It has been legal here in Canada for ~4 years and I still 'use' like it is illegal. How about this restriction on US banks financing cannabis operations? Federal correct?
Has that been removed?
No it has not. That is why it is still an all cash business.
IIRC some state governments are opening their own banks as a workaround for this problem.
Because it would decriminalize your hobby activities and allow you unfettered access to the socialized medicine that keeps you alive?
Er...no. Not the effect (or intent) of the action. Biden could have had that effect by (with the stroke of a pen) removing weed from Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act. He could have appointed an Attorney General who would de-prioritize federal prosecutions of said law. He could have reversed his entire career as a legislative drug warrior and backed repeal. He could have issued a blanket pardon on his first day in office.
What he did instead is an election year stunt. He graciously pardoned people for violating laws he helped write, for things that should never have been crimes, and he left that structure in place. One set of victims gets a reprieve but there are people right now being prosecuted for those same crimes. This does nothing for them. Or for the future.
If you're inclined to support Biden and anything he does you could look at this as a bribe, but it's more like political hostage taking.
I'm not saying the pardon was wrong, far from it. I just want it seen for what it really is in context. And as long as the law and its interpretation is in place no, it does not decriminalize kurtster's pastime. He's still liable to get his door kicked down, his dog shot, and to be hauled off in handcuffs. If that happens (and if Generous Joe feels like it after the election) maybe he'll get out of jail.
Spot on. However, Biden has no authority on the matter to begin with which makes it even more of a stunt. That and there are no federal marijuana prisoners to begin with.
It is a function of Congress and Congress has delegated that authority. Makes his action empty and pandering.
Congress could pass a law that changes or restricts a drug's schedule. But Congress mostly leaves scheduling to federal agencies like the DEA. (One exception: Congress previously passed the Hillory J. Farias and Samantha Reid Date-Rape Prevention Act of 2000 and added gamma hydroxybutyric acid, a date rape drug, to the scheduling system.)
The US attorney general can also initiate a review process that would look at the available evidence and potentially change a drug's schedule. The review includes several steps:
The DEA, US Department of Health and Human Services, or public petition initiate a review.
The DEA requests HHS to review the medical and scientific evidence regarding a drug's schedule.
HHS, through the FDA, evaluates the drug and its schedule through an analysis based on eight factors. Among the factors: a drug's potential for abuse, the scientific evidence for a drug's pharmacological effects, and the scientific evidence for a drug's medical use.
HHS recommends a schedule based on the scientific evidence.
The DEA conducts its own review, with the HHS's determination in mind, and sets the final schedule.
Although very rigorous, this process has been successfully carried out in the past. For example, the DEA in 2014 announced it had rescheduled hydrocodone combination products, or opioid-based prescription painkillers, from schedule 3 to schedule 2.
"Almost 7 million Americans abuse controlled-substance prescription medications, including opioid painkillers, resulting in more deaths from prescription drug overdoses than auto accidents," former DEA head Michele Leonhart said in a 2014 statement. "Today's action recognizes that these products are some of the most addictive and potentially dangerous prescription medications available."
So until it gets off of Schedule 1 it is illegal as far as I am concerned and I'll be doing what I have been doing the past 57 years ... be very, very careful about certain things.
Because it would decriminalize your hobby activities and allow you unfettered access to the socialized medicine that keeps you alive?
Er...no. Not the effect (or intent) of the action.
Biden could have had that effect by (with the stroke of a pen) removing weed from Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act. He could have appointed an Attorney General who would de-prioritize federal prosecutions of said law. He could have reversed his entire career as a legislative drug warrior and backed repeal. He could have issued a blanket pardon on his first day in office.
What he did instead is an election year stunt. He graciously pardoned people for violating laws he helped write, for things that should never have been crimes, and he left that structure in place. One set of victims gets a reprieve but there are people right now being prosecuted for those same crimes. This does nothing for them. Or for the future.
If you're inclined to support Biden and anything he does you could look at this as a bribe, but it's more like political hostage taking.
I'm not saying the pardon was wrong, far from it. I just want it seen for what it really is in context. And as long as the law and its interpretation is in place no, it does not decriminalize kurtster's pastime. He's still liable to get his door kicked down, his dog shot, and to be hauled off in handcuffs. If that happens (and if Generous Joe feels like it after the election) maybe he'll get out of jail.
He has two big spending bills, the first which is contributing (not the only cause) to our current high inflation.
Got us back into the Paris accord, and the new spending bill does start to address our climate issues, although I am not sure how effectively they will be in moving the needle.
If you are a hawk, you must be happy with his approach to supporting Ukraine and being tough on China (continuing many Trump policies)
Employment did pick up, but I don't attribute that much to the current or former president, other than the massive stimulus spending.
American foreign policy choices with respect to pushing NATO into former Warsaw Pact Treaty countries are having a far greater impact on measured inflation than US fiscal policy choices of the current and the past president.
A number of Latin American countries were tightening monetary policy a full year ahead of the Federal Reserve.
A sharp jump in deficit-financed expenditures and transfers during a crisis such as the pandemic can be easily justified. As the economy recovers, fiscal policy should target shifting to budgetary surpluses. At least in a conservative Keynesian fiscal policy setting. Others argue in favour of running non-stop deficits.
This current administration appears less keen on preparing for the long run than boosting partisan prospects in the mid-term elections. Constantly running the debt to GDP ratio higher along with the SPR drain are not the typical ingredients of an effective national security policy.
He has two big spending bills, the first which is contributing (not the only cause) to our current high inflation.
Got us back into the Paris accord, and the new spending bill does start to address our climate issues, although I am not sure how effectively they will be in moving the needle.
If you are a hawk, you must be happy with his approach to supporting Ukraine and being tough on China (continuing many Trump policies)
Employment did pick up, but I don't attribute that much to the current or former president, other than the massive stimulus spending.
One Democrat who is neutral in the 2020 race and spoke to Obama about Bidenâs gaffe-prone nature recalled the former president saying: âDonât underestimate Joeâs ability to fuck things up.â
From the WSJ piece:
Mr. Bidenâs statements reflect a popular Beltway belief that with the right messaging, unpleasant reality simply vanishes. Call $740 billion in green spending the Inflation Reduction Act andâvoilà !âyouâre defeating inflation. Or boast that you have more accomplishments than any other president two years in and somehow voters will forget that your No. 1 achievement is, as this newspaper has said, a decline in the living standards of the American people.
It is very telling when the only way to defend Biden is with using whataboutisms.
Cannot even say, yeah, but he is doing such a great job ...
He has accomplished quite a few things, including that whole marijuana/prison thing, that I would think you would approve. I'm sure he would accomplish more without that obstructionist McConnell and a couple of democrats in the senate.
An ongoing problem: the GOP is so relentless in saying negative stuff, regardless (see his despairing but loving phone message to his son), that it dissuades Biden supporters from adding more to the thoughtless, reflexive barrage of nonsense complaints.
If the nation were less robotic in its football-team hatred for the other "side" - when everything should be dependent on "what helps the majority of Americans the most" - then you could see, from both sides, some assent and some disagreement. But we're not there. Instead, our social media is infiltrated with Russian/Chinese agents who post inflammatory things, making Americans hate each other and causing the nation to fragment. If we were attacked - which isn't an impossibility - the left/right finger pointing and name calling and blame game and false flag accusations would make us completely unable to mount a response.
Similarly, the majority of Americans aren't millionaires - but they listen to what millionaires want (donations, union-busting, violence as a solution) without considering what they really want. They stay in the serf role, parroting what the media wants them to parrot.
Thanks Joe ! You gave the green light to go hunt MAGA's during your creepy "Soul Of The Nation" speech in Philly. You have done what you have condemned Trump for and now someone has actually died because of your venomous hate speech. A speech that was widely approved by most here at RP.
Thanks Joe ! You gave the green light to go hunt MAGA's during your creepy "Soul Of The Nation" speech in Philly. You have done what you have condemned Trump for and now someone has actually died because of your venomous hate speech. A speech that was widely approved by most here at RP.
Thanks Joe ! You gave the green light to go hunt MAGA's during your creepy "Soul Of The Nation" speech in Philly. You have done what you have condemned Trump for and now someone has actually died because of your venomous hate speech. A speech that was widely approved by most here at RP.