A decision on a major policy shift on marijuana won't come until after the presidential election
apnews.com
A decision on whether to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug in the U.S. won’t come until after the November presidential election.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration last week set a hearing date to take comment on the proposed historic change in federal drug policy for Dec. 2.

The hearing date means a final decision could well come in the next administration. While it’s possible it could precede the end of President Joe Biden’s term, issuing it before Inauguration Day “would be pretty expedited,” said cannabis lawyer Brian Vicente.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    2618·
    2 months ago

    4 years ago Biden said he’d deschedule cannabis…

    Then he said reschedule…

    Then he said he’d “look into it”…

    And four years later, the DEA is getting ready to announce their opinion…

    Biden could have ordered them to do it, and if they didn’t replaced them.

    That’s the threat he used to make every federal agency return to office, it’s 100% possible. He just didn’t want to do it because his son is a fucking crackhead and to a man in his 80s all drugs are drugs and terrible (not counting alcohol, caffeine, sugar, or nicotine)

    • NineMileTower@lemmy.world
      303·
      2 months ago

      Yeah, there’s definitely no nuance to it and “the president’s son is a crack head”.

      It’s not like the proposed rule is the result of a review of U.S. cannabis policy that was ordered by President Joseph Biden in October 2022. At the same time, the president pardoned thousands of individuals with federal convictions for simple cannabis possession, a move that was expanded a year later to include thousands more Americans with convictions under federal drug laws. It’s not like it’s being delayed by the DEA.

    • nepenthes@lemmy.worldEnglish
      92·
      2 months ago

      My friend struggled with heroin and was told to use marijuana to get off of opiates. It worked for him-- I guess happily baked people can’t be arsed to get off the couch to go score drugs.

      Regardless, it’s ridiculous that something with medical potential isn’t deemed a priority to “look into”. One thing our JT did right was to legalize it federally 2.5 years into his first term. I’m assuming some US pharma companies are delaying it.

      • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.worldEnglish
        10·
        2 months ago

        My friend struggled with heroin and was told to use marijuana to get off of opiates. It worked for him-- I guess happily baked people can’t be arsed to get off the couch to go score drugs.

        Turns out, cannabis is a gateway drug. It’s a gateway out.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
        65·
        2 months ago

        It was already bullshit, the only need to “look into it” was to stall and hope someone found something that can be twisted into backing an existing opinion.

        The DEA didn’t do a single study, they “looked into” stuff we’ve known for over a decade hunting for that unicorn study that says cannabis is dangerous.

        Like with climate change. We started “looking into” that in 1982 with a political committee. But Biden set record setting fossil fuel production this term.

        Or when Dems and Republicans united to tell FDR we had to “look into” universal healthcare 80 years ago. And still say we need to “look into” it more.

        “Moderates” love to say they’re going to “look into” stuff, but in reality it’s just an excuse not to do anything and avoid the negative press.

        We can’t keep giving them credit before they do anything like our memories only last 2 years and we can’t see the pattern. I mean, surely there are some people who can’t figure it out, but an average adult should be able to pretty quickly.

        “Moderates” only exist to prevent progress. That’s their whole thing, they’ll never going to let meaningful progress happen at a pace that beats conservatives breaking everything. It’s just not a valid strategy, but that’s what wealthy donors want, so that’s what we get.

        • Eatspancakes84@lemmy.world
          5·
          2 months ago

          Legalising cannabis is a slippery slope towards abolishing the DEA, which would be very detrimental… to the people working at the DEA that is.

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
            81·
            2 months ago

            Legalising cannabis is a slippery slope towards abolishing the DEA

            Like, I get the rest is a joke, obviously…

            But even outright legalizing cannabis federally wouldn’t mean the DEA ran out of work. It means they run out of easy work.

            There’s an opioid epidemic, fentanyl being put in everything, meth being made all over, cocaine and heroin being smuggled in…

            It’s just the people who do that stuff are actually dangerous and/or actually know what they’re doing.

            Like when you call the cops to report a robbery and they show up 3 days later to fill out a report for your insurance. They could try to solve the crime, but that’s difficult, so they don’t.

            The DEA has lots of important shit they could be doing, it’s just important shit is rarely easy.

    • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.worldEnglish
      66·
      2 months ago

      And lemmy’s centrists all act like cannabis has already been rescheduled because Biden said he was gonna.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
        66·
        2 months ago

        Yep.

        Just a question of if they really believe it and are just that naive

        Or if they’re just saying whatever makes Biden look best in any scenario.

        • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.worldEnglish
          44·
          2 months ago

          I’ve had long arguments with centrists where they insist that he’s rescheduled cannabis when he hasn’t.