Justice Department formally moves to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug in historic shift
Justice Department formally moves to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug in historic shift
A proposed rule sent Thursday to the federal register recognizes medical uses of cannabis and acknowledges it has less potential for abuse than some of the most dangerous drugs.
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Hey a half a loaf. Its Zenos paradox of legalization. With progress like this, in another 40 years we'll be another halfway there to legalization.
It will at least open up research for cannabis drug development into FDA approved products.
It also basically will legalize Medical cannabis federally. This could lead to many other benefits. Get a medical card, it's legit with the state and the feds, then there shouldn't be any grounds for drug tests to affect your employment.
The big thing is federal contracts.
Its 10 years too late for anyone to care I think. Democrats should have just straight up legalized under Obama, and even if they legalized now, they aren't going to be making major points off this politically. Its just jerk-off material for the commentary crowd. If it isn't going to make a difference to peoples lived experience, it isn't worth pursuing.
You guys seem to think that the democrats had a fillabuster proof majority the entirety of obama's terms.
They had two years. In those two years, they spent their capital on getting the ACA passed.
Then the 2010 midterms happened, and the dems lost any chance of anything meaningful happening.
To be clear, they didn't have 2 years. They had ~70 days where they had the seats to pass legislation. That's when they passed the ACA.
ACA, civil rights legislation, climate policy, and immigration reform. It was a pretty progressive two years.
But not progressive enough so I will help the least progressive candidate win. /s
And you seem to think two years is basically no time at all. Think about how much awful shit Republicans got up to under Trump. Approximately half of that got done in a two year period and that was even a historically deadlocked Congress. Democrats lost in 2010 precisely because two years is a long time and the best thing they got out of it was a shitty healthcare plan that, more than anything, ensured our current unsustainable system stays in place for at least another generation.
Democrats are obviously much better than Republicans in basically every sense of the word, but Republicans get their legislation passed when they have the chance and Democrats trip all over themselves trying to appease the idiots who will never join their coalition. They could learn a lot from Republicans about pushing their agenda but it seems pretty clear by now they aren't going to.
It's the classic problem. Democrats can't get anything done, Republicans get the wrong thing done. Been that way as long as I can remember.
Turns out, it's easier to break stuff than to create actual policy.
Yep, it's amazing what you can do if you ignore laws, lock out the opposite side, control all three branches of government, and literally pass shit with stuff penciled in on the side.
Being democratic and inclusive is pointless if it prevents progress. People want good, affordable healthcare more than they care about if it was achieved with Republicans at the table too. The Democratic process is a means to an end, it’s not sacred and should be disposed of when it can’t work.
If Democrats are incapable of governing when given the power, maybe we should stop voting for them.
There is no point in empowering someone with my vote if they can't do anything with it once they've taken power.
Republicans have gotten more done in minority positions than Democrats have when in majority position over the past 20 years.
Democrats are conveniently bad at this shit when it comes to getting the things their voters want done, done. When it comes to getting shit Republicans want done, they are also conveniently powerless.
Maybe we shouldn't vote for Democrats.
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people who pose as leftists while advancing a fascist agenda.
So Democrats?
(I can keep going)
And thats only the last two years.
Everything you are saying is pure projection. If you are out there blindly supporting Democrats without acknowledging that they are working in lockstep with Republicans towards fascism, you are the one supporting a MAGA agenda.
The Democrats ARE NOT INTERESTED OR TRYING TO RESIST OR STOP FASCISM. You are fucking delusional if you think Democrats are working on your side.
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it's projection bro. It's you.
If you support fascism because it's Democrats doing it, you are no ally.
And that's what you are arguing for.
Your argument , you entire refusal to hold Democrats accountable by being critical of them and withholding your support to force them to come to you, it's why we're in this mess.
YOU are the white moderate MLK warned us about.
Two years of a filibuster proof majority for a president elected on hope and change, and the best they can do is a conservative healthcare plan, packed with giveaways for the big insurers.
That's when I lost all faith in the democratic party.
Because Joseph Lieberman wouldn't allow it to pass without removing the public option and he was the lone vote they needed to overcome the filibuster
Yep there's always a rotating villain, how convenient.
He wasn't "a rotating villain"
He was always a villain.
The term "rotating villian" refers to those who are currently fulfilling the spoiler role in the party in order to stop any progressive legislation.
More recent rotating villains include Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin.
Dont forget to add Fetterman to that list!
The point is it’s always one persons fault and that certainly everyone else was a good guy. The blame is planted on a single individual and not the party that failed as a whole
They've always got an excuse and aquarians willing to message it.
a president elected on hope and change
Here's a little middle school social studies lesson for you: there is a lot more to the government than the President.
Bernie Sanders could be sitting in the Oval Office right now and he'd still be struggling with the political realities that Biden is dealing with today. There would still be multiple wars raging, there would still be Republican obstructionism, there would still be a Republican controlled House and a tied Senate, etc. And I'm willing to bet you would be sitting here commenting on how "disappointing" he ended up being as a progressive....
If you want big, sweeping FDR-style changes, then elect a big sweeping congressional supermajority like FDR had. It's not rocket science, people like you would rather just shy away from the political reality of getting bills passed in favor of complaining online, and it's getting boring.
Ah yeah, Romneycare with no public option and my friends with kids still can't afford to actually use the doctor because the deductible is so high.
Soooooo glad that they spent all their political capital on a handout to the insurance companies.
Love it when they just pass Republican legislation and call it a "win" for Democrats.
If my eyes rolled any harder they'd be on the floor.
The ACA was a numbers game so Democrats could pat themselves on the back at the number of "insured" people ignoring whether or not that "insurance" actually got those people access to medical care. "Insured" means nothing if you can't use it.
But good for them for being able to point at some numbers and pat each other on the back for a "job well done" I guess?
The ACA has helped the insanely destitute (in states that even use it, so not everywhere), but it has not helped the general US public nor even come close to solving the medical insurance crisis and high cost of medical care crisis.
But tell me more about how we're supposed to be so happy for half-assed plans copied from Republicans.
ACA killed "Pre Existing conditions", allowed children to stay on parent's insurance until 25. It eliminated lifetime coverage limits, and expanded Medicare access to millions of people.
Keep patting yourself on the back. I'm sure it will suddenly make healthcare affordable somehow.
It's not like medical bills continue to be the number one reason for bankruptcy or anything.
I found a photo of you:
Here's a picture of you Tubgirl.jpg
Are people not allowed to point out the corn nuggets in the shit sandwich without being mocked by you? Do you know more about that commenter than you're letting on or do you just enjoy unloading on would be allies?
That all depends on when Democrats get congressional majority. Congress is responsible for legislative decriminalization.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3617
You make the assumption that Democrats (the politicians, not the voters) actually see this as a legislative priority.
Kamala has been treating it as priority, and speaking in favor of it every chance she gets. The bill was co-sponsored by 114 Democrats.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3617/cosponsors
Any day now then...
Which party voted for all the state level legalization efforts?
For people like me who use it medicinally, this is a huge win.
Society is like a big vehicle. It takes time to change its course. Calm down.
Calm down.
The world doesn't actually improve in fits an starts. Incrementalism is a fallacy. The world improves in large sweeping movements that are eventually ground backwards. We make major improvement through bold action, not trivial improvements.
I have no obligation to support a muted political movement incapable of accomplishing its purported objectives.
US Democrats could have done this a decade ago. They could have codified abortion rights. They could have made so many things a priority: they choose not to. I owe nothing to a failed approach to politics.
Ok, so... What big, sweeping things are YOU doing to make society better? Where's your list of accomplishments?
The Democrats don't have a perfect track record, not even close. But being part of the online peanut gallery of whiners doesn't get us anywhere. I'm so tired of people who are all commentary and no action, people who aren't going to be part of progress (big or small) are part of the problem no matter how smug you act about it.
US Democrats could have done this a decade ago. They could have codified abortion rights. They could have made so many things a priority: they choose not to. I owe nothing to a failed approach to politics.
I must correct you there. There is a theory that says that politics has to fulfill the will of its average voter. It can not lean further left than that. Otherwise it looses voters on the righter side.
What you have is a convenient and wrong interpretation of how politics work.
Its interesting that when its a step in the authoritarian or right-wing direction, its always possible. When its a step towards humanism or the left, its never possible or only ever an epsilon of progress.
Why do you think that is?
The fallacy thats baked into your thinking that causes you to make this mistake is shown by this assumption you make:
Otherwise it looses voters on the righter side.
The idea that voters exist along a symmetrical distribution is the mistake you are making. People are not randomly coming up with their beliefs and there is no reason you should assume it would follow a gaussian.
Its a persistent and wrong assumption, that resulted in the kind of demonstrated impotence of the American Democrats.
Interestingly, the American Right wing doesn't share that belief around real-politik. And because they don't make this wrong assumption, their voters actually get the policy decisions they want into law.
Its interesting that when its a step in the authoritarian or right-wing direction, its always possible. When its a step towards humanism or the left, its never possible or only ever an epsilon of progress.
Why do you think that is?
Because people are, in fact, pretty right-wing authoritarian.
The idea that voters exist along a symmetrical distribution is the mistake you are making. People are not randomly coming up with their beliefs and there is no reason you should assume it would follow a gaussian.
I never said that it was a symmetrical or normal distribution. I am well aware that it is not. But it is still a distribution.
And people do come up with their own beliefs. It's not as if you can just tell them what to believe. People's will comes first, parties and their ideas come second.