Rolling Cannabis Politics Thread

Gov. John Kasich signs medical marijuana bill into law http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/06/gov_john_kasich_signs_medical.html

Ohio legalized medical marijuana: Here's what you need to know http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/06/ohio_legalized_medical_marijua.html#incart_m-rpt-1

the bill kind of blows tbh, i mean it is a step in the right direction but cmon this is 2016

after all the controversy over the "monopoly" thing last year we end up with this shitty ass medical bill

i feel u - neighbors + allies in shitty mm bills

good for kasich tho not being a complete piece of shit. we had to boot our republican governor to get our underwhelming bill signed

new evidence that marijuana is an effective way to combat prescription drug abuse:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/medical-marijuana-prescription-drugs-1.3667375

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/07/13/one-striking-chart-shows-why-pharma-companies-are-fighting-legal-marijuana/

it's literally a life-and-death issue

DEA declines rescheduling, shocking no one but the 22-year old neo-hippies on my Facebook feed who are bummed as hell right now.

But they are opening the door to a much higher level of scientific research

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/08/big_weed_is_throwing_some_of_its_new_money_into_politics.html

In Nevada, for example, at least 39 out of 47 major donors—who gave at least $5,000 each to the campaign supporting legal weed—have financial interests in expanding the legal marijuana market. They contributed $625,000 of the more than $1 million that the pro-pot political committee has raised so far. Among them: more than a dozen existing medical marijuana dispensaries and five beer distributors, which would have the first shot at being the state’s recreational pot dispensaries and distributors, respectively.

Similarly, in Arizona, where a pending court case could complicate marijuana advocates’ path to the ballot, at least 26 of the 35 top donors potentially stand to make a profit if recreational marijuana is legalized there. The campaign so far has raised $2.2 million.

In Massachusetts, 11 out of 18 major donors came from the marijuana industry, though they accounted for only $80,000 of the nearly $500,000 supporters raised.

Apparently leading in all the states where it's on the ballot this time.
Objection in California is now coming from the current growers, yeesh.

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/oct/21/mexicos-demand-potent-california-marijuana-creates/

Voters in California, Massachusetts and Nevada approve recreational use of marijuana

how does a Trump administration affect this positive move toward legalization nationwide or even for the states that have legalized ?

I think people expecting AG Giuliani to leave all the blue states with legal weed alone are delusional. If I owned a dispensary I'd be looking for a buyer.

is it worth the political capital to go after this when it appears the genie is already out of the bottle ?

i think there is some comfort to be found in the fact that legalization now has wider public support. would seem like a weird battle for trump to fight but yea giuliani is fucked

xp i kind of agree. 20% of the country now lives in states w/ legal weed right? that's a lot

What political capital? The states that legalized, by and large, voted for Hillary and the remaining groups that oppose it are firmly in Trump's political base - even if a majority of Americans favors legalization it's a low priority for most and we all know how much influence public opinion has on policy.

He also took a shit-ton of money from Sheldon Adelson (who despises legal weed, even medical) and private prisons (ditto).

I mean, I wouldn't bet either way myself, but if I were involved in the legal weed business I'd be looking for options to get out.

oh i guess af of an hour or so ago add Maine to that list

The complete legalization of possession/etc. presumably will stick around for individuals because that's so far beyond the feds' purview.

Colorado’s burgeoning legal marijuana industry has quickly made gains on the state’s largest industries — including the mighty oil-and-gas sector — and contributed an economic impact of $2.39 billion in 2015, according to research released Tuesday.

that's pretty difficult to just end at this point

That money isn't going to anyone Trump cares about, though. If the Feds step in Colorado can raise all kinds of hell but they don't really have a leg to stand on. The only court case in medical's favor is limited in scope and dependent on a Congressional spending rider. If the GOP's donor class want a crackdown they can get it.

Maybe they won't interfere out of fear of being states' rights hypocrites but that never stopped the GOP on abortion or marriage equality.

TRUE! damn it

oh well rip legalization

I don't consider Trump particularly smart but I do think he's not so dumb as to pick this fight. I could be wrong, and I think Rudy G would love to fuck shit up in this regard, but I think the business side of Trump says "this wouldn't go well for us."

Sessions is the AG and probably the most hard line anti-pot person that he could have chosen

it's difficult for me to imagine the business pres standing by while his AG eradicates the crazy profits in CA, OR & CO...but then again, crazy times.

ive kind of lost any confidence in my ability to see where any of this is gonna go

if nothing else, you can be assured that those states will absolutely put up a fight

it's difficult for me to imagine the business pres standing by while his AG eradicates the crazy profits in CA, OR & CO...but then again, crazy times.

― though she denies it to the press, (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi)

as Milo pointed out above those are all solid blue states that he cares little about

yeah idk who knows. people travel from around the country and the world to go to Colorado and smoke weed now. I flew to Denver last month, everybody on the plane talking about weed it seemed. Trump does care about popularity. Weed is very fucking popular.

The feds don't make money from state legalization and on the capitalist side private prisons are worth 5-10x a legal marijuana market that includes Colorado.

look, you're wrong. about weed. as a topic. it might be wise to stop opining about it, because you're wrong.

...

agree w/ joan - though there is a certain element of 'nobody knows wtf this admin will actually do' when it comes to anything

*that last word up there was supposed to be California not Colorado

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/975/text

MARIHUANA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTUx1zsQHfo

I thought the Rev spelled it with an H on the album but oh well

https://tomgarrett.house.gov/media/press-releases/garrett-introduces-legislation-remove-marijuana-controlled-substances-list

http://www.fox4now.com/news/us-marijuana-jobs-set-to-outpace-manufacturing

canadian legislation around legalization expected to be announced next month

you'd think this government would accept any major industry growth they could to bolster their claims that they're growing the economy but no, they'd rather go back to their quixotic war against cannabis. geniuses.

job-killing is what Trump is all about

“I don’t think America is going to be a better place when people of all ages, and particularly young people, are smoking pot,” Sessions said. “I believe it’s an unhealthy practice, and current levels of THC in marijuana are very high compared to what they were a few years ago, and we’re seeing real violence around that.”

yeah this platnum kush sure makes me more violent than those regs i used to smoke! wtf this is so fucking stupid

I totally murdered that pizza the other night

and btw it's a really good thing young people aren't currently smoking pot

wtf this is so fucking stupid

fear mongering and out and out lying have been a features of the war on drugs since the beginning. they have no shame about lying. they never did.

How did those jazz musicians rape all those white women when they only had dirt weed to smoke?