Decriminalize Cannabis? Yes / No? MORE ACT.
Three-quarters of US states have legalized marijuana. The recreational market is worth $15 billion. But the use, possession, and sale of cannabis are still prohibited by federal statute. That’s created an absurd disconnect that needs t to be fixed. The US Senate is about to vote on the MORE Act. It will remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and remove convictions of nonviolent marijuana offenders.
And, if you could vote on it directly, would you vote for it or against it?
In the meantime, if you’re new to my content, One Direct Democracy is a movement for upgrading the global democratic system by taking the power away from politicians and putting it in the hands of the people by using Direct Democracy. It will also eliminate left and right politics. I’ve created the technology and a plan for how to make it work
How many states have legalized medical marijuana?
According to this article about Marijuana Legalization from Cnet:
“37 states have legalized the medical use of cannabis. In addition, the District of Columbia and the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands have all legalized medical marijuana.
Each jurisdiction has its own criteria regarding what conditions cannabis can be prescribed for, at what amounts, and what the process is for issuing medical marijuana licenses to qualified residents.”
How many states have legalized recreational marijuana?
“According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 18 states have legalized the adult use of marijuana for recreational purposes.”
What does federal law say about marijuana?
“Under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, the Drug Enforcement Agency still classifies cannabis as a Schedule I drug, “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” (Other Schedule I drugs include heroin and LSD, while cocaine is listed as a Schedule II drug.)”
Now, this is at the heart of the problem. The Federal rules are conflict with the state’s rules.
This is what President Obama tried to do about it
In 2013, President Barack Obama directed the Justice Department to defer to state authorities in jurisdictions that had legalized marijuana, “based on assurances that those states will impose an appropriately strict regulatory system.”
“Known as the Cole Memorandum, this guidance was rescinded in 2018 by Jeff Sessions, attorney general under President Donald Trump.”
So Obama created a temporary and practical fix then Trump went ahead and F’d it up again.
Okay, What is the Marijuana Opportunity and Reinvestment Expungement Act?
“The MORE Act would abolish federal criminal penalties for those growing, possessing, or distributing cannabis and expunge nonviolent cannabis convictions. It would also institute a tax on marijuana sales, with proceeds funding programs to help communities impacted by the War on Drugs.”
We still have to deal with the issue of allowing cannabis businesses to have bank accounts.
The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act was created to address that issue. What is it?
“A separate bill being drafted in the Senate, the CAOA would also end the federal ban on cannabis and give state-compliant cannabis businesses access to financial services like bank accounts, business loans, and credit card transactions.”
Does President Joe Biden support legalized weed?
During the 2020 presidential campaign, then-candidate Joe Biden promised to “decriminalize cannabis use and automatically expunge prior convictions.
According to Biden’s campaign website, “No one should be in jail because of cannabis use.”
The site promised that, as president, Biden would “support the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes, leave decisions regarding legalization for recreational use up to the states, and reschedule cannabis as a Schedule II drug so researchers can study its positive and negative impacts.”
How do Americans feel about legal marijuana?
“According to a 2021 Pew Research poll, 91% of Americans believe cannabis should be legalized to some degree — 31% for medical use and 60% for both medical and recreational use.
Only 8% of respondents said marijuana should not be legal at all.”
What’s the difference between legalization and decriminalization?
“Many states that have legalized marijuana initially decriminalized possession of a small amount. Broadly speaking, cannabis “legalization” means passing laws that allow the buying, selling, and possession of marijuana, usually with restrictions on the age of the consumer and the amount purchased.
Decriminalization, on the other hand, typically means that violating certain marijuana laws can still result in fines or other penalties but not criminal charges or jail time.”
Okay, so this is my personal opinion on this issue:
There are two issues here. One relates to cannabis and the relates to the bigger problem of having federal laws that conflict with state laws.
When it comes to cannabis, there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that I’m aware of that makes it any more dangerous than alcohol. When you combine that with the fact that 91% of Americans believe cannabis should be legalized it’s obvious that should happen. If Congress fails to pass this bill it will be the one-millionth example of representative democracy failing the people.
If politicians refuse to do what the people want then we have to take the power away from them.
I’ve created a listing on the ODD platform so that we can develop ideas about how we can improve the MORE ACT. You can add your own ideas or vote and comment on ideas from other people. You can also create your own listings for people to vote on. It’s a simple way to get used to using the ODD system.
So that’s the summary of the key issues.
If you could vote directly on the MORE ACT, would you vote for it or against it?
