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So, back to that legalization thing


Longhorn_Fan68

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10 minutes ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:


It's kind of cool that you can leave El Paso, pick up some vape product in New Mexico, then drive through Arizona, California, Oregon and all the way to Seattle without worrying about getting busted. 

jim carrey GIF

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2 hours ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

that map makes me mad every time i see it

Bathroom Dan,  potty Patrick, Dan Patrick 

that fucker kills it every year in the state legislature regardless of what Texans think and other republicans think.  I really wish Dan Patrick would die.

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6 hours ago, bolverk said:

All five at least have medical. It's getting tougher break new ground. Although, North Carolina and Georgia seem ripe for the pickings.

image.thumb.png.18d82a87b850d540b59a1ce8aeea903c.png

My analysis of the map and future opportunities is as follows:

Hawaii, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania are only a matter of time. All 3 states have had detailed conversations, votes, and they seem to be trying to sort the last few things out.  It’s a “when” not “ if” thing here.

North Dakota and South Dakota seems like they vote on it nearly every election cycle. If they continue to allow votes on it, it will eventually break thru and that’s 2 more red states we can add to the pile. Every 2-4 years people in these states get it on the ballot thru the ballot initiative process.

West Virginia seems to be trending to the “when not if” category. 
 

I’m still Skeptical on Florida. Florida is both Republican as hell and crazy as fuck. They have used the Florida Supreme Court to stop it from getting on the ballot before and may do so again. Desantis is a 70 year old man in a 40 year old’s body. For some reason, he really doesn’t like this stuff. You’d think anyone under 50 wouldn’t be hostile to marijuana, but there are lots of idiots in the US population.  In addition, Florida needs 60% to pass ballot initiatives and recreational is still considered somewhat controversial so I’m not sure it could get 60% statewide in Desantis land with the GOP trying to stop it there.

 

Georgia and Wisconsin are considered “playing the long game”. We flipped the Supreme Court in Wisconsin, we are fixing the maps, and hopefully we can take control there and get abortion / weed legalization passed like the majority of Wisconsin residents desire.

Georgia we need to continue to have liberals move there for work. We need more black Georgians to get over the age of 18. Georgia is competitive like we were hoping Texas would be by now. The demographics in Georgia seem to be trending in the dems direction.  Take the legislature / governor in Georgia and they could pass it. 
 

Activists have tried to get medical on the ballot in Idaho, Nebraska, and Wyoming, but they’ve had trouble with either collecting enough signatures or the Supreme Court / republicans have stepped in and killed it. 
 

there are still lots of wins out there to be had and fight for. Like I said,  I wish Dan Patrick would croak so maybe Texas could join the fun.

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Anyone know Matthew's Surly handle?

Federal Scientists Recommend Easing Restrictions on Marijuana
In newly disclosed documents, federal researchers find that cannabis may have medical uses and is less likely to cause harm than drugs like heroin.

Marijuana is neither as risky nor as prone to abuse as other tightly controlled substances and has potential medical benefits, and therefore should be removed from the nation’s most restrictive category of drugs, federal scientists have concluded.

The recommendations are contained in a 250-page scientific review provided to Matthew Zorn, a Texas lawyer who sued Health and Human Services officials for its release and published it online on Friday night. An H.H.S. official confirmed the authenticity of the document.

The records shed light for the first time on the thinking of federal health officials who are pondering a momentous change. The agencies involved have not publicly commented on their debates over what amounts to a reconsideration of marijuana at the federal level.

Since 1970, marijuana has been considered a so-called Schedule I drug, a category that also includes heroin. Schedule I drugs have no medical use and a high potential for abuse, and they carry severe criminal penalties under federal trafficking laws.

The documents show that scientists at the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute on Drug Abuse have recommended that the Drug Enforcement Administration make marijuana a Schedule III drug, alongside the likes of ketamine and testosterone, which are available by prescription.

The review by federal scientists found that even though marijuana is the most frequently abused illicit drug, “it does not produce serious outcomes compared to drugs in Schedules I or II.”

Marijuana abuse does lead to physical dependence, the analysis noted, and some people develop a psychological dependence. “But the likelihood of serious outcomes is low,” the review concluded.

The review also said there is some “scientific support” for therapeutic uses of marijuana, including treatment of anorexia, pain, and nausea and vomiting related to chemotherapy.

Federal officials cautioned that their analysis was not meant to suggest that they had established the safety and effectiveness of marijuana in a way that would support F.D.A. approval, only that data supported some medical uses of marijuana.

These conclusions apparently led the F.D.A. to break from decades of precedent last August and advise the Drug Enforcement Administration to recategorize marijuana, a move first reported by Bloomberg News.

That recommendation is being considered by the D.E.A., which is expected to formally announce its decision within months. The reclassification will be subject to public comment and debate before it is made final.

The scientific assessment has prompted tensions between career employees at the D.E.A., a famously conservative law enforcement agency, and the researchers and health officials who support reclassification, according to two senior administration officials.

Xavier Becerra, the health and human services secretary, said in an interview this week that his department had stayed in touch with the D.E.A. about marijuana’s status and had “communicated to them our position.”

“We put it all out there for them,” he said. “We continue to offer them any follow up, technical information if they have any questions.”

Advocates for the marijuana industry have hailed a possible rescheduling as highly significant, a powerful way to get marijuana businesses out of the shadows and operating on the same tax footing as other major United States corporations.

Other experts are more circumspect. They note that any long-running study of marijuana that the federal authorities have reviewed may not account for the escalating strength and increasingly frequent use of marijuana, which has been tied to psychiatric problems and chronic vomiting among users in recent years.

For years there was the promise, ultimately unmet, that marijuana could be used to combat opioid abuse or treat mental health problems, said Keith Humphreys, a Stanford health policy professor and a former federal drug policy official.

“As the science has gotten better in the intervening decades, most of the therapeutic claims about cannabis have been debunked,” he said.

“And the evidence that cannabis can in fact be quite harmful has gotten stronger — yet it is now that the federal government has decided to call it a medicine.”

President Biden urged federal officials to “expeditiously” re-examine marijuana classification in October 2022, when he also issued pardons for those charged with marijuana possession under federal law.

Mr. Biden cited the disproportionate rates of arrest and prosecution of people who are Black and Hispanic for marijuana-related crimes, despite similar rates of use among white people. In December, Mr. Biden again issued pardons for people who had been convicted of simple possession and use of marijuana on federal land.

Federal data shows that marijuana is popular: An estimated 52 million people in the United States reported using it at some point in 2021. Fewer people, about 36 million, reported marijuana use in the previous month, trailing alcohol and tobacco use.

“Decriminalization and legalization is as popular as it ever was,” Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado, a Democrat, said in an interview last year regarding his state’s early legalization of cannabis.

“None of the horror stories materialized,” he said. “Underage use is down in Colorado. We regulate marijuana like alcohol, effectively. Responsible adults can choose to recreate with alcohol or marijuana in our state as long as they do it in a safe way and don’t drive, don’t show up at work inebriated.”

In 38 states, marijuana is legal for medical use; it’s legal for recreational use in two dozen states and territories. Its pungent scent has become common in many communities, wafting from car windows at intersections in California and hanging over the crowds in Times Square.

Changing the way federal officials regard marijuana has long been a subject of fierce debate.

In 2016, the D.E.A. rejected a petition to reschedule marijuana, citing federal health officials’ stance at the time: “Marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no accepted medical use in the United States, and lacks an acceptable level of safety for use even under medical supervision.”

Last month, Michael D. Miller, a Justice Department official, defended the D.E.A.’s prerogative in making the final decision on the administration’s position.

“D.E.A. has the final authority to schedule, reschedule, or deschedule a drug under the Controlled Substances Act, after considering the relevant statutory and regulatory criteria and H.H.S.’s scientific and medical evaluation,” he wrote in a letter to Representative Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat who has pushed the D.E.A. to reconsider marijuana.

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On 1/10/2024 at 2:33 AM, Voldemort86 said:

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/west-virginia-senate-president-says-marijuana-could-be-legalized-to-help-curb-fentanyl-epidemic-sooner-than-later/
 

Republican West Virginia senate president talking about legalizing marijuana relatively soon because his state is getting hammered by the opioid epidemic. 
 

West Virginia legalizing would be huge for several reasons. WV is the reddest state in the country. Would send a message to other republican states. WV going legal would fully surround Pennsylvania with legal states and put more pressure on them to legalize. New Hampshire is an island of prohibition as well, but prohibition seems to be holding on by a thread in that state.

your possibilities for 2024 legalization appear to be :  

Florida, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota. 
 

24 states fully legal. 26 to go. Just want to see this sham of a prohibition die. 

My suspicious black ass does, too. 

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13 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Anyone know Matthew's Surly handle?

Federal Scientists Recommend Easing Restrictions on Marijuana
In newly disclosed documents, federal researchers find that cannabis may have medical uses and is less likely to cause harm than drugs like heroin.

Marijuana is neither as risky nor as prone to abuse as other tightly controlled substances and has potential medical benefits, and therefore should be removed from the nation’s most restrictive category of drugs, federal scientists have concluded.

The recommendations are contained in a 250-page scientific review provided to Matthew Zorn, a Texas lawyer who sued Health and Human Services officials for its release and published it online on Friday night. An H.H.S. official confirmed the authenticity of the document.

The records shed light for the first time on the thinking of federal health officials who are pondering a momentous change. The agencies involved have not publicly commented on their debates over what amounts to a reconsideration of marijuana at the federal level.

Since 1970, marijuana has been considered a so-called Schedule I drug, a category that also includes heroin. Schedule I drugs have no medical use and a high potential for abuse, and they carry severe criminal penalties under federal trafficking laws.

The documents show that scientists at the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute on Drug Abuse have recommended that the Drug Enforcement Administration make marijuana a Schedule III drug, alongside the likes of ketamine and testosterone, which are available by prescription.

The review by federal scientists found that even though marijuana is the most frequently abused illicit drug, “it does not produce serious outcomes compared to drugs in Schedules I or II.”

Marijuana abuse does lead to physical dependence, the analysis noted, and some people develop a psychological dependence. “But the likelihood of serious outcomes is low,” the review concluded.

The review also said there is some “scientific support” for therapeutic uses of marijuana, including treatment of anorexia, pain, and nausea and vomiting related to chemotherapy.

Federal officials cautioned that their analysis was not meant to suggest that they had established the safety and effectiveness of marijuana in a way that would support F.D.A. approval, only that data supported some medical uses of marijuana.

These conclusions apparently led the F.D.A. to break from decades of precedent last August and advise the Drug Enforcement Administration to recategorize marijuana, a move first reported by Bloomberg News.

That recommendation is being considered by the D.E.A., which is expected to formally announce its decision within months. The reclassification will be subject to public comment and debate before it is made final.

The scientific assessment has prompted tensions between career employees at the D.E.A., a famously conservative law enforcement agency, and the researchers and health officials who support reclassification, according to two senior administration officials.

Xavier Becerra, the health and human services secretary, said in an interview this week that his department had stayed in touch with the D.E.A. about marijuana’s status and had “communicated to them our position.”

“We put it all out there for them,” he said. “We continue to offer them any follow up, technical information if they have any questions.”

Advocates for the marijuana industry have hailed a possible rescheduling as highly significant, a powerful way to get marijuana businesses out of the shadows and operating on the same tax footing as other major United States corporations.

Other experts are more circumspect. They note that any long-running study of marijuana that the federal authorities have reviewed may not account for the escalating strength and increasingly frequent use of marijuana, which has been tied to psychiatric problems and chronic vomiting among users in recent years.

For years there was the promise, ultimately unmet, that marijuana could be used to combat opioid abuse or treat mental health problems, said Keith Humphreys, a Stanford health policy professor and a former federal drug policy official.

“As the science has gotten better in the intervening decades, most of the therapeutic claims about cannabis have been debunked,” he said.

“And the evidence that cannabis can in fact be quite harmful has gotten stronger — yet it is now that the federal government has decided to call it a medicine.”

President Biden urged federal officials to “expeditiously” re-examine marijuana classification in October 2022, when he also issued pardons for those charged with marijuana possession under federal law.

Mr. Biden cited the disproportionate rates of arrest and prosecution of people who are Black and Hispanic for marijuana-related crimes, despite similar rates of use among white people. In December, Mr. Biden again issued pardons for people who had been convicted of simple possession and use of marijuana on federal land.

Federal data shows that marijuana is popular: An estimated 52 million people in the United States reported using it at some point in 2021. Fewer people, about 36 million, reported marijuana use in the previous month, trailing alcohol and tobacco use.

“Decriminalization and legalization is as popular as it ever was,” Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado, a Democrat, said in an interview last year regarding his state’s early legalization of cannabis.

“None of the horror stories materialized,” he said. “Underage use is down in Colorado. We regulate marijuana like alcohol, effectively. Responsible adults can choose to recreate with alcohol or marijuana in our state as long as they do it in a safe way and don’t drive, don’t show up at work inebriated.”

In 38 states, marijuana is legal for medical use; it’s legal for recreational use in two dozen states and territories. Its pungent scent has become common in many communities, wafting from car windows at intersections in California and hanging over the crowds in Times Square.

Changing the way federal officials regard marijuana has long been a subject of fierce debate.

In 2016, the D.E.A. rejected a petition to reschedule marijuana, citing federal health officials’ stance at the time: “Marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no accepted medical use in the United States, and lacks an acceptable level of safety for use even under medical supervision.”

Last month, Michael D. Miller, a Justice Department official, defended the D.E.A.’s prerogative in making the final decision on the administration’s position.

“D.E.A. has the final authority to schedule, reschedule, or deschedule a drug under the Controlled Substances Act, after considering the relevant statutory and regulatory criteria and H.H.S.’s scientific and medical evaluation,” he wrote in a letter to Representative Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat who has pushed the D.E.A. to reconsider marijuana.

So, until the DEA and other 3 letter agencies get a budget increase that covers the off-record funds generated and used to support off the record activities, they'll keep things as-is. 

I don't think the DEA really cares if you smoke or not. They have to have a hand in the funds transfer. 

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On 1/10/2024 at 3:33 AM, Voldemort86 said:

Republican West Virginia senate president talking about legalizing marijuana relatively soon because his state is getting hammered by the opioid epidemic. West Virginia legalizing would be huge for several reasons. WV is the reddest state in the country. Would send a message to other republican states. WV going legal would fully surround Pennsylvania with legal states and put more pressure on them to legalize. New Hampshire is an island of prohibition as well, but prohibition seems to be holding on by a thread in that state.

I realize everyone responds differently but I usually bite off half a 25mg gummy every night and I get a tiny buzz (equivalent of one beer) and sleepy.  

I've also taken oxy-whatever after a herniated disk in 2017 and 2022 and the high is about the same.  

How anyone would make both illegal (or in the latter case, available by prescription) is regarded.  

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10 minutes ago, Slacks said:

So, until the DEA and other 3 letter agencies get a budget increase that covers the off-record funds generated and used to support off the record activities, they'll keep things as-is. 

I don't think the DEA really cares if you smoke or not. They have to have a hand in the funds transfer. 

I'm cautiously optimistic they'll reschedule based on the fact they don't have cover from the scientists anymore.

This is the head of the DEA. @Bullneck How was she as AG of NJ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Milgram

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56 minutes ago, bolverk said:

I'm cautiously optimistic they'll reschedule based on the fact they don't have cover from the scientists anymore.

This is the head of the DEA. @Bullneck How was she as AG of NJ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Milgram

Quote

Attorney General of New Jersey[edit]

Milgram became Acting Attorney General on September 1, 2006, following the resignation of former Attorney General Zulima Farber.[8] From 2007 to 2010, Milgram served as New Jersey's Attorney General.[9]

 

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When I was back in Austin for the holidays. I got some delta-8 gummies from RS to try to beat jet lag. The first night I was literally tripping balls, as in I couldn’t walk or talk. I made the mistake of taking right before I was called into a last minute meeting in Singapore (it was 3am Austin time) and I made it through 20 minutes before I had to just type “gotta run to other meeting”. If they would have wanted me to say something it would have been a disaster.

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53 minutes ago, bolverk said:

I read that and was wondering if you had an opnion on whether she was decent/fair as AG.

Sorry, just reread your post.  We didn't move here until 2013; her term ended in 2010.  

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2 hours ago, Bullneck said:

I realize everyone responds differently but I usually bite off half a 25mg gummy every night and I get a tiny buzz (equivalent of one beer) and sleepy.  

I've also taken oxy-whatever after a herniated disk in 2017 and 2022 and the high is about the same.  

How anyone would make both illegal (or in the latter case, available by prescription) is regarded.  

Dan Patrick sucks.

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18 minutes ago, Fastbreak said:

When I was back in Austin for the holidays. I got some delta-8 gummies from RS to try to beat jet lag. The first night I was literally tripping balls, as in I couldn’t walk or talk. I made the mistake of taking right before I was called into a last minute meeting in Singapore (it was 3am Austin time) and I made it through 20 minutes before I had to just type “gotta run to other meeting”. If they would have wanted me to say something it would have been a disaster.

I bet they were thinking, "damn, this guy is hard core -- double booked with another 3am meeting!"

image.thumb.png.665e68315d8dce938b87a031cabc8b18.png

Edited by Bullneck
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44 minutes ago, Fastbreak said:

When I was back in Austin for the holidays. I got some delta-8 gummies from RS to try to beat jet lag. The first night I was literally tripping balls, as in I couldn’t walk or talk. I made the mistake of taking right before I was called into a last minute meeting in Singapore (it was 3am Austin time) and I made it through 20 minutes before I had to just type “gotta run to other meeting”. If they would have wanted me to say something it would have been a disaster.

Delta-8 doesn't do a whole lot for me, but Delta-9? Holy shit.

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  • 2 months later...
On 3/22/2024 at 7:24 AM, dcbc said:

Looks like Schedule III is a go.  It's not the goal line, but it's progress.

 

Link-Link-Pass

I’m expecting something major to be announced before the election.  Schedule 3 or otherwise.  Biden would have to be a fool to not capitalize on the popularity of weed.

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5 hours ago, Voldemort86 said:

I’m expecting something major to be announced before the election.  Schedule 3 or otherwise.  Biden would have to be a fool to not capitalize on the popularity of weed.

well, he's had four fucking years to do it. come on, Joe!

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here's a poll you can actually believe in:
https://norml.org/blog/2024/03/27/pew-poll-adults-overwhelmingly-oppose-marijuana-criminalization/?link_id=12&can_id=41553c27793d01a5b92bcafb94505943&source=email-norml-news-of-the-week-3282024-2&email_referrer=email_2260519&email_subject=norml-news-of-the-week-3282024

Quote

Eighty-eight percent of Americans say that marijuana ought to be legal for either medical or adult use, according to nationwide polling compiled by the Pew Research Center.

The results are consistent with those of prior Pew polls finding that only about ten percent of US adults support a blanket policy of cannabis criminalization

 

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16 hours ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

If the dems would pull their heads out of their asses, they'd put legalization in their platform.  But their asses will stay firmly planted in their asses. 

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Interesting article on the weed shitshow in Oklahoma. Cant trust Okies to do anything without fucking it up

https://www.businessinsider.com/oklahoma-legal-marijuana-cannabis-laws-industry-kingfisher-county-mass-murder-2024-3

Quote

After a steak dinner at Cattlemen's Steakhouse in Oklahoma City in February, Barb considered whether she would have done things differently.

"Yeah, I'll tell you what I wish I did differently," she said, taking a drag off a Virginia Slim. "I wish I'd never fucking stepped foot in Oklahoma."

well no shit, barb. no f'n shit. 

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5 minutes ago, Blotto said:

Interesting article on the weed shitshow in Oklahoma. Cant trust Okies to do anything without fucking it up

https://www.businessinsider.com/oklahoma-legal-marijuana-cannabis-laws-industry-kingfisher-county-mass-murder-2024-3

well no shit, barb. no f'n shit. 


"The remnants of face-high marijuana plants lie flat on the unswept concrete."

Wait a minute, we can go get some weed in Oklahoma? Who's up for a road trip?

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1 minute ago, StassneyHorn said:

Cross posting from Joe Biden is God thread. Like all good things I will jinx it. Been some pretty big movement in cannabis industry. Seeing the gains in the stock market

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Just now, StassneyHorn said:

Cross posting from Joe Biden is God thread. Like all good things I will jinx it. Been some pretty big movement in cannabis industry. Seeing the gains in the stock market

Cross-repsonding.  Is this a remote position?  Asking for a fiend.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/3/2024 at 8:29 PM, Mother mopar said:
On 4/3/2024 at 2:37 PM, dcbc said:
Cross-repsonding.  Is this a remote position?  Asking for a fiend.

Hybrid

 

Far out.

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