
Inside the Trump Administration’s Secret War on Weed - theslurmmustflo
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/dominicholden/trump-secret-committee-anti-marijuana
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ianai
At this point, if you’re illegalizing drugs then you’re propping up the
murderous drug cartels and industry of the world. Either legalize it and offer
sane societal programs for health and addiction or sanction tyranny.

~~~
koolba
Maybe for marijuana but the societal effects of legalizing something like
heroin wouldn’t be so clear cut.

I personally don’t want to live in a society with legalized recreational
opioids and programs like needle sharing are (IMHO) part of the slippery slope
towards the normalization of that degenerate behavior.

EDIT: I meant to type “injection sites”.

~~~
Someone1234
> programs like needle sharing

What? Did you mean needle exchanges? Needle sharing is the problem, needle
exchanges help take dirty needles off the street, and reduce the spread of
blood diseases like HIV.

> normalization of that degenerate behavior

Why should your morality define what other people can do with their bodies?

Ultimately it is about a constructive approach forward instead of a
destructive one. Putting people who use illicit substances in tiny cells and
making it near impossible to find employment after they do their time is
destructive. Using that money on treatment and addiction programs and letting
people who are clean find jobs is constructive.

~~~
koolba
No I meant injection sites.

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tsomctl
> Departments were told to “identify marijuana threats; issues created by
> state marijuana initiatives; and consequences of use, production, and
> trafficking on national health, safety, and security.”

As a resident of a county that produces a huge amount of weed, the biggest
problems are due to it being illegal. Mexican cartels growing it in USFS land,
long list of missing people that were reportedly working at a grow scene,
random shallow graves discovered in the woods, polluted rivers that we can't
swim in, major pesticide usage.

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lev99
The article describes the desire for a media campaign against cannabis more
than a war.

It's okay if the goverment makes statements about cannabis in a negative
light. DOT talks about the dangers of driving. CDC talks about the dangers of
vaping. The truth is cannabis isn't 100% harmless, and it's probably a good
thing if our society has someone looking into the risks of this large social
change we made.

~~~
coopr
While it is OK for the government to make statements that portray things in a
positive or negative light, it is not OK for them to do so in the absense of
supporting evidence, or worse yet, in the presence of evidence to the
contrary. The former is, charitably, called "marketing" \- but the latter is
more commonly known as "lying".

~~~
lev99
The Trump Administration has taken one of the most liberal positions on
cannabis of any Republican president ever.

His stated positions on supporting states with medical laws, and his complete
absence of federal raids on people following state cannabis laws, is very good
for a republican president.

~~~
scarface74
And his stated positions are in opposition from what his attorney general -
the person responsible for enforcing laws - has said.

~~~
creaghpatr
If it's not obvious yet, the President disagrees with the AG very publicly on
multiple issues, the question is will the next AG take the same stance?

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quotemstr
One of the marks of a mature mind is being able to say "Thing X is bad, but
any attempt to reduce X will cause more harm than X, so the practical and
ethical thing to do is nothing."

X is sometimes a drug one might like to ban, but it's also frequently a
technical practice or a company culture issue. The desire to fix everything
ends up causing a lot of misery.

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castlecrasher2
Is it much of a secret when Sessions claims it's "only slightly less awful"
than heroin? I'm personally a drug-free conservative but that's bupkis.

~~~
creaghpatr
Jeff Sessions is probably gonna be gone before the end of the year if it's any
consolation

~~~
LyndsySimon
I really hope so. I think it's likely, but Trump is unpredictable.

I'm an extreme libertarian (anarcho-capitalist/voluntaryist), and much of what
Trump said on the campaign trail was spot on. the biggest problem I have with
him is that he often makes very strong statements, then goes on to directly
contradict them. From my perspective, he's either completely unconcerned about
keeping his promises or he changes his mind so frequently that there's no
practical difference.

Trump repeatedly promised to support medical usage in particular, which would
mean removing cannabis from Schedule 1. The DEA failed to do so.

His appointment of Jeff Sessions was a huge blow to a lot of issues that I
(and many others) feel strongly about and that Trump had vocally supported.
Marijuana policy included.

For what it's worth, I don't think it'll substantially hurt his re-election
chances. My social circles are pretty much Trump's core constituency, and for
them, his SCOTUS picks were the core issue. So far, both Gorsuch and Kavanaugh
have been pretty much exactly what he promised. Granted, only time will tell
if they stay the course that they've set, but they remain originalists during
their tenure as Justices, but so far that's been the case with Gorsuch. As
long as the Senate confirms Kavanaugh and neither of them "pull a Kennedy" and
move to the left after being seated, I can't think of anything off the top of
my head that would cause people to stay home on Election Day, much less vote
against him.

Hopefully this "Marijuana Policy Coordination Committee" will go the way of
his "Second Amendment Coalition". The SAC was comprised of all the right
people from my side of the issue, and Trump was outspoken about his support of
repealing restrictions - but the SAC itself quietly faded away, and even the
press release was removed from his site last May.

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seorphates
I found it distasteful to even click it and I definitely can't stomach a full
read.

It's extraordinary to me how we so willingly accept policy that directly and
negatively affects so, so many facets of society and economy.

You want to maintain all the effects of growth, profits and budgets of a drug
war economy? If so then you're a fucking idiot.

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outsidetheparty
So much public policy seems to be based on “start with the conclusion you
want, then look for some evidence to support it”

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basic1
It may be the lesser of two evils, but weed is not a good thing.

~~~
scarface74
I agree. But taking away a tool from the “justice” system to be used to target
the poor and minorities is a good thing.

