DC legalizing marijuana in defiance of Congress, GOP Reps threaten

[K1052]

In an interview with The Washington Post, Chaffetz went further. He said that if Bowser and city officials are “under any illusion that this would be legal, they are wrong. And there are very severe consequences for violating this provision. You can go to prison for this. We’re not playing a little game here.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/house-republicans-warn-dc-mayor-not-to-legalize-pot/2015/02/25/2f784a10-bcb0-11e4-bdfa-b8e8f594e6ee_story.html

And the social conservatives strike yet again...on an issue that is routinely being approved almost everywhere it's going on the ballot. I mean even Alaska has it now.

 

[dank69]

The party of small government at work.

 

[Genx87]

The party of small government at work.

Hahaha yup

 

[Jhhnn]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/house-republicans-warn-dc-mayor-not-to-legalize-pot/2015/02/25/2f784a10-bcb0-11e4-bdfa-b8e8f594e6ee_story.html

And the social conservatives strike yet again...on an issue that is routinely being approved almost everywhere it's going on the ballot. I mean even Alaska has it now.

Chaffetz merely panders to his perceived voting base. As the article points out, Congress has 30 days to reject DC voter initiatives before they automatically become law. Spending provisions aside, Congress has not done that. To do so would be openly anti-democratic and anti- states rights. It'd leave the party of freedom, liberty & personal responsibility in a serious words vs deeds quandry.

So they try to get what they want by sidestepping that w/ spending restrictions, as if not busting people costs money. The proposition is absurd. The naked hypocrisy remains for those who care to see it.

From there, it moves on to empty threats against DC officials doing their jobs pro forma, by the book. It's shameless & lawless bullying in pursuit of an authoritarian agenda Repubs want to keep hidden.

Anybody who can't see through it needs to have their head examined.

 

[Bitek]

I think we can all agree, screw Congress.

 

[Fern]

I'm glad DC is moving ahead.

I don't really understand the legal technicalities that are in play. But from what I understand the Repubs, other than a few like Chaffetz, aren't going to do anything. So, seems like a fuss about nothing.

2 oz's are now legal? Cool.

Fern

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Ahh the party of State's Rights!!!! But I guess they get by on a technicality in this instance.

 

[Sonikku]

Thanks, Obama.

 

[Ns1]

this is great, marijuana is somewhat legal in the city that houses the same lawmakers that call marijuana a schedule I drug.

 

[master_shake_]

the gop is too old to get it i guess.

i mean cmon it's been 60ish years and the ban will not and can not work.

 

[Jhhnn]

I'm glad DC is moving ahead.

I don't really understand the legal technicalities that are in play. But from what I understand the Repubs, other than a few like Chaffetz, aren't going to do anything. So, seems like a fuss about nothing.

2 oz's are now legal? Cool.

Fern

The law is pretty straight forward. Repub tail wagging, a la Dogbert, remains complex & wide ranging. Epic blather & obfuscation rule. They're caught in a bind between their own dishonest rhetoric & their political opponents actually implementing it.

They're fukololo, out maneuvered by the will of the people & the Obama Admin. What's left is Chaffetz et al engaging in base pandering, the rest trying to slip off the hook.

http://reason.com/archives/2014/11/17/can-congress-kill-cannabis-in-the-capita

Here's Ted Cruz engaging in astounding doublespeak-

Ted Cruz called the administration’s stance “fundamentally dangerous to the liberty of the people.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/dc-marijuana-republicans-113489.html#ixzz3SoJIQMIh

 

[unokitty]

If Congress wants to shut down Homeland Security, I'm okay with that...

If they want to shut down the DEA and defund the war on drugs, I'm okay with that as well...

Pity, that the White House lacks leadership when it comes to legalizing marijuana....

Uno

 

[nickqt]

If Congress wants to shut down Homeland Security, I'm okay with that...

If they want to shut down the DEA and defund the war on drugs, I'm okay with that as well...

Pity, that the White House lacks leadership when it comes to legalizing marijuana....

Uno

Ah, Leadership™.

When Obama doesn't outright say something, he's lacking in it.

When Obama says something outright about something, he's Emperor/Messiah Obama.

Which branch of gub'mint writes and repeals laws? The Leadership™ branch?

 

[Jhhnn]

If Congress wants to shut down Homeland Security, I'm okay with that...

If they want to shut down the DEA and defund the war on drugs, I'm okay with that as well...

Pity, that the White House lacks leadership when it comes to legalizing marijuana....

Uno

Amusing. It'd be sooo convenient to blame Obama for legalization, wouldn't it?

Which isn't to deny his pivotal role at all, or the shrewd political savvy driving it. He made it not about him at all even as he stuffed the DEA and conservatives entirely. It's about the will of the people & the willingness of our representatives to serve that will.

The movement didn't need a leader, we just needed a little help from the top, which he has given us in no uncertain terms. He allowed us the opportunity to reveal the truth about cannabis in a legal environment, the opportunity to supplant fear with facts.

It's all we've ever needed. We'll take it from here. Expect retail cannabis in DC. Expect a wave of state legalization in 2016. Conservatives need to move over a little, make some room for cannabis users eager to be on the right side of the law & pay taxes for the privilege of being there. Considering the facts, it's the only decent thing to do.

 

[Kadarin]

Ah, Leadership™.

When Obama doesn't outright say something, he's lacking in it.

When Obama says something outright about something, he's Emperor/Messiah Obama.

Which branch of gub'mint writes and repeals laws? The Leadership™ branch?

Ha. Whatever Obama is, "leader" isn't one of those things.

 

[unokitty]

Rolling Stone: Obama's War on Pot

In a shocking about-face, the administration has launched a government-wide crackdown on medical marijuana...

... over the past year, the Obama administration has quietly unleashed a multi*agency crackdown on medical cannabis that goes far beyond anything undertaken by George W. Bush. The feds are busting growers who operate in full compliance with state laws, vowing to seize the property of anyone who dares to even rent to legal pot dispensaries, and threatening to imprison state employees responsible for regulating medical marijuana. With more than 100 raids on pot dispensaries during his first three years, Obama is now on pace to exceed Bush's record for medical-marijuana busts. "There's no question that Obama's the worst president on medical marijuana," says Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. "He's gone from first to worst."

The federal crackdown imperils the medical care of the estimated 730,000 patients nationwide – many of them seriously ill or dying – who rely on state-sanctioned marijuana recommended by their doctors...

According to Rolling Stone, Obama is on pace to bust more medical marijuana growing operations than George Bush...

Idolize Obama if you want, I just think that he is missing a tremendous opportunity. All it would take to stop this foolishness is a letter from Obama to the DOJ telling them to lower the priority of marijuana related busts...

Then again, perhaps he feels that it is 'politically expedient' to not alienate all of those Federal Drug Warriors that contributed money to his reelection campaign...

Uno

 

[Fern]

-snip-
Idolize Obama if you want, I just think that he is missing a tremendous opportunity. All it would take to stop this foolishness is a letter from Obama to the DOJ telling them to lower the priority of marijuana related busts...

I keep reading the law permits his administration (specifically the AG/Holder) to reschedule it.

Fern

 

[K1052]

I keep reading the law permits his administration (specifically the AG/Holder) to reschedule it.

Fern

Some stuff needs to happen between the FDA and HHS as I recall before an AG can technically reschedule I think. Though this is within the realm of possibility before Obama's presidency is done but I sort of suspect he's saving this political grenade until enough GOP electeds/candidates are within range to be damaged by it in 2016. A number of states will have it on the ballot and coupling the Dems to an increasingly popular issue will likely be helpful.

 

[Jhhnn]

Rolling Stone: Obama's War on Pot
According to Rolling Stone, Obama is on pace to bust more medical marijuana growing operations than George Bush...

Idolize Obama if you want, I just think that he is missing a tremendous opportunity. All it would take to stop this foolishness is a letter from Obama to the DOJ telling them to lower the priority of marijuana related busts...

Then again, perhaps he feels that it is 'politically expedient' to not alienate all of those Federal Drug Warriors that contributed money to his reelection campaign...

Uno

So lame. Notice the date. Very much the same thing was done wrt immigration, as well. First, a crackdown just to show folks what they're asking for, followed by reversal to saner policy.

Federal participation in raids against state legal operations have ceased since the issuance of this memo-

http://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/resources/3052013829132756857467.pdf

Dated Aug 29, 2013.

 

[Jhhnn]

Some stuff needs to happen between the FDA and HHS as I recall before an AG can technically reschedule I think. Though this is within the realm of possibility before Obama's presidency is done but I sort of suspect he's saving this political grenade until enough GOP electeds/candidates are within range to be damaged by it in 2016. A number of states will have it on the ballot and coupling the Dems to an increasingly popular issue will likely be helpful.

Lots of stuff needs to be done that semi autonomous federal agencies simply won't do. They've supported the drug war every inch of the way.

So Obama puts it on the States & on Congress who'll have a helluva problem when cannabis becomes available OTC in the nation's capital.

I'm kinda gettin' a little chubby just thinking of it. It won't be the kind of fuckin' that right wing authoritarians have been putting on cannabis users for decades, but it'll feel good anyway. It's not like Congress will get robbed, shot, beaten, imprisoned or killed even if they deserve it.

 

[Meghan54]

Rolling Stone: Obama's War on Pot
According to Rolling Stone, Obama is on pace to bust more medical marijuana growing operations than George Bush...

Idolize Obama if you want, I just think that he is missing a tremendous opportunity. All it would take to stop this foolishness is a letter from Obama to the DOJ telling them to lower the priority of marijuana related busts...

Then again, perhaps he feels that it is 'politically expedient' to not alienate all of those Federal Drug Warriors that contributed money to his reelection campaign...

Uno

Uno, I'd personally think you'd want to post something a little more current instead of a 3 year old article that's been sorta overridden by other actions later in time, as already posted.

 

[Victorian Gray]

So lame. Notice the date. Very much the same thing was done wrt immigration, as well. First, a crackdown just to show folks what they're asking for, followed by reversal to saner policy.

Federal participation in raids against state legal operations have ceased since the issuance of this memo-

http://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/resources/3052013829132756857467.pdf

Dated Aug 29, 2013.

Apparently not everyone has been given the memo

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/03/harborside-melinda-haag-appeal_n_6608768.html

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/201...federal-war-oakland-harborside-pot-dispensary

 

[Mxylplyx]

I think the Republican establishment knows they should get out of the way of this issue because it's inevitable where it's going, but the old codgers that vote for them wont let them. Must suck to be a Republican politician and be forced to constantly make a stand on losing positions just so they can say they did.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Who cares what the people want and overwhelming voted for. The Republicans know best.

 

[Fern]

Who cares what the people want and overwhelming voted for. The Republicans know best.

Ummm... I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure the way DC was specifically set up by the FFs was that they didn't have representation. DC was put under the direct control of Congress (of they which they have none). I.e., it was intentionally set up so their votes didn't matter.

In any case, DC is gonna have legal pot and Congress won't do jack about it (my prediction anyway).

Fern