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.

  • nepenthes@lemmy.worldEnglish
    92·
    4 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·
      4 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·
      4 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·
        4 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·
          4 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.