Marijuana Reform Is A Political Slam Dunk That Congress Couldn't Handle

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

President Joe Biden’s stunning announcement Thursday that he would pardon marijuana offenders and that his administration would reform federal law comes after decades of inaction by Congress despite growing popular support for cannabis legalization.

The House of Representatives earlier this year passed a bill to legalize marijuana but the measure stalled in the Senate amid opposition from Republicans and even some Democrats, such as Sens Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.).

It’s hard to imagine what it would have taken for Congress to ever act on its own to legalize marijuana unless Democrats somehow won a Senate supermajority.

Marijuana reform advocates had instead been rooting for lawmakers to adopt a modest change that would allow marijuana businesses that are legal under state laws to access federally insured banking services.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/marijuana-reform-is-a-political-slam-dunk-that-congress-couldn-t-handle/ar-AA12Gpjb

[underpants]

1. Good article. Access to banking would be big for dispensary companies

It’s still a cash only business. Handling and securing cash is expensive. 20% of time and cost of one dispensary owner I heard an NPR report about.

[Kyesha]

2. What's next?

I would LOVE to see some local Sam Alito-lite crank try to sue to block this in court, exposing the BS veneer of "freedom" these jerks hide behind when nothing is further from the truth.

[Marcuse]

3. Remove it from Schedule 1.

[IbogaProject]

5. For the IRS special tax rule it has to be out of Schedule 2 as well

But he is ordering the appropriate agencies to examine rescheduling.

[slightlv]

4. I just want to be able to use it

to help my chronic pain. I'm in KS... and I'm getting really tired of everyone in the states around me being able to partake, to experiment with what helps them medically, etc., and here I sit... praying they don't take away my pain meds.

Problem I wonder about is, given the way these red states are today regarding the Federal Government... even if the Feds were to actually *legalize* weed, a state like KS could just say we're not going to recognize the "government" has that right and ignore the law. They've done it now on so many Federal rules, regulations, and laws they don't like. This would just be one more "minor" one to them. But to many of us, it's a pretty major obstacle; and an infuriating one, at that!

[RussBLib]

6. if the Dems get 2-5 more Senators....

...and hold the House, cannabis decriminalization and removal from the Schedules should be forthcoming. But not until the new members get sworn in January of 2023.

But I wonder, if we pass nationwide legalization, what happens to all those cases of people who got jailed for trafficking? Surely they could not keep them in jail, could they? Could be quite a mess, but the states where weed is legal have handled this issue, I believe.