Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday called on the federal government to move “as quickly as possible” to change the way it officially classifies marijuana, saying that “nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed.”
“I cannot emphasize enough that they need to get to it as quickly as possible,” Harris said. “We need to have a resolution based on their findings and their assessment. This issue is stark when one considers the fact that on the schedule currently, marijuana is considered as dangerous as heroin ― as dangerous as heroin ― and more dangerous than fentanyl, which is absurd, not to mention patently unfair.”
Marijuana is currently listed as a Schedule 1 drug by the Drug Enforcement Administration. That classification designates it one of the most dangerous drugs possible, with no medicinal uses. Other substances in the same category include heroin, ecstasy and LSD. Marijuana advocates have been pushing for years for the federal government to either reschedule marijuana to a different category or deschedule it entirely.
And yet beer is more dangerous than weed
I unironically think that if marijuana should be banned, then so should alcohol
If they were both first introduced today alcohol would definitely be the one people would want more restricted.
Absolutely not true.
As soon as republicans discover it’s easier to convince underaged girls to fuck them if they’re drunk, it’s going legal.
This behavior is not limited to republicans.
Alcohol can kill you pretty quickly if you’re not careful, IMO it probably should be more restricted than weed.
It’s too easy to make, and weed is too easy to grow, so neither should be restricted since they’re part of our culture and will be consumed anyway. Broadly true for other drugs as well since they can be got, but it’s not like just anyone can make MDMA (which, if taken in a pure and controlled dose, is safer than both cannabis and alcohol incidentally, with therapeutic benefits too).
Maybe try reading about the 1920s attempt and get back to us on if you still feel that way.
The difference is I don’t think either should be banned, really. But mainly because the bans just don’t work.
Yeah but this is lemmy, so as soon as you come out with a ridiculous take to satirize the topic at hand, whackos and edgelords will crawl out of the woodwork to support your ridiculous take.
I grew up straight edge in a religion household. I was so afraid of getting into trouble, I didn’t even drink as a teenager even though all my friends did.
Now my work depends on me keeping away from illegal drugs. Seeing as my family’s livelihood depends on that, it’s a pretty straightforward decision to never cross that line, ever. So I say this as a 30+ yr old who’s rarely drank and never done drugs of any kind that weren’t prescribed.
If this changes, and it’s confirmed that my livelihood wouldn’t be threatened for trying it, I would absolutely partake.
As with all things go slow till u know ur limits greenouts aren’t too bad but they happen and better off nodding off in your house that at like work. Also anxiety and paranoia can happen with stronger strains or strong edibles so take it slow
I’d never suggest getting high at work. You’re just asking for trouble, even if it’s not legally a problem. I’d also never suggest drinking at work, to put that into context.
And god forbid you get in an accident while drunk/high, your job will definitely be over, and you’ll more than likely be footing the bill on your own.
I hope you have a hell of a good time when this happens
Dude I hate to break it to you but weed is boring. Now, doing Ashtanga Yoga for 90 minutes: that’s a full body high
Ultimately I’d like to see psychedelics legalized too. It’s insane that either of these things is illegal IMO.
Unless you’re gonna get fired for taking a piss test that comes back positive for weed, just try it. It’s really not that big a deal. For a first timer, you might not even get high because your cannabinoid receptors have never been used before. I’d describe it as a pleasant light/cloudy feeling, and you may feel compelled to stare at mundane objects for a long time and think about existence. You might also start liking Pink Floyd randomly.
I don’t meant to be rude but this is terrible advice.
I’m not stupid enough to be moved by this but others reading should not risk their livelihoods for a high.
As quickly as possible…now that we’ve done nothing about it for nearly four years, but we have to win another election soon.
“Done nothing about it” are you an actual child or do you just have a child’s perspective on life? We can’t have nice things if some of you don’t put in the basic effort to think a bit. Biden is not the most progressive anything, but he’s doing more than his predecessors on either side (and the pathetic gop alternative) and that’s progress.
You don’t make major legislative change by firing a cannon at the front door - you set several small fires at all the other exits on the building and then when all that is in motion, you just knock on the front door to warn everyone about the fire and they walk out willingly.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/06/politics/marijuana-decriminalization-white-house-joe-biden/index.html
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/22/1221230390/biden-pardons-clemency-marijuana-drug-offenses
On December 2, 2022, Biden signed the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act - “the first standalone marijuana-related bill approved by both chambers of the United States Congress”
Biden approved the Viktor Bout–Brittney Griner prisoner exchange work Russia on December 8, 2022 which involved an American WNBA athlete being convicted of cannabis possession on Russian soil and being held in Russian prison.
Shame you can’t make a point without being a cunt about it.
Only difference between blue and red maga is the tone eh? Red maga sounds like a gleeful psychopath, blue sounds more like a business schooled middle-manager on a power trip but both of them prefer ad hominem and sneering.
Funny how tribalism do lol. Most people have no chance of defeating their baser instincts. But they can sure feel smug about it lol.
She made her career out of prosecuting people for possession. And Biden played a big role in creating the laws she enforced. They’re all scumbags.
I mean to be fair people can change, but this is obviously not a case of having a change of heart its because she thinks it will increase chances of winning lol. They are all scumbags though for certain.f
They have been pushing this since their first year in office. They were pushing this before Biden even thought he would run again for president. “They are only doing things to get people on their side” is also how a Democratic Republic works. Their administration hasn’t broken from Israel, but they aren’t scumbags for doing what the people want. Many of us hate that we did not stop supporting Israel but I still have not seen a poll that shows over 50% of the U.S. wanting to stop supporting Israel. Blame it on news channels, media, propaganda in general, or just peoples outlook, but their job is to represent the majority of U.S. peoples opinions. We need to get more people speaking up against it elsewhere.
Example from USA today:
“Nearly half of American voters, 45%, believe Biden should pressure Israel to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, an exclusive USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll shows.”
That is from a news source that supposedly leans left for American news. 45% isn’t the majority of voters, although it is finally getting close.
A lot of the fediverse is in an echo chamber where America is actually a progressive country. It hasn’t been, at least since Reagan but probably since Nixon or even Eisenhower.
Politicians are cynical, they will do what they need to do to get votes. So we have to be cynical as well, vote for people who will do more of the things we want even if they’re not perfectly doing everything what we want.
Until you can figure out a way to change humanity, you’ve gotta play the game even if you find it distasteful because the alternative is much, much worse.
Sorry, you must have had your head buried as the GOP’s war on WOKE meant much of the focus was dealing with BS like book bans, women care, human rights, fucking basic shit like voting.
Thanks, that’s just what I was going to bring up. Here we even have a short history of this being a several years effort, right in the article, yet there’s always a “they’ve done nothing all this time” post.
Are these political trolls/misinformation, or honest responses by misinformed people? And who benefits? Repugnicans? A foreign country? A self-righteous bubble of people with the attention span of a gnat?
Harris oversaw more than 1,900 marijuana convictions in San Francisco, previously unreported records from the DA’s office show. Her prosecutors appear to have convicted people on marijuana charges at a higher rate than under her predecessor, based on data about marijuana arrests in the city.
As the political winds blow with her I guess. At least it’s a positive change.
Or this is what she wants the law to be, that was what she did when her job was to enforce the law that existed back then.
DAs always have discretion in what cases to drop or move forward, along with being able to offer plea bargains. They aren’t legally required to prosecute everyone who smokes weed, it’s just good optics to a certain political class to do so. And that political class was a much bigger tent even 10-15 years ago.
Not really a change, though, Biden asked for rescheduling years ago.
Sometimes a hypocrite is just a man in the process of changing.
If they’re going with the crowd, that’s societal inertia or peer pressure, not change. Harris is not making a big controversial stand, a majority of Americans want legalization - across demographics, political leanings, and income.
Now if she was advocating heroin prescriptions as a harm reduction, or expunging her own convictions for possession, or a systemic reevaluation of our drug law and enforcement approach? THAT’S a change that shows she understands how the law is bad, not this new political posturing to win votes callously
That’s honestly better I think. If she doesn’t personally believe it, but is expressing support for it politically, that means the topic is winning.
I kind of want to create an unexpected Sanderson group…
That’s obviously not what’s happening here. These people are scum.
This view is close minded.
Any other view of the Demcratic party and the corrupt pieces of shit in it is burying your head in the sand.
Ok comrad
Or you’re being suckered again.
Also, they talk about marijuana every time there’s an election, then don’t actually change it.
As an AG, it was her role to uphold the law and bring forward prosecutions.
I’m recognizing positive change, which is an option now with her new role
Edit I’ll also acknowledge it’s an election year and this is a popular topic TOO
They campaigned on this 4 years ago. They’ve done plenty of good things, but this one turned out out to be an empty promise.
Yea just ignore that Biden directed the relevant federal agencies to get this done and the HHS has already made the recommendation to move it to schedule 3.
Oh and damn, look at this: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahsinclair/2024/01/18/dea-considers-rescheduling-cannabis-what-this-means-for-us-and-global-reform/?sh=2ce8efef743f
The gears are still moving and the DEA, the agency with the final say according to the legal framework within the controlled substances act, is working on it with the executive branch is actively pushing to have it reclassified.
It’s almost like a bunch of you who are making brand new accounts to make these posts about broken campaign processes have no fucking clue what you’re talking about because, at the very least, you’re not paying any fucking attention.
Buddy, Obama campaigned on this. So in our minds it’s been 12 years they’ve fucked around on rescheduling and legalization. 4 of those years Democrats held a majority in congress. We have every right to be furious with these corrupt pieces of shit.
Oh fuck off.
Don’t blame Obama’s failure on the person that wasn’t president at the time.
Admit that there’s finally some fucking progress on this and stop being so petulant about how it hasn’t happened fast enough for your sensibilities.
Of course it’s idiotic that this hasn’t been done yet, but good god damn it’s getting done but that’s just not good enough is it? May as well protest vote in the election and get trump back in office who, last I checked didn’t make any efforts toward this when he held the office.
Admit that there’s finally some fucking progress
THIS ISN’T FUCKING PROGRESS. NOTHING HAS CHANGED.
If it’s money for extra bombs for Ukraine or if it’s bank bailouts it can happen really quick. Stop putting people in jail for weed, enh, we’ll get it done “right away”… sure you will.
This is the definition of progress you wet fart.
Why the hell does following the legal framework not count as progress? Why does the thing have to be finished for it to be progress? I guess at work you don’t keep track of your larger projects to show your progress when your boss comes knocking because unless it’s finished it’s not being worked on?
What the hell do you expect to happen in these cases? Do you expect the king president to wave his staff and decree it so?
Amen. Fuck these liberals acting like Dems do anything they promise.
A campaign promise is very different than a statement from a sitting official.
This is not an excuse for it not being descheduled yet.
As an AG it’s her role to use discretion in bringing forward cases based on her interpretation of her mandate. That’s why it’s a political position.
Eh.
That was when it went from jail to a fine though.
So lots of people stopped giving a shit and started smoking publicly.
And she’s been pro legalization for years now.
There’s lots of shit to criticize Biden and Harris on, but Harris’s time as a DA and her cannabis conviction just isn’t a good one.
“Under Harris, the D.A.'s office obtained more than 1,900 convictions for marijuana offenses, including persons simultaneously convicted of marijuana offenses and more serious crimes.[73] The rate at which Harris’s office prosecuted marijuana crimes was higher than the rate under Hallinan, but the number of defendants sentenced to state prison for such offenses was substantially lower.[73] Prosecutions for low-level marijuana offenses were rare under Harris, and go her office had a policy of not pursuing jail time for marijuana possession offenses.”
From her Wikipedia page (the reference is pay walled and im not invested enough to figure it out).
I’m glad they want to change that. I hope they do. Far too many people, especially minorities, serving sentences for weed. It does feel like a bit of a hollow victory when women’s rights are being rolled back to the 19th century, though.
How about 4:20 this afternoon?
April 20th isn’t that far off either, and is conveniently before the election too
This being published at the Huff Post is quite hilarious.
In a single motion they could cut off an enormous source of cash for the traffickers and hard drug dealers.
https://www.propublica.org/article/chinese-organized-crime-us-marijuana-market
I know I am fully opposed to weed being scheduled at all, and would appreciate the, albeit slow progress. But…
$10 says she has a drug test coming up
She’s correct. It’s a completely right ridiculous policy based on a century of racism.
Ok, I used smoke a power of weed. I do not anymore. I do not wish to partake at all to be honest. Yet I think criminalisation of ‘the culture’ makes it both more lucrative to criminal elements who also do much harm in other sectors, and make it even more attractive to youth who might try and quit it sooner.
I’m not saying it’s all bad. I’m saying it’s over-romanced by criminalisation.
I don’t think it should be championed while legal though. I’ve seen two delusional breaks correspond to heavy usage. It also doesn’t help your IQ.
Legal sure, but careful please. Make sure you know why you’re using the drug. The withdrawals, while not as bad as Alcohol (which can be fatal), are real and difficult. Cannabis abuse is also a real disorder.
I’m happy it’s legal, but let’s not forget our common sense. https://americanaddictioncenters.org/withdrawal-timelines-treatments/post-acute-withdrawal-syndrome
Alcohol is legal
Energy drinks
The legality is a whole other thing than how careful you need to be with it
You honestly need to be more careful with ethanol and shit it’s one of the least important substances to be careful with on the planet
Yes. I have also seen close friends become fucked up due to cannabis. Genetics is a bitch.
Honestly, there are many other substances that need to be changed as well, but they need to start somewhere. The War on (Some) Drugs is and always has been a complete farce.
LSD and mushrooms too. MDMA is a bit sideways but psychedelics in general should not be illegal
I agree, drugs (basically all drugs) should not be illegal IMO.
The overconsumption of certain ones might be a public health issue but I don’t think drug use or even addiction should be a criminal issue in the slightest.
Pretty sure she put a ton of people in jail for this in Washington state. If that’s really how you feel where was the leniency then?
Tell me more about her history in Washington state, please.
Not sure why the downvotes but it’s true. I don’t have case specifics - just google around a bit.
In what capacity did she put people in jail in Washington state? Let’s follow this thing through to the end.
just Google around a bit.
Have to admit this made me laugh lol.
Right? Like it’s my job to research his claim that he’s “pretty sure” about.
Give him a break… At least acknowledge she did put people in jail for it.
No because he’s just parroting a talking point that he’s heard here without even being accurate.
He could at least acknowledge that her position has changed and we’re close to progress.
Her positioned has changed? If you want a politician that is true to their beliefs then you elect someone like Bernie. If you’re okay with someone that will revert course again when they want to fill their pockets with more private-prison money, but at least they’re not Trump, then you go with Biden/Kamala.
Or, and hear me out on this, her position truly changed.
I used to think billionaires were cool. Now I think they’re detrimental to society and represent a lot of what’s wrong with wealth inequality in this country. People learn, opinions change - we should welcome that.
Wrong state. Close enough though, like it fucking matters and is totally irrelevant. If you want to be a contrarian I promise you you’re going to find a fight wherever you look. Don’t get so bent out of shape over a factoid because at the end of the day you’re creating the arguments you’re having here.
Oh wow, you maybe might possibly might think about trying to potential maybe do something. And just in time when you need support, how coincidental. End the drug war. Give us healthcare. Provide education and forgive the previous loans taken in order to do so. Fucking do something.
You know, this is a pretty smart way to approach the political side of this tactically.
Biden can’t say deschedule it outright without offending at least some borderline fence sitters and the elder crowd indoctrinated with the old propaganda that made it out to be among the most terrible things.
By having the younger VP who wouldn’t really have direct authority to have it changed but is directly I’m the same circles, it gets the idea out there as a ‘very strong unofficial stance’.
Next step, the ‘cool grandpa’ moment when Biden gets to make a gesture for the younger crowd by having it pulled from the schedules. Financially the feds have undoubtedly been eyeing the income (and lack of incarceration costs) brought into states with legal sales for a while and would like a piece of it too.
Just another thing they pretend to do to get elected but Don’t actually accomplish anything.
Biden already ordered his health secretary back in 2022 to begin descheduling, he hasn’t been playing it safe here
So lies and deception? I don’t know who is left to deceive when this sounds like the position the WH had two decades ago (when Biden was in Harris’s exact role). Since then the only changes have been brought about by State’s thumbing their nose at the Federal Government. I can honestly say the argument for “State’s Rights” hold more promise for marijuana legalization than Harris’s words.
Neoliberals dont want elected to help people, they want to get elected.
It’s why they can see something like this where a president could do something day 1, but waits four years before doing it, and call it smart strategy. Even when it’s not a political.process and the president can do it on their own.
It’s why there’s always the focus on “stopping by the republican”.
That’s all neoliberals want to accomplish, get in office and hold on as long as they can.
Progressives want to get elected to help people, and have faith if you help people they’ll vote for you.
There’s no sane reason for neoliberals to be running the Dem.party on national and state levels, but it’s a private party and they get an absolute shit ton of money from billionaires and corporations. So it’s very hard to kick their old asses out of power while also fighting off conservative extremist Republicans.
But when the neoliberals wins, nothing gets fixed. Their dogs chasing a car, if they catch it they dont know what to do, so they lay down and wait for another car to drive by.
The problem is that this is potentially the only positive change they could make in people’s lives that might actually make money, so once they’ve done it, there’s nothing else that lines up with both the interests of the party and their voters. Even prison reform as a whole might be a net loss in spite of the current system’s incredible cost to taxpayers due to the chilling effect it has on social mobility and the slave labor that the bourgeoisie can profit off of.
We can’t do the only easy thing we can do because then we won’t have any easy things we can promise to do that we just won’t!!!
Exactly. Why would they actually move on it, if it’s the only bargaining chip they’re willing to use? The republicans fucked up by doing that with abortion, though because that oppresses people instead of liberating them, the gop is doubling down on it. Dems don’t have the option to do that, so we’re left with easily actionable campaign promises going unfulfilled for four years.
Progressive idealism is all well and good, but without acknowledging the realities of a highly polarized world and the balances of power in play all it will ever be is idealism, never realized fact.
Many of the broader growths in society didn’t have a defining ‘flip the switch’ moment and instead where the result of small changes that then where the building blocks to bigger ones after the smaller steps where accepted as normal parts of society.
Progressive idealism is
Is made up.
No progressive says we can’t address a problem until it’s 100% solved.
That’s what neoliberals say for an excuse not to make any improvements.
It was literally Biden s excuse last primary for why he wouldn’t address student loan debt. He said if he forgave all student loans debt it wouldn’t matter because new students would still need loans.
So Biden said his priority would be first lowering the cost of college.
Then he got elected, never mentioned that, and forgave almost enough to be a rounding error in the trillion of dollars in student loan debt and demanded applause.
Recall that the SC blocked him on some of that (reminder that elections have consequences) and there were efforts to reduce costs for future borrowers too.
“They wait 4 years to accomplish their policy proposals, this is evidence they never accomplish any policy proposals”
They wait 4 years to accomplish their policy proposals
Don’t act like they’ve accomplished them.
You have to realize that there’s a certain element of theatrics to politics right? With the flood of information thrown at people everyday the population has the attention span and memory of goldfish often as not. Had they done some drastic change day one (if it could even pass congress/courts without being killed) it’d be long forgotten old news by now.
Yes, it’s much better to drag it out until the very last possible second, since it’s not like people are suffering due to the deliberate prolongation of the racist drug war.
It’s still disrupting the communities it was designed to disrupt, so let’s talk about how great it is that we’re trying to game the timing of fixing this. I’d ask if it’s possible to be more cynical, but I already know it is because we’re playing the same timing game with Netanyahu’s genocide.
Yes, it’s theatrical. And people are being used as props.
Didn’t say it was good, but it’s reality. The alternative of attempting to do everything you have on a wishlist with no compromise or negotiation, and thus getting nothing is hardly better. Had it been tried to push everything to max results day one would at best, in some imagined place get all that in, be forgotten 3 years later as ‘what have you done for me lately’ and caused the opposition to be energized en masse to put their guy in and rip it all back out the next day.
A small win that’s held is worth far more than a massive one lost shortly after.
Fuck you, and fuck anyone that thinks like you. If you’re not willing to help people, find an exit. Or get put against the wall right next to the facists.
