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Election could stoke the US marijuana market, sway Congress

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
https://apnews.com/article/election...ona-colorado-6262afc32442fb8a39203a0f21afead7

Voters in four states from different regions of the country could embrace broad legal marijuana sales on Election Day, and a sweep would highlight how public acceptance of cannabis is cutting across geography, demographics and the nation’s deep political divide.

The Nov. 3 contests in New Jersey, Arizona, South Dakota and Montana will shape policies in those states while the battle for control of Congress and the White House could determine whether marijuana remains illegal at the federal level.

Already, most Americans live in states where marijuana is legal in some form and 11 now have fully legalized the drug for adults — Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Colorado, Michigan, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, and Vermont. It’s also legal in Washington, D.C.

Despite the spread of legalization in states and a largely hands-off approach under President Donald Trump, the Republican-controlled Senate has blocked cannabis reform, so under federal law marijuana remains illegal and in the same class as heroin or LSD. That has discouraged major banks from doing business with marijuana businesses, which also were left out in the coronavirus relief packages.

“Change doesn’t come from Washington, but to Washington,” said Steve Hawkins, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. “States are sending a clear message to the federal government that their constituencies want to see cannabis legalization.”

The presidential election could also influence federal marijuana policy, though the issue has been largely forgotten in a campaign dominated by the pandemic, health care and the nation’s wounded economy.

While it's not a major issue in the presidential campaign, it could influence the vote at the state and local level.

Neither candidate has put forth any clear declaration of support for legalization.

Trump’s position remains somewhat opaque. He has said he is inclined to support bipartisan efforts to ease the U.S. ban on marijuana but hasn’t established a clear position on broader legalization. He’s appointed attorneys general who loath marijuana, but his administration has not launched crackdowns against businesses in states where pot is legal.

Joe Biden has said he would decriminalize — but not legalize — the use of marijuana, while expunging all prior cannabis use convictions and ending jail time for drug use alone. But legalization advocates recall with disgust that he was a leading Senate supporter of a 1994 crime bill that sent droves of minor drug offenders to prison.

But the rest of the Democratic Party, including Kamala Harris, appears to have more support for legalization.

Even if there are lingering doubts about Biden, the Democratic Party is clearly more welcoming to cannabis reform, especially its progressive wing. Vice presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California has said making pot legal at the federal level is the “smart thing to do.”

Familiar arguments are playing out across the states.

Opponents fear children will be lured into use, roads will become drag strips for stoned drivers and widespread consumption will spike health care costs.

Legalization could also be a boost to sagging state revenues.

An added push this year could come from the virus-damaged economy — states are strapped for cash and legalized cannabis holds out the promise of a tax windfall. One Arizona estimate predicts $255 million a year would eventually flow for state and local governments, in Montana, $50 million.

Despite the pandemic and challenges including heavy taxes and regulation, marijuana sales are climbing. Arcview Market Research/BDSA expects U.S. sales to climb to $16.3 billion this year, up from $12.4 billion in 2019.

In New Jersey, voters are considering a constitutional amendment that would legalize marijuana use for people 21 and over. It’s attracted broad support in voter surveys. If approved, it’s unclear when shops would open. The amendment also subjects cannabis to the state’s sales tax, and lets towns and cities add local taxes.

The Arizona measure known as Proposition 207 would let people 21 and older possess up to an ounce or a smaller quantity of concentrates, allow for sales at licensed retailers and for people to grow their own plants. Retail sales could start in May. State voters narrowly rejected a previous legalization effort in 2016.

“There is clearly a tide,” Hawkins said. “We are moving toward a critical mass of states that ... will bring about the end of federal prohibition on cannabis.”
 

Saint Frankenstein

Wanderer From Afar
Premium Member
It will be federally legalized eventually. Hell, we're going to have to rethink our drug policies in general. That's not optional. The younger generations will not put up with the war on drugs anymore, whether right or left (young rightists tend to have an anti-authoritarian streak, which is why they like Trump as he's seen as rebellious).
 
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Cooky

Veteran Member
It will be federally legalized eventually. Hell, we're going to have to rethink our drug policies in general. That's not optional. The younger generations will not put up with the war on drugs anymore.

I just hope cocaine and heroin don't become legalized. Tolerated maybe, but not legalized like cannabis should be.

We need to separate mind expanding herbs from dangerous drugs.
 

Saint Frankenstein

Wanderer From Afar
Premium Member
I just hope cocaine and heroin don't become legalized. Tolerated maybe, but not legalized like cannabis should be.

We need to separate mind expanding herbs from dangerous drugs.
It will be much easier to help people if it were legalized. Addicts could get their doses from doctors and nurses, and inject under supervision. They could work openly with their doctor to wean off of opiates in a healthy way. It would help to remove the stigma, too. Thousands of lives per year could be saved.
 

Cooky

Veteran Member
It will be much easier to help people if it were legalized. Addicts could get their doses from doctors and nurses, and inject under supervision. They could work openly with their doctor to wean off of opiates in a healthy way. It would help to remove the stigma, too. Thousands of lives per year could be saved.

The downfall would be people who are trying to avoid these drugs, and quit, would have easier access to them if it became legalized.

...The temptation would be easily satisfied, and quitting would be 10 times as hard... IMO.
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
Legalization could also be a boost to sagging state revenues.
I'm surprised more states didn't put on their ballots. Though I suspect in two years we may see more votes to legalize in more states looking to boost their recovering budgets and economies.
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
I just hope cocaine and heroin don't become legalized. Tolerated maybe, but not legalized like cannabis should be.

We need to separate mind expanding herbs from dangerous drugs.
The criminalization of drugs has consistently proven itself to be a disastrous failure.
And any addictive drug that is illegal, that illegal status scares people away from getting help.
We must focus more on regulating, treatments and rehabilitation than punishing and banning and ruining lives. Those things just do not work, unless making things worse is the goal.
Plus all drugs being legalized and regulated means drug cartels see their income dwindle and diminish. It's basically the most powerful blow they can be dealt, and there is no "next guy in line stepping up" because there is nothing to step into. Their drug empires have imploded and collapsed.
 

Cooky

Veteran Member
The criminalization of drugs has consistently proven itself to be a disastrous failure.
And any addictive drug that is illegal, that illegal status scares people away from getting help.
We must focus more on regulating, treatments and rehabilitation than punishing and banning and ruining lives. Those things just do not work, unless making things worse is the goal.
Plus all drugs being legalized and regulated means drug cartels see their income dwindle and diminish. It's basically the most powerful blow they can be dealt, and there is no "next guy in line stepping up" because there is nothing to step into. Their drug empires have imploded and collapsed.

There's no treatment for cocaine addiction that I'm aware of. You just have to isolate yourself from the sources... And that would be a hopeless cause if it were legalized and readily sold at stores across the country.
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
There's no treatment for cocaine addiction that I'm aware of.
That's because illegal drugs are notoriously difficult to study for any reason at any level. We don't really have effective addiction treatment for any drugs, but rather a sea of faith-based programs that just aren't working (such as 12-step programs, which do not have scientific backing to support them).
You just have to isolate yourself from the sources... And that would be a hopeless cause if it were legalized and readily sold at stores across the country.
That's a myth perpetuated by 12-step programs who needlessly create a forbidden fruit. This is no good, there is no evidence it works/in it's necessity, and really it's better just to teach people how to handle themselves rather than being unnecessarily awkward around something they've been lead to believe poses a significant threat to them.
This argument also falls apart considering former alcoholics and smokers are constantly around alcohol and tobacco. It's something we have to learn to deal with because we can't avoid them like that. They are readily sold at stores across the nation.
And made worse by the fact tobacco is the deadliest drug out there, so far more deadly than number two that it kills more than all other legal, OTC, and illegal drugs combined. But it's legal. Alcohol is number 2. Not nearly as deadly, but still very destructive with a potential for abuse. Those are the legal ones, killing hundreds and thousands each and every year. As far as destruction and death goes, the illegal drugs really are lightweights. Prescription drugs can be worse than illegal drugs.
And all of them are all around us.
 

Saint Frankenstein

Wanderer From Afar
Premium Member
The downfall would be people who are trying to avoid these drugs, and quit, would have easier access to them if it became legalized.

...The temptation would be easily satisfied, and quitting would be 10 times as hard... IMO.
I doubt heroin and coke would ever be sold as recreational drugs. It would probably be Rx only.
 

Father Heathen

Veteran Member
I just hope cocaine and heroin don't become legalized. Tolerated maybe, but not legalized like cannabis should be.

We need to separate mind expanding herbs from dangerous drugs.

Where do you see a serious push to legalize the hard stuff? The only people silly enough to group them together are those who oppose cannabis legalization.
 

Heyo

Veteran Member
Election could stoke US marijuana market, sway Congress





While it's not a major issue in the presidential campaign, it could influence the vote at the state and local level.

Neither candidate has put forth any clear declaration of support for legalization.



But the rest of the Democratic Party, including Kamala Harris, appears to have more support for legalization.



Legalization could also be a boost to sagging state revenues.
For a serious attempt at legalising hemp (and other drugs) at the federal level, it is necessary to tackle the problem at the (pretty unknown) root, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
 

Cooky

Veteran Member

That's a myth perpetuated by 12-step programs who needlessly create a forbidden fruit. This is no good, there is no evidence it works/in it's necessity, and really it's better just to teach people how to handle themselves rather than being unnecessarily awkward around something they've been lead to believe poses a significant threat to them.
This argument also falls apart considering former alcoholics and smokers are constantly around alcohol and tobacco. It's something we have to learn to deal with because we can't avoid them like that. They are readily sold at stores across the nation.

The addictions of cocaine and heroin are not like alcohol and tobacco, each one is quite different. And these drugs most definitely do pose a significant threat to those who use them... These are life ruining drugs.

...But I don't know what 12 step programs teach, I've never really been to one.
 

Saint Frankenstein

Wanderer From Afar
Premium Member
That might be acceptable.
I wouldn't want anything that could kill you relatively easily to be sold OTC. So I would be fine with psychedelics being OTC drugs (marijuana is a psychedelic, too) as those aren't usually dangerous. You could take hundreds of times the normal dose of LSD and be fine in a day so (after a huge intense trip and being really sick, of course), for example.

Drugs like MDMA are a little more dangerous but usually users are prevented from using it too much because of the unappealing effects of crashing from it, so I would be okay with small amounts of it being sold OTC.

But stuff like opiates, special K, meth, coke, etc. I wouldn't want to be that easily available, although legal.
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
The addictions of cocaine and heroin are not like alcohol and tobacco, each one is quite different. And these drugs most definitely do pose a significant threat to those who use them... These are life ruining drugs.
Of course. My point was drugs are still around even after you quit them. It's something you have to learn to deal with.
...But I don't know what 12 step programs teach, I've never really been to one.
Mostly a bunch of hooey, with parts that contradict evidence based practices and research and go against basic psych 101 principles. It works for such a small percentage of participants that it's just not generally effective. About the only thing they do right is emphasis the need for support and relying on each other. Other than that, they teach things like a necessity of accepting a higher power, accepting you are powerless to do anything, and acceptance of the necessity of total sustenance, and some other things that are not evidence based (NA especially emphasizes god). Making amends and coming to terms with your past and present and coping and stress reduction are good things they teach, but those are very basic things that are basically taught to everyone who is a client in mental health as means to cope with stress, so the lessons aren't necessarily tailored to be effective for drug addiction (more tools of the process).
And then "rehab" itself as a whole is another issue. It's basically casting chicken bones and sea shells. Much of the same faith-based sort (such an utilizing horses in treatment). They also have terrible accountability standards, record keeping, and their record with patient safety and success is basically garbage.
And I do believe a major problem is the drugs being illegal. Even marijuana, it's very difficult to study in America. Cocaine is even harder. There are numerous extra hurdles that must be cleared, and even if they are funding can be an issue just because it is drug related. People don't like drugs. They don't like drug users. And this creates problems with getting funding going for studies. If it gets cleared, because again they are illegal and it may just not happen. Or you may not be able to acquire them. And then even if you get to testing that "illegal" thing scares people away and makes them prone to lying. The stigmas basically do the same thing. Legalization solves all this and more.
 
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