PRO Pot

[dislaxxic]

I would not be pleased if that was the reason, but I applaud the move.

What? I can't own the Cons for just a second with that snarky comment??

..

[DMac]

Long overdue!!

Federal decriminalization should be the next step but that will require 60 votes in the Senate.

Long overdue is understating by a half a century or so at least. Didn't realize that rescheduling is Imminent (imminent too strong?). Was just talking about this yesterday, I really see the handling of marijuana as one of the most long and drawn out examples of idiocy by law enforcement and the Feds to be real high on the list of idiotic things our Feds have done and flat out lied about in my lifetime. Just unbelievable. The latest is the complications of getting stores open in NYS, mindboggling. Been legal now for quite some time and nary store open yet (couldn't care less). A thriving business, well established, an abundance of product, but can't figure out how to open a store. How 'bout you just get tf out of the way and let entrepreneurs do what they've been doing for the last 60-80 years? Collect their licensing fees and taxes and just get tf out of the way.

[jhu72]

Long overdue!!

Federal decriminalization should be the next step but that will require 60 votes in the Senate.

Long overdue is understating by a half a century or so at least. Didn't realize that rescheduling is Imminent (imminent too strong?). Was just talking about this yesterday, I really see the handling of marijuana as one of the most long and drawn out examples of idiocy by law enforcement and the Feds to be real high on the list of idiotic things our Feds have done and flat out lied about in my lifetime. Just unbelievable. The latest is the complications of getting stores open in NYS, mindboggling. Been legal now for quite some time and nary store open yet (couldn't care less). A thriving business, well established, an abundance of product, but can't figure out how to open a store. How 'bout you just get tf out of the way and let entrepreneurs do what they've been doing for the last 60-80 years? Collect their licensing fees and taxes and just get tf out of the way.

... This decision is only good so long as Biden / democrat is president. Will be an issue in 2024 presidential election I would think. If repubiCON is elected, decision could be reversed and we would start jailing people again.

[Farfromgeneva]

This would be an example of the downfall of our country and fiat currency position. If we as citizens don’t have stability in rights and responsibilities over election cycles we are sub-Saharan Africa. Not to say precedents and existing laws are inviolable, the world is a fluid dynamic model, but if one can’t plan 3-5yrs out at all because you don’t know what the rules of law are over time then you end up living hand to mouth and nothing more. Hope you all like living like Angolans and having dudes like Charles Taylor run things. (Taylor was Liberia I know just soo many ex soles in that region to choose from I picked two suck a** situations as examples)

[ardilla secreta]

A great segment from the show Dragnet 1965
https://www.threads.net/@history772_/post/C3DohhRy7-5

[DMac]

That sums up more than a half century rather nicely, "In a couple of years things may change."
Sixty+ years later they still can't get stores open in NY. Couldn't phukk up a long established
and profitable business more than they have. Oh well, just gonna have to wait til they figure
it all out before we can get some pot in NY, I guess.

[Seacoaster(1)]

This would be an example of the downfall of our country and fiat currency position. If we as citizens don’t have stability in rights and responsibilities over election cycles we are sub-Saharan Africa. Not to say precedents and existing laws are inviolable, the world is a fluid dynamic model, but if one can’t plan 3-5yrs out at all because you don’t know what the rules of law are over time then you end up living hand to mouth and nothing more. Hope you all like living like Angolans and having dudes like Charles Taylor run things. (Taylor was Liberia I know just soo many ex soles in that region to choose from I picked two suck a** situations as examples)

Oh, you mean the rule of law, the settled expectations of investors and property owners; the bedrock stuff of a first world country. Yeah, that would be a nice thing to retain.

[Seacoaster(1)]

A great segment from the show Dragnet 1965
https://www.threads.net/@history772_/post/C3DohhRy7-5

I am astounded by this dialogue; 1965?

[ardilla secreta]

A great segment from the show Dragnet 1965
https://www.threads.net/@history772_/post/C3DohhRy7-5

I am astounded by this dialogue; 1965?

Pretty rich lecture from a chain smoker who died at 62.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

I'm stunned at how quickly stores opened after both medicinal and recreational herbicide was legalized in Massachusetts. (That was a favorite nickname my brother came up with--[who was probably stoned for the last 60 years of his life.]) There were some snags in the legislature and other governing bodies initially but in hindsight, it all happened swiftly, especially in light of what D shared about how slowly New York is moving.

At first in the Bay State, one had to drive miles to the first store that opened (Central Mass) which sold both medical and recreational. It was a big production. One had to drive to an offsite lot, park, then wait for the shuttle, which transported about 15-20 folks at a time to the actual facility. Then the wait in serpentine line outside the facility until admitted one by one. It took a while but no one cared. Much talk of "Pinch me so I know I'm not dreaming." was heard. Once inside, the menus were lengthy and varied. Fast forward a couple/few years and dispensaries are everywhere in Massachusetts, with more opening all the time. Amazing what can happen over time.

I have no idea how much money cannabis dumps into the Mass State coffers but I imagine it's substantial. Anyway--just a few thoughts on the topic.

[Seacoaster(1)]

I'm stunned at how quickly stores opened after both medicinal and recreational herbicide was legalized in Massachusetts. (That was a favorite nickname my brother came up with--[who was probably stoned for the last 60 years of his life.]) There were some snags in the legislature and other governing bodies initially but in hindsight, it all happened swiftly, especially in light of what D shared about how slowly New York is moving.

At first in the Bay State, one had to drive miles to the first store that opened (Central Mass) which sold both medical and recreational. It was a big production. One had to drive to an offsite lot, park, then wait for the shuttle, which transported about 15-20 folks at a time to the actual facility. Then the wait in serpentine line outside the facility until admitted one by one. It took a while but no one cared. Much talk of "Pinch me so I know I'm not dreaming." was heard. Once inside, the menus were lengthy and varied. Fast forward a couple/few years and dispensaries are everywhere in Massachusetts, with more opening all the time. Amazing what can happen over time.

I have no idea how much money cannabis dumps into the Mass State coffers but I imagine it's substantial. Anyway--just a few thoughts on the topic.

During 2020-21, Massachusetts collected about $817,000,000 -- when the system was ramping up. My guess we are in the billion range now.

[DMac]

During 2020-21, Massachusetts collected about $817,000,000 -- when the system was ramping up. My guess we are in the billion range now.

Just exactly what the brain dead stoners, and a whole lot of others with a half a brain, said would happen if it were legalized and taxed. How do you know this yet let bureaucracy and red tape get in the way of opening stores? Let the people who want to open stores open them and just get out of the way. Stop playing the who is going to get the license game and start collecting the taxes. How many states have a model you can study and learn from at this point?
I liked it when Walrus was around and Colorado was still in the process of legalizing it. Got some interesting input from him as he was on some committee that was involved in the process of legalization. Had to laugh at the prices when it did become legal, told him those prices aren't going to last long as everyone will keep buy from the person they have been all along. Prices came down pretty quickly....those stores sure as hell didn't have a corner on the market.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Boston Globe Editorial

Pot purveyors plead to come out of the legal shadows. They’re right.
New federal study on its medical potential could lead the DEA to approve reclassification of the once ‘evil weed.’

By The Editorial Board February 13, 2024

Gyasi Sellers, a native of Springfield, was among the first entrepreneurs to get a license to deliver marijuana in the state. His mission was “to serve communities that have suffered under the war on drugs and to provide job training and skills to ex-offenders.” But because marijuana is still an illegal drug under federal law, his highly regulated state business can’t get a loan from the federal Small Business Administration.

Canna Provisions operates several award-winning marijuana retail shops in Western Massachusetts, and its founder and CEO Meg Sanders was voted Corporate Citizen of the Year last year by the Lee Chamber of Commerce. But Sanders is barred from posting jobs or news about workshops with MassHire because the state-run program gets federal funds. Her employees have had their personal bank accounts shut down and some have been denied mortgages because of the source of their income.

Sellers and Sanders are among the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit aimed at bringing those in the state’s now perfectly legal marijuana businesses in from their still federally mandated outlaw status.

And despite the fact that 38 states allow the legal sale of marijuana and two dozen of them allow it for recreational use, its federal classification as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substance Act — right up there with heroin, LSD, and ecstasy — criminalizes anything involving interstate commerce or federal funds.

The concept of marijuana as the “evil weed” remains alive and well on the federal lawbooks, depriving local consumers and businesses of the ability to, for example, take out credit cards or access payroll processing services.

The suit, filed in US District Court in Springfield against the US Justice Department, doesn’t seek to overturn the federal role in regulating marijuana in interstate commerce but rather argues that in states where marijuana has been legalized those federal restrictions constitute “an unjustified vestige of a long-abandoned policy” and should be declared unconstitutional.

It’s a legally challenging case to make, and even Josh Schiller, attorney for those local plaintiffs, concedes it’s likely to take two years or so to make its way through the courts.

Meanwhile a far more straightforward solution — the reclassification of marijuana from a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substance Act to a Schedule III drug (in a class with prescription ketamine, testosterone, and Tylenol with codeine) — is finally making some headway in Washington, albeit at a glacial pace.

President Biden took the lead, asking the secretary of Health and Human Services and the attorney general to “expeditiously” review the classification of marijuana at the same time he pardoned those charged with marijuana possession under federal law. That was in October 2022.

Last month a 250-page review by scientists from the US Food and Drug Administration concluded, based on its findings, “that marijuana be placed in Schedule III of the CSA.” It noted that use of the drug was unlikely to lead to physical dependence and “the likelihood of serious outcomes is low.”

And while it noted more medical research is needed on its efficacy as a form of medical treatment — something currently hampered by its Schedule I classification — it did say, “On balance, the available data indicate that there is some credible scientific support to substantiate the use of marijuana in the treatment of pain, anorexia related to certain medical conditions; and nausea and vomiting (e.g. chemotherapy-induced).”

However, the study was actually concluded in August and sent along to the Drug Enforcement Agency, which remains the final arbiter of reclassification. It was only disclosed in January because a Texas lawyer sued Health and Human Services for its release.

The study certainly runs counter to the 2016 HHS report that concluded, “marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no accepted medical use in the United States, and lacks an acceptable level of safety for use even under medical supervision.” The DEA followed by rejecting its reclassification.

But since then states where marijuana has been legalized have indeed been the laboratories that are providing increased data on its use and its possible abuse.

There are, of course, problems with the increased potency of today’s cultivated variety of the drug and issues of labeling as noted in the study and on this editorial page.

But attorneys general from 12 states where marijuana is legal — including Massachusetts and Rhode Island — have written to the DEA in support of rescheduling “as a public safety imperative.”

They point to the fact that rescheduling “increases the ability to research cannabis to determine the physical and mental impacts of cannabis use,” and “removes a major obstacle for legitimate cannabis operators” to take “ordinary business [tax] deductions” currently not allowed.

Cannabis is indeed big business today; the AGs estimate it will hit $53 billion in sales nationally by 2027. Gross annual sales in Massachusetts hit a record $1.56 billion in 2023, according to the Cannabis Control Commission.

The genie of legal marijuana is clearly out of the bottle and not going back any time soon. It has already meant law enforcement can focus its efforts on more serious drug trafficking, not busting kids on the (Boston) Common for smoking a joint. But only the DEA can bring the marijuana industry and medical research on the drug out of the legal limbo to which it is currently consigned. That “expeditious” review — now at least half accomplished — needs to be just as expeditiously concluded.

Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us @GlobeOpinion.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/02/13/ ... nt=event12

[runrussellrun]

This is a big f-ing deal. And looking at rescheduling too. Good on him for doing the right thing.

Turns out that doing something that a supermajority of the country agrees with will get you votes? Crazy talk.

you said it.....crazy LIAR, that ole Joe


years later, how IS the Biden admin doing with this and pushing Congress to do stuff ?

[runrussellrun]

I'm stunned at how quickly stores opened after both medicinal and recreational herbicide was legalized in Massachusetts. (That was a favorite nickname my brother came up with--[who was probably stoned for the last 60 years of his life.]) There were some snags in the legislature and other governing bodies initially but in hindsight, it all happened swiftly, especially in light of what D shared about how slowly New York is moving.

At first in the Bay State, one had to drive miles to the first store that opened (Central Mass) which sold both medical and recreational. It was a big production. One had to drive to an offsite lot, park, then wait for the shuttle, which transported about 15-20 folks at a time to the actual facility. Then the wait in serpentine line outside the facility until admitted one by one. It took a while but no one cared. Much talk of "Pinch me so I know I'm not dreaming." was heard. Once inside, the menus were lengthy and varied. Fast forward a couple/few years and dispensaries are everywhere in Massachusetts, with more opening all the time. Amazing what can happen over time.

I have no idea how much money cannabis dumps into the Mass State coffers but I imagine it's substantial. Anyway--just a few thoughts on the topic.

Northhampton opened the first "legal" dispensary in Mass.

The duufous....that IS/or will be, the ne n$aa president.....Charlie Baker, mr. welfare himself, as Gov. of the Commonwealth....decides to CLOSE pot dispensaries during the lockdowns.

But booze stays open ? clown show.

to the tune of 100's of millions of dollars, has been generated by Pot tax dollars.

[DMac]

Meanwhile hundreds of millions of tax dollars has been lost by the fustercluck that is getting a license and opening a shop in NYS. I think there are a couple of shops open around here, and I do mean just a couple, which is pretty sad re tax dollars. Business still booms but aint no tax dollars being collected on 99% of it. If you want to create roadblocks and problems get your state government involved. One of the damndest things I've ever seen, can't get a long time well established and hugely profitable business going above board in NYS. This is the definition of phukin' up a wet dream.
https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2 ... ke/393448/

[runrussellrun]

Long overdue!!

Federal decriminalization should be the next step but that will require 60 votes in the Senate.

Long overdue is understating by a half a century or so at least. Didn't realize that rescheduling is Imminent (imminent too strong?). Was just talking about this yesterday, I really see the handling of marijuana as one of the most long and drawn out examples of idiocy by law enforcement and the Feds to be real high on the list of idiotic things our Feds have done and flat out lied about in my lifetime. Just unbelievable. The latest is the complications of getting stores open in NYS, mindboggling. Been legal now for quite some time and nary store open yet (couldn't care less). A thriving business, well established, an abundance of product, but can't figure out how to open a store. How 'bout you just get tf out of the way and let entrepreneurs do what they've been doing for the last 60-80 years? Collect their licensing fees and taxes and just get tf out of the way.

... This decision is only good so long as Biden / democrat is president. Will be an issue in 2024 presidential election I would think. If repubiCON is elected, decision could be reversed and we would start jailing people again.

What you wrote makes zero sense. Because, years later, the Democrats haven't proposed ANY legislation at the Federal level. At least my congress watch notification hasn't buzzed about that issue.

Gov. Mace, I think, was the one that said you would loose your 2nd amendment rights, if you bought weed. Creep show, don't care how hot she is,, especially when dressed in that leather chaps when she is at Sturgess. SO..you're not wrong about some creeps. Like Joe.

It took ole homophobic Joe, until 2012, to "come around" to the gays.......when he was almost 70 years old. Not surprised he lies about mary jane.

He's believed its been a "gateway drug" his entire life. The good news, is, don't think he remembers what he remembered, last week.

Did Joe and First lady get covid......twice. Yup.........it IS a pandemic of the unvaxxed, ain't it Joe.

yeah....it's just the repukAconos

[runrussellrun]

Meanwhile hundreds of millions of tax dollars has been lost by the fustercluck that is getting a license and opening a shop in NYS. I think there are a couple of shops open around here, and I do mean just a couple, which is pretty sad re tax dollars. Business still booms but aint no tax dollars being collected on 99% of it. If you want to create roadblocks and problems get your state government involved. One of the damndest things I've ever seen, can't get a long time well established and hugely profitable business going above board in NYS. This is the definition of phukin' up a wet dream.
https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2 ... ke/393448/

recently moved to NY state, and the "sticker" shops are hilarious. Just like they had in D.C.

taxes collected ? but, boy oh boy, you deposit $2 k, because you sold your jon boat.....the IRS is coming after you

strange world.

[NattyBohChamps04]

US drug control agency will move to reclassify marijuana in a historic shift, AP sources say

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, The Associated Press has learned, a historic shift to generations of American drug policy that could have wide ripple effects across the country.

[...]

It comes after President Joe Biden called for a review of federal marijuana law in October 2022 and moved to pardon thousands of Americans convicted federally of simple possession of the drug. He has also called on governors and local leaders to take similar steps to erase marijuana convictions.

Another win for Joe. Still have a ways to go, but we certainly wouldn't have gotten this with the other guy.

[cradleandshoot]

US drug control agency will move to reclassify marijuana in a historic shift, AP sources say

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, The Associated Press has learned, a historic shift to generations of American drug policy that could have wide ripple effects across the country.

[...]

It comes after President Joe Biden called for a review of federal marijuana law in October 2022 and moved to pardon thousands of Americans convicted federally of simple possession of the drug. He has also called on governors and local leaders to take similar steps to erase marijuana convictions.

Another win for Joe. Still have a ways to go, but we certainly wouldn't have gotten this with the other guy.

So does that finally mean that the DoT will no longer pee test A and B drivers for pot anymore? DoT hard core policy was if you pee dirty you can't drive a rig anymore. Pot may be legal but I would be stunned to see the DoT change their zero tolerance standards.