOTE=Snag] I’d really like to see stats comparing how many people die from alcohol abuse or from using pot and other such head to head comparisons between the two. But then again, we can’t do many studies on the affects of marijuana because it’s such a dangerous drug that most studies can’t be legally done in the US. [/QUOTE] Dead from alcohol abuse- hundreds of thousands, easily. From pot- zero. I’ll assume your last line is either a woosh or an in-joke of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![Snag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Snag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snag)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/7 "2008-04-18T16:56:42Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Dead from alcohol abuse- hundreds of thousands, easily. From pot- zero. I’ll assume your last line is either a woosh or an in-joke of some sort. [/QUOTE] No seriously, unless it’s changed recently, for many years universities and other research centers could not test the effects of marijuana on people - they couldn’t even possess it - without government approval. Kind of a catch-22 that has helped keep marijuana a schedule 1 drug. How do you change its classification if you can’t prove it’s not as harmful as claimed? BTW, a few people do have allergic reactions to pot. And there will be the occasional accident attributed to it. But the number is certainly far, far closer to zero than when compared to alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/8 "2008-04-18T17:06:26Z")
[QUOTE=Snag] No seriously, unless it’s changed recently, for many years universities and other research centers could not test the effects of marijuana on people - they couldn’t even possess it - without government approval. [/QUOTE] Nevertheless, studies have been done (some even in the U.S.). Google “marijuana studies” and you’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![Snag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Snag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snag)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/9 "2008-04-18T17:07:38Z")
[QUOTE=Snag] No seriously, unless it’s changed recently, for many years universities and other research centers could not test the effects of marijuana on people - they couldn’t even possess it - without government approval. Kind of a catch-22 that has helped keep marijuana a schedule 1 drug. How do you change its classification if you can’t prove it’s not as harmful as claimed? BTW, a few people do have allergic reactions to pot. And there will be the occasional accident attributed to it. But the number is certainly far, far closer to zero than when compared to alcohol. [/QUOTE] Also, the THC in Marinol does not have the same effect on people as the actual ingestion of THC from cannabis does. Most people such as cancer patients who have tried it as a remedy find it does not work as well as marijuana ingestion, usually through smoking. The comparisons would not be apples to apples, really. The last massive testing and comparison at the government level to my knowledge occurred under the Reagan administration. They expected to use the results in the War-On-Drugs® until the studies proved it was safer than tobacco and alcohol. It was quietly put aside and forgotten. I heard about it from an NPR report in the 90’s. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/10 "2008-04-18T17:10:12Z")
[QUOTE=Snag] Also, the THC in Marinol does not have the same effect on people as the actual ingestion of THC from cannabis does. [/QUOTE] Hmmm . . . I wonder why. Perhaps THC is not really the “active ingredient” by itself, but only in synergy with other chemicals? ---
**Author:** ![Snag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Snag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snag)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/11 "2008-04-18T17:16:59Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Nevertheless, studies have been done (some even in the U.S.). Google “marijuana studies” and you’ll see. [/QUOTE] Sure. But the US research has been limited. Perhaps a bill that would simply allow wider investigation of the properties of pot or hashish smoking would make passage of a legalization bill viable. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/12 "2008-04-18T17:25:37Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Hmmm . . . I wonder why. Perhaps THC is not really the “active ingredient” by itself, but only in synergy with other chemicals? [/QUOTE] Very possibly. That’s sure been the case on the St. John’s Wort merry-go-round. This is why I’m in favor of either whole plant extracts or traditional preparations (of which smoking marijuana would be one) for testing efficacy of traditional remedies. Doesn’t count if you take out one chemical and test that, it’s no longer the same thing! Oh, and this bill? Decriminalizes only possession of small amounts and not-for-profit sales. Sales for profit, cultivation and import/export - all still federal crimes. I don’t know about you, but my hypothetical guy is probably making a hypothetical profit on my hypothetical eighths. So unless Easter Seals starts selling the Maui Wowie, I think this is a whole lotta nothin’ going on. When was the last time someone was charged in federal court on just a possession charge for a personal stash? They let the states deal with that petty bullshit already. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/13 "2008-04-18T17:31:57Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] When was the last time someone was charged in federal court on just a possession charge for a personal stash? They let the states deal with that petty bullshit already. [/QUOTE] But the feds also don’t **let** states decriminalize it, even for medical purposes, because that would conflict with federal laws. I think this bill is aimed at that. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/14 "2008-04-18T17:41:39Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] But the feds also don’t **let** states decriminalize it, even for medical purposes, because that would conflict with federal laws. I think this bill is aimed at that. [/QUOTE] I’m not sure what you mean. 12 states\* _have decriminalized marijuana for personal use. 13 states have medical marijuana programs._ Could the feds still prosecute for personal possession under current law? Sure. But I don’t think they have; the article in the OP doesn’t think they have, quoting someone calling such charges “extremely rare”. Is this just a symbolic gesture? Or is it (ohpleaseohpleaseohplease) a wedge to further change? I don’t know. But in a practical sense, this bill alone doesn’t really change anything. \*Alaska California Colorado Maine Minnesota Mississippi Nebraska Nevada New York North Carolina Ohio Oregon \*\*Alaska California Colorado Hawaii Maine Maryland Montana Nevada New Mexico Oregon Rhode Island Vermont Washington ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/15 "2008-04-18T17:47:39Z")
Hemp is stupidly wrapped up in the pot laws. hemp has lots of industrial uses.They should immediately take hemp off the list and allow it to be industrialized. Did I mention that it could replace plastic in many cases. ,a petroleum product. That may be part of the reason it is so hard to legalize. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/16 "2008-04-18T17:51:42Z")
Yay! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/17 "2008-04-18T17:53:44Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] I’m not sure what you mean. 12 states\* _have decriminalized marijuana for personal use. 13 states have medical marijuana programs._ Could the feds still prosecute for personal possession under current law? Sure. But I don’t think they have; the article in the OP doesn’t think they have, quoting someone calling such charges “extremely rare”. [/QUOTE] I’m pretty sure they have. I live in California, and while I haven’t paid close attention to the issue, I do recall news stories about the Feds cracking down on people after the attempt to decriminalize it. Including shutting down medical marijuana programs. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/18 "2008-04-18T17:56:55Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] I’m pretty sure they have. I live in California, and while I haven’t paid close attention to the issue, I do recall news stories about the Feds cracking down on people after the attempt to decriminalize it. Including shutting down medical marijuana programs. [/QUOTE] Okay. It was an honest question, not a gotcha. I really haven’t heard of anyone being taken in by the feds for personal use amounts, but I don’t, contrary to popular belief, know everything. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/19 "2008-04-18T18:06:40Z")
From the OP’s link: > [@](#): > > Frank’s bill would remove federal criminal penalties for possession of up to 100 grams of marijuana and the not-for-profit transfer of up to one ounce (28.3 grams) of marijuana. It would not change marijuana’s status as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, and would not change federal laws prohibiting the cultivation of marijuana, sale of marijuana for profit, or import or export of marijuana. It also would not affect any state or local marijuana laws or regulations. I don’t see how it would change anything anywhere. How does one possess it or make a not-for-profit transfer without it having been cultivated? It would appear that the state programs currently being assaulted by federal authorities would still be attacked even if this passed. They exceed these amounts and there is the issue of production and transport, so I’m thinking the feds would still be cracking down on medical marijuana programs. I don’t really get the point of Frank’s bill; are there people who have been arrested or prosecuted by the federal authorities for the limited activites that would be decriminalized here? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909/20 "2008-04-18T18:25:27Z")
Sooo… you can have up to 100 grams, but you can’t cultivate it or import it? I so confoosed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rep-barney-frank-introduces-federal-marijuana-decrim-bill/445909.md?page=2)