Weed Is the Sleeper Issue of 2016?

[glasshouses]

Do you guys agree that anyone running in 2016
Has to make a definitive statement on where they stand on this?





http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/04/weed-is-the-sleeper-issue-of-2016/360250/

[NBachers]

1. And hemp farming in every state!

[msongs]

3. there's an idea worth promoting as an economic growth stimulant. the cotton lobby will

not like this though. Nor will textile and clothing importers. who needs a domestic textile industry using home grown hemp anyway

[jmowreader]

13. The cotton lobby may not care one way or the other

Hemp is a linen replacement, not a cotton replacement. It's a good fiber but turning hemp stalks into yarn is far more complex than turning cotton bolls into yarn. Google "retting" and "ginning" sometime.

[Blue_In_AK]

5. I really think Alaska should do hemp,

with the oil prices being down. We need a new source of revenue.

[calimary]

2. Better not let rand paul sink his claws into this one.

That alone could cost us the White House.

[Tsiyu]

4. The last 3 presidents smoked it

( yeah, yeah, insert "inhale" joke here )

so it's a bit late to say cannabis ruins a person's chances to get ahead. Now, the War on Drugs is destroying young people's chances before they even get started in life. Can you imagine getting a felony when you're 18, for frickin POT?

Colorado has proven the wisdom in ending prohibition.

It's time for politicians to stop with the hypocrisy and just make it legal across the board. Who will jump on the issue in 2016? That remains to be seen, as anything can happen between now and then to make some other issue paramount to the campaign..

[Warren DeMontague]

6. Sleeper? Only for those who haven't been paying attention.

Our party needs to get out in front of the momentum towards legalization. It's insane not to.

Unfortunately I don't have a ton of faith in the beltway conventional wisdom nabobs to have any grasp of what exactly is taking place on the ground in this country, particularly west of the Mississippi. Which is why we get party leadership like Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, who in a year when 2 more states voted for full legalization, was staking out the position on pot that we need to put MORE cancer-ridden grannies in prison for smoking a joint.

[dreamnightwind]

7. I am with you

but I fear that the Democratic Party is not.

The only legalization movement I see, politically, is coming from the libertarians, a strange mix of Randian Kochheads and people who value personal liberty but do not value leftist social issues (LGBT, feminism) nor do they value social responsibilty to take care of the needy and disadvantaged.

I always assumed when this time came, the Democrats would be on the side of legalization. Sadly, with a few exceptions, they're more interested in respecting so-called international treaties that may be violated if we change how cannabis is scheduled. I'm sure they'll fix all of this when they fast-track the TPP

If it were up to me, I would have the party use the issue the way Republicans use wedge issues such as abortion, flag-burning, etc., to get their people to come out to the polls. Many people I know are so negative about anyone in politics representing their interests, that they often don't vote (a strategy I don't support, leftists not voting is a good thing in the eyes of the powers that be). Ending cannabis prohibition would be a way to reach a significant portion of those disaffected voters. I'd think it would be a natural cause for Democratic politicians to take up. If there is a movement within the party to change that, let me know and I'll check it out.

[joshcryer]

9. The Democrats led legalization in every state that has done it.

This is a patently dishonest smear against Democrats and undeserving credit for Libertarians. Yes, Libertarians are for it across the board, but you can bet 100% that legalization will be in the 2016 party platform. The delegates will demand it.

[SunSeeker]

14. Thanks for batting that bullsit down.

I am so sick of the Dem maligning and Libertarian propaganda here. Don't have time to answer it every time it's posted. But I am really glad when people do. Particularly when they do it well, like you always do.

[joshcryer]

15. I keep saying it, but the delegates will decide the platform.

And I'll be absolutely shocked if Democrats in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska don't get the basic premise put into the party platform at the DNC conference. They have the votes, easily. It may be one measly paragraph, but the 2016 platform will mention the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana. If it doesn't happen, that'd be an absolute outrage.

To those unaware, the Party Platform is voted upon by delegates to the Convention. They literally vote upon wording and amendments and verbiage in the platform. That's one reason "God" was in the platform in 2012. There were enough delegates to get it put in there. And that is what will happen with marijuana legalization.

[RobinA]

16. My Take

on what dream was saying is that national Democrats have been somewhat missing from this issue. In my opinion because they are too timid to take on something controversial. Note their late arrival to the gay marriage issue. The tide had clearly turned before Obama or Hilary et al. jumped aboard. Once they were sure it wasn't going to be politically dangerous they changed their tune from against to pro.

[Bluenorthwest]

18. But entire States have legalized and that was mostly done by Democrats

Oregon legalized cannabis in the last election with the full support of the Oregon Democratic Party and of elected Democrats holding office and running for reelection. While most of the country napped through November 4, Jeff Merkely endorsed cannabis legalization while defeating his Koch funded challenger by 20% in an election with 70% turnout State wide.
Meanwhile 'libertarians' around here continue to be a small group of people who hold up signs on Tax Day whining about paying less taxes.

[joshcryer]

8. Womens rights, immigration rights, education, and weed.

In that order.

Bank on it.

[madokie]

10. I hope you're right.

[joshcryer]

11. Would shock me if the delegates didn't get it.

They got God put in the 2012 and 2008 platforms (much to the hatred of people who don't appreciate the delegate process), the states that legalized weed will get it in the 2016 platform. It's Democracy after all.

[Vic Tree]

12. Wha?

Oh. Yeah. Righteous!

[TBF]

17. Well it's defnitely an issue -

along with women's reproductive issues, the rights of blacks to exist in society without getting shot, etc ... (ie we've got a lot of nonsense from the republicans to deal with). I think the areas where we've actually made a lot of progress are with gay marriage and weed. Especially in younger crowds folks are determined that folks should love and choose to marry who they want, and at the very least medicinal uses of marijuana are accepted/encouraged by many.

However, income inequality is the overwhelming concern of anyone who wants to win the election in 2016. Someone has to be willing to tell the billionaires that global warming can't continue and neither can this skewed economic system in which they take everything and leave others to starve. The money has to be redistributed one way or another. What we have now is not working.

[CK_John]

19. IMO, the driverless car will be the sleeper issue and I think the Supremes will void

Colorado weed law later this year. Nebraska will win its law suit against Colorado.