Bernie has called for the reclassification of cannabis. How many lives have been ruined

[Csainvestor]

Last edited Sun Mar 6, 2016, 05:03 PM - Edit history (1)

due to prohibition?

How many people rot in jail because they were in possession of a plant. You are a massive hypocrite if you say you care about criminal justice reform but refuse to change policy on the drug war.

Never has a major candidate called for reclassification before, and voters shrug it off.

Millions of lives have been shattered due to our draconian and puritanical view of a harmless weed.

[Buzz Clik]

1. I totally agree with Sanders on this. 100%. BUT!

If you get busted breaking the law, blaming the law is pure stupidity.

Change the law, absolutely.

[Codeine]

2. That's a fair analysis.

It's a stupid prohibition but nobody forced anyone to use it, grow it, or traffic it.

[Motown_Johnny]

5. So there is no such thing as an unjust law?

Yes, sometimes the law is the problem.

[Warren DeMontague]

8. Exactly. Until the Lawrence decision, people could be arrested in Texas for consensual adult gay sex

in their own homes.

"JUST DONT BREAK TEH LAW HERP DERP". Not all laws are just, exactly. And some shit isn't the government's business, like what consenting adults do with their own bodies.

[Buzz Clik]

17. Did you bother to read my post?

[Motown_Johnny]

18. Yes, sometimes the law is to blame. It is not stupid to do so.

Unjust laws exist and to not blame them is stupid.



I disagree with your post. How did you not get that?

[Buzz Clik]

19. Ok. I'll repeat: I disagree with the laws.

Criminalizing marijuana is unjust? Not sure why it's "unjust", but let's say that's true.

Why would anyone knowing break a law knowing that the consequences could be enormous? Perhaps you can explain.

[Motown_Johnny]

20. We are talking Federal Law in regards to marijuana.

In many states, medical marijuana is legal. If you have a medical issue that marijuana helps and you use marijuana in conjunction with the laws of your state, you are still breaking a Federal Law.

That makes the Federal Law an unjust law.

Do you follow?

[Buzz Clik]

24. You've taken this a direction I don't think anyone else was taking. But, I'm curious:

How many people are in Federal prison for personal possession of marijuana (not trafficking)? Is this really a big deal? Keep in mind, that was the context of this subthread -- people rotting in jail for personal possession of weed.

The law itself may be unjust, but it's enforcement in this context is minimal.

[Motown_Johnny]

25. I wasn't trying to directly comment on federal laws concerning possession.

Yes the OP was about that, but I thought we had gone more "big picture" in this sub-thread. It seems that I was not making myself clear.

I understand that very few people are in federal prison for possession, that wasn't my point (although I could argue that one is to many).

My point being that marijuana should not be classified as a Schedule 1 substance.

There are plenty of people who are now engaged in the legal cultivation, distribution and use of marijuana all around this country. Legal under state and local laws that is. The federal law is the problem. Here is one example of the kind of problem it is causing.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/legal-pot/between-pot-hard-place-fed-rejects-colorado-marijuana-bank-n449536

^snip^

Between Pot and a Hard Place: Fed Rejects Colorado Marijuana Bank

The stance appears to mark a shift in the position of the federal government. Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department issued rules for how banks can accept pot money.

"We're frustrated," said Andrew Freedman, director of marijuana coordination for Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. "We tried to do the most with the building blocks of instructions they sent us, set up the most rigorous solution. And we still are left with confusion."

The filing came in a legal battle between the Federal Reserve and the would-be Fourth Corner Credit Union, which was set up last year to serve Colorado's $700 million-a-year marijuana industry.

The credit union can't open without clearance from the Federal Reserve, which said in its filing that "transporting or transmitting funds known to have derived from the distribution of marijuana is illegal."



So you can see, people doing nothing more than making an honest living cultivating and distributing a substance which is legal in Colorado are denied banking services because of this unjust law. Colorado isn't the only place though.








Marijuana laws should be a state's rights issue and federal laws need to be changed. As they are now, the laws are unjust.

[questionseverything]

26. about the idea that not many people are in fed custody for simple possession

please correct me if i am wrong but didn't obama basically gut the money for prosecution on mj at the federal level...telling them to go after hard drugs instead?

i feel hc would reverse that since in the past the clintons used mj to jail high numbers of people

she doesn't even support medical mj

[MoonRiver]

3. Does this have something to do with the Democratic primary?

[Motown_Johnny]

4. Michigan has legalized medical marijuana.

The people in this industry are still subject to federal law because of the classification of marijuana.

Michigan votes Tuesday and the debate in Flint is tonight.

How can you question if this has anything to do with the Democratic primary?

[Warren DeMontague]

7. I get the feeling someone doesn't want to talk about it.

they could do what Hillary does every time it comes up in the debates, and lamely pivot to "heroin addiction".

[Motown_Johnny]

9. In his speech at last night's rally, Bernie addressed that.

Saying something like "Everybody knows that marijuana and Heroin are not the same". Terribly paraphrased but he spoke for almost an hour and I can't memorize it all.

[Warren DeMontague]

10. I'm fucking gobsmacked that people- DWS and Hillary, in particular- still try to pull that shit in

2016.

[Warren DeMontague]

6. Uh, yeah. Four states have legalized recreational marijuana, and California, with 34 Million people,

is likely to vote on it this November.

Except in the echo chambers of tone-deaf East coasters and Beltway conventional wisdom yubnubs who are still chasing "soccer moms" and "values voters" from 10 years ago, it's actually a pretty fucking pressing issue.

[Jitter65]

11. The war on drugs started way before the Clinton administration. And America asked for it.

So blame America!

[Warren DeMontague]

14. So we can't fix it now?

Wow, the level of leadership some people apparently expect from the folks they vote for is awe-inspiring.

[olddots]

12. but. but. but

Bill didn't inhale ......

[Lizzie Poppet]

13. Hillary, on the other hand, will probably "look into that."

She'll have to wait for a few focus groups to tell her which position will be best for her poll numbers...

[Warren DeMontague]

15. I'm sure she'll evolve eventually.

[Lucinda]

22. Nope. She supports reclassification to Sched II n/t

[RobertEarl]

16. I read that in Colorado

They are closing prisons due to lack of inmates. And other crimes are way down. Jeez, who'd a thunk that if you quit making criminals of people there would be less criminals?

[Uncle Joe]

21. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Csainvestor.

[OZi]

23. Rich, powerful and well connected

get protection and not near enough scrutiny.

Get caught with a plant and you may regret it for the rest of your life.