We don't care what they "think" because they don't. That's why they can only get government jobs.

F'em.

WaPo: Why Jeff Sessions is going to lose his war against cannabis

Then the country is going to be lost to a population of dazed reality-estranged potheads.

Then the country is going to be lost to a population of dazed reality-estranged potheads.

Because you can't open a bottle of wine without guzzling the entire thing in one sitting, doesn't mean that's true for everybody.

See how this works?

See how this works?

It doesn't work.

Then the country is going to be lost to a population of dazed reality-estranged potheads.

Holland isn't.

he is staking out a position that is at odds with powerful interests and an overwhelming majority of Americans from nearly all walks of life. This tide is too strong to swim against.

Then it should be easy to pass legalization at the federal level. But it won't because that premise is a lie.

Cannabis may prove to be a pain management strategy that could substitute for opioids

Not a chance in hell. That's like offering a glass of near beer to an alcoholic who consumes a quart of whiskey a day.

There. Fixed it.

and that 75% of Americans live in states with cannabis laws on the books already.

Yeah. And 13% of them voted for a referendum to legalize it while the rest stayed home.

Then the country is going to be lost to a population of dazed reality-estranged potheads.

Who will promptly challenge all the "under the influence" laws because they use it for medical reasons.

I would think that AG Sessions would have more important matters to go after, rather than cannabis.

I've dealt with people using the shit for more than 50 years. My unalterable conclusion is conclusion is that it produces the same psychological effects as heroin without the same physical effects or dependence. It's dangerous and seriously debilitating. A culture full of potheads will collapse. Sessions knows that and is trying to prevent it. if Sessions loses the war, America loses and will become a third rate has been country.

Holland isn't.

Even Amsterdam somewhat curtailed its drug culture and the drug tourism. They discovered being a drug tourism destination drove off a lot of other tourists. So they made restrictions on tourists being allowed in coffeehouses and other drug venues.

I would think that AG Sessions would have more important matters to go after, rather than cannabis.

He does. And Congress isn't giving him any encouragement or money for pot enforcement the way they used to.

Sessions hasn't made any headway trying to get a drug warrior faction in Congress to take a stand. Sessions may have been the last hardcore GOP drug warrior. Even a former federal prosecutor like Trey Gowdy seems pretty agnostic, at least as far as introducing any legislation to support a drug war, especially on cannabis.

It doesn't work.

Your lack of self-control is no basis to assume the same lack in everybody else.
So don't.

A culture full of potheads will collapse. Sessions knows that and is trying to prevent it.

Eventually, well maybe.

But what we have now is an opoiod crisis that is killing more people than guns do (including gun suicides).

You can't say the same about Da Ganja.

Sessions has more important business fighting international drug and crime cartels like his recent jaunt to Guatamala to build support and ties to fight MS-13 gangs that traffic in narcotics and human smuggling.

But what we have now is an opoiod crisis that is killing more people than guns do (including gun suicides).

Good! That's the choice they made. Take their bodies and throw them in the garbage pit. Their demise will make the country stonger. Let the buzzards and crows eat em. They have to make a living too.

Even Amsterdam somewhat curtailed its drug culture and the drug tourism. They discovered being a drug tourism destination drove off a lot of other tourists. So they made restrictions on tourists being allowed in coffeehouses and other drug venues.

But that was not my point. The contention was made that if marijuana is legalized, it's the end of the country as everybody turns into a drug-numbed zombie. I pointed out that that didn't happen in Holland.

What you say is true: there were effects of drug tourism that the Dutch didn't like. But the country did not turn into zombieland. That was my point.

Colorado hasn't turned into zombieland either.

In January, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NAS) reported that there is “conclusive evidence” that cannabis (both whole plant and extracts) is clinically effective at treating some diseases, including chronic pain.

Chronic pain is a disease?

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NAS) reported....

And why would an opinion of the National Academy of Engineering be relevant?

The National Academy of Medicine is a private organization whose opinions mean next to nothing in determining whether a substance is clinically effective at treating any disease.

By law, the Department of Health and Human Sciences (DHHS) is solely empowered to make a decision on whether any substance is clinically effective at treating any disease. DHHS has determined that, "Marijuana has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States."

The DHHS recommendation of how to schedule a substance is binding on the Attorney General per 21 U.S.C. § 811.

I would say we are seeing segments of the federal government dissenting from past policy and promoting change in the laws.

I thought it was interesting that Cory Booker introduced a bill in the Senate to reclassify cannabis. It won't get anywhere but the article appeared yesterday and, surely by sheer coincidence, Booker has his new bill out today.

I thought it was interesting that Cory Booker introduced a bill in the Senate to reclassify cannabis. It won't get anywhere but the article appeared yesterday and, surely by sheer coincidence, Booker has his new bill out today.

It will play well with his constituents.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1689

S.1689 - A bill to amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide for a new rule regarding the application of the Act to marihuana, and for other purposes.

115th Congress (2017-2018)

The bill text is not available yet at congress.gov. The following comments are available in the Congressional Record from 1 Aug.

https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2017/8/1/senate-section/article/s4669-1

https://www.congress.gov/crec/2017/08/01/CREC-2017-08-01-pt1-PgS4669.pdf

Pages S4669-S4672]

From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office

[www.gpo.gov]

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

By Mr. BOOKER:

S. 1689. A bill to amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide for a new rule regarding the application of the Act to marihuana, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Mr. BOOKER. Madam President, I rise to talk about the Marijuana Justice Act--a bill I introduced today that would end the Federal prohibition on marijuana and start to end the War on Drugs. For far too long we have approached drug use and addiction as something we can jail ourselves out of. It is beyond clear that approach has failed. It is time we start to address the persistent and systemic racial bias that has plagued our criminal justice system and adopt policies that will move us forward, not backward. It is time to de-schedule marijuana.

Since 2001, arrests for marijuana have increased across the Country and now account for over 50 percent of all drug arrests in the United States. The ACLU conducted a thorough study of over 8 million marijuana arrests between 2001 and 2010. It found that 88 percent of those were for marijuana possession. Alarmingly, the study also found that African Americans are 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than their white peers, even though they use marijuana at similar rates.

Over the last five years, States have begun to legalize marijuana in an effort to push back on the failed War on Drugs and combat the illicit drug market. Currently, eight States and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana and more States are taking up measures to follow suit. We know from the experiences of States that have already legalized marijuana that we will gain far more than we lose--these States have seen increased revenues and decreased rates of serious crime, and a reallocation of resources toward more productive uses. In Colorado, arrest rates have decreased and State revenues have increased. Washington saw a 10 percent decrease in violent crime over the three-year period following legalization.

However, the Federal government still treats marijuana as an illegal substance. It is time for the Federal government to end the Federal prohibition of marijuana.

Today, I introduced the Marijuana Justice Act, a bill that would remove marijuana from the list of controlled substances, thereby ending the Federal prohibition. The bill would also automatically expunge records for people who were convicted of Federal marijuana use and possession offenses. We must help people with criminal records get back up on their feet and obtain jobs, and expunging their records is an important step in that process.

The legislation would allow individuals currently serving time in Federal prison for marijuana offenses to petition a court for a resentencing. One of the greatest tragedies from the Fair Sentencing Act was that it did not provide retroactive relief to individuals serving time under the old crack and powder cocaine sentencing laws. The Marijuana Justice Act would allow people currently serving time for a marijuana offense to seek immediate relief.

The bill would also use Federal funds to encourage States where marijuana is illegal to legalize the drug if they disproportionately arrest or incarcerate low income individuals or people

[[Page S4670]]

of color. Too often drug laws are enforced disproportionately against minorities and the poor. This is unacceptable and belies our values.

Finally, the Marijuana Justice Act would establish a community reinvestment fund, which would invest money in communities most affected by the War on Drugs. Building new libraries, supporting job training, and investing in community centers will improve public safety and is the right thing to do after decades of failed drug policies.

The Marijuana Justice Act is a serious step in acknowledging, that after 40 years, it is time to end the War on Drugs. It is time to stop our backward thinking, which has only led to backward results. It is time to lead with our hearts, our heads, and with policy that actually works.

I like the investments.

Building new libraries

Because users of legal pot are expected to hang out in the library.

supporting job training

Because employers are looking for stoners who fail their drug screen.

investing in community centers will improve public safety

Stoned drivers will not. Stoned workers will not improve workplace safety. On a coffee/smoke break, they can join the tobacco smokers and roll up a doobie.

Of course, if it is made legal, all will be able to obtain a note from Dr. Feelgood to get something for their medical condition. If the bill makes it a medicine, all will be forced to pay for this medicine.

I suspect this will cost a fortune in lost alcohol taxes. We would just have to wait and see on that one.

It should make for a fun time with DUI. There is not exactly a breathylizer test for pot. I wonder how much the ticket might rise to cover the cost of testing.

And then pot addiction will become a disease and we will be asked to pay for them not to work because of their disease.

Stoned drivers will not. Stoned workers will not improve workplace safety. On a coffee/smoke break, they can join the tobacco smokers and roll up a doobie.

Do you think it being illegal is stopping these guys? The WOD on drugs is a failure, just like the war on alcohol was.

It's a social problem, deal with it from that perspective.

Because users of legal pot are expected to hang out in the library.

Maybe they could set up a toking section where they keep their Furry Freak Brothers comic books. Just don't call it a 'smoking area'. Call it a 'therapeutic zone' for medical ganja instead.

Of course, if it is made legal, all will be able to obtain a note from Dr. Feelgood to get something for their medical condition. If the bill makes it a medicine, all will be forced to pay for this medicine.

From a Schedule I drug to the number #1 taxpayer-subsidized drug in the country, all in one fell swoop! Ain't 0bammyCare grand?

I suspect this will cost a fortune in lost alcohol taxes.

The alcohol and beer distributors think so too. You recall recently that Oregon legalized and had a state emergency with a shortage of weed in their outlets. And now the liquor stores and alcohol distributors are trying to horn in on the new marijuana distribution chain. So you aren't the only one thinking that way.

And then pot addiction will become a disease and we will be asked to pay for them not to work because of their disease.

There's just no making you happy. LOL

Flagging Deckard, hondo, and redleg just for the comics...

was only about five years ago when they did that story.

They way they're sucking up the booze and weed, it's no wonder that Trump won Michigan, if they stayed true to form!

This bunch seems to represent "NY Values" like Bernie and Donald. Ted Cruz warned us about their type.

Canadians from the oil patch don't like NYC progressives.

Ted Cruz warned us about their type.

You're so right. Ted did try to warn us. But we wouldn't listen!

Do you think it being illegal is stopping these guys?

Murder being illegal does not stop murderers, and theft being illegal does not stop thieves. Workplace rules do not stop on the job drinking. The laws and rules establish a penalty for those who get caught.

From a Schedule I drug to the number #1 taxpayer-subsidized drug in the country, all in one fell swoop!

Maybe it could be an ingredient in a brownie mix and go on the EBT card.