Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) has a few words to say to the AG

[RainDog]

[pacalo]

1. Recommended; now kicking.

[DeSwiss]

2. Steve's the real deal!

- K&R

[SamKnause]

3. Cannabis

Truth has such a beautiful ring to it.

It is a rarity.

We are tired of the charade.

[DefenseLawyer]

4. This is what it takes

Not just politicians, but people from all walks of life standing up publicly to say "enough is enough".

[RainDog]

5. exactly

We have some good people in the House who are trying to stop this bullshit.

Not only do 52% of Americans want full legality - 74% are in favor of legalized medical use.

Democratic Party platforms in various states included cannabis legalization in their platforms this last election cycle.

People don't think it's funny when Obama makes a joke about cannabis at a Press Dinner when he's content to let people go to jail over the issue.

[msongs]

6. The AG can remove cannabis from drug lists administratively w/out congress -->

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Removal_of_cannabis_from_Schedule_I_of_the_Controlled_Substances_Act#Rulemaking_proceedings

part way down the page under the heading : "Process"

[nlkennedy]

7. Wow!!

Hell yeah!

Easily the biggest glaring problem facing the United States today!

Private prisons love this shit.

[DebJ]

8. Uh, it is Congress Duty to change the law that the AG

is required to enforce, is it not?

He should be giving his diatribe to Congress, not Holder.

[RainDog]

10. There are 3 bills in Congress that relate to cannabis decriminalization

Two from Democrats and one from Republicans (this one covers hemp, which is not psychotropic at all, but is also illegal b/c.. well, people have different views of why, including DuPont not wanting competition for their new synthetic back in the day, but also b/c of the overreach of prohibition in general.)

So, Congress is already trying to deal with this.

But, in fact, the Attn Gen. has the power to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, which would decriminalize it.

Cohen is also talking about the raids on state-legal growers and facilities. Although, in general, the feds have gone after dispensaries in CA that are not in zoning compliance, etc., they have also gone after growers who are following the law and even have sheriffs who monitor that every plant on the premise has been contracted for a patient.

In Montana, a state rep. was threatened with various forms of harassment for her support of legal medical mj.

People who want to create legitimate businesses are threatened via the IRS - and their landlords have been threatened, too.

In CA, people who work in govt. offices were threatened if they complied with state law.

The OVERWHELMING majority of arrests related to marijuana is for possession. Yet we waste millions of dollars every year on these arrests. If the AG would follow the advice of Richard Nixon's DEA-appointed counsel whose committee recommended decriminalization 40 YEARS AGO (which is what Cohen is talking about) we could save a lot of money that now goes to put people in prison for doing something safer than taking an aspirin (Nixon's guy said the same.)

Since Obama was part of the Choom gang, it's sort of ridiculous for him and Holder, etc. to pretend that current law makes any sense at all, especially when the application of the law is racist and continues what Michelle Alexander calls "The New Jim Crow."

So, yeah, Congress can and should do something.

But, since an overwhelming number of Democrats favor decriminalization, it would make sense that Obama's Justice Dept. would stop this police state action that came about b/c Richard fucking Nixon hated the anti-war movement.

[RainDog]

11. here ya go

http://www.democraticunderground.com/117069

...how the Attn Gen, Congress or the DEA could reschedule cannabis.

[DebJ]

13. Thanks.

Guess what? I could have just asked my daughter. She is a DEA agent, LOL.
But she has never done anything with MJ, except when that has been intercepted
as part of a different drug bust. A lot of meth work; she just helped complete
a big case that made the news and is in the court with it today. Also coke.
Never mentioned MJ and she has been there about a decade now.

[RainDog]

14. Most arrests for possession are by local law enforcement

but they receive money for this work from federal funds. Approx. 800,000 people per year are arrested for simple possession.

NYC's stop and frisk policy was targeting minorities. Cuomo tried to stop some of this, and these arrests have decreased somewhat, or so I read. Chicago is also notorious for this...what the police officers do is stop someone, for no reason at all, tell them to empty their pockets, and if they have even a small amount of cannabis, they are taken to the police station and put through booking, etc. We all know this would not happen to rich people... just wouldn't happen.

The law is applied based upon class and status...and often race.

If cannabis were decriminalized, states could decide their own laws on the issue. Those states that would choose to maintain prohibition would miss out on the economic boost of the introduction of a new industry...and I don't just mean recreational use of marijuana - but also eco-friendly hemp production.

We could stop cutting down trees that, for instance, help to cool the earth and, instead, use hemp for every product for which we currently use timber.

Obviously there are industries not in favor of competition from a product that grows quickly, requires few pesticides, and has a very positive public perception.

I'm glad your daughter is working to interrupt meth production. Personally, I think illegal drugs should all be decriminalized - not because I favor their use - I don't - at all. But I would prefer to treat addicts as patients rather than criminals. If org crime couldn't make big money on these illegal products, they'd have to find some other way to break the law.

[DefenseLawyer]

15. It's a violation of federal law to possess a single joint

Yet, except for people on federal land, no one is prosecuted in federal court for simple possession. The justice department chooses not to enforce federal law every day.

[90-percent]

9. 55,000 dead Mexicans

This # sticks with me as a dramatic measure of the human suffering and death American drug laws have inflicted on so many families.

How many pro-decriminalize politicians use this in their arguments? It's pretty damn callous not to, as this is perhaps 5,000 more souls than are engraved on the DC Viet Nam Memorial!

Our stupid pot prohibition laws are like curing dandruff by decapitation, as Frank Zappa would say.

-90% Jimmy

[RainDog]

12. A lot of people want the US to halt the global war on drugs

which is also a war on indigenous people, often.

from 2011 - http://www.democraticunderground.com/117052