Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday called on the federal government to move “as quickly as possible” to change the way it officially classifies marijuana, saying that “nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed.”

“I cannot emphasize enough that they need to get to it as quickly as possible,” Harris said. “We need to have a resolution based on their findings and their assessment. This issue is stark when one considers the fact that on the schedule currently, marijuana is considered as dangerous as heroin ― as dangerous as heroin ― and more dangerous than fentanyl, which is absurd, not to mention patently unfair.”

Marijuana is currently listed as a Schedule 1 drug by the Drug Enforcement Administration. That classification designates it one of the most dangerous drugs possible, with no medicinal uses. Other substances in the same category include heroin, ecstasy and LSD. Marijuana advocates have been pushing for years for the federal government to either reschedule marijuana to a different category or deschedule it entirely.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Which is the exact danger of running neoliberals that only care about being elected.

    The only thing making this “how shit goes” is both parties get money from the same donors who don’t want anything fixed.

    It’s not like how the sun sets everyday and there’s nothing we can do.

    So telling people “that’s the way she goes” isn’t helping and is only hurting turnout.

    • zigmus64@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Ok… so how do we run people genuinely interested in fixing it? How do we make this not how shit goes? I can’t argue that it’s really disheartening, but the idea that any party is going to run anyone primarily interested in anything other than getting reelected is absurd. The National Committees for each party would never give them a platform. Running third party is suicide here.

      The real change that needs to happen is election reform to provide more transparent campaign financing and moving away from a First Past the Post voting system. That’s how you get people in who can actually fix the issues we have in a constructive and positive manner. It won’t be perfect but it would be helpful. Then we’d have a flourishing of different political parties emerge and voters would have actual choice.

      “That’s the way she goes” shouldn’t hurt turnout. The reality is we’re facing the single greatest threat to the basic ideals of the American Republican Democracy. Bigger things are afoot than cannabis policy. I’ll take this political grandstanding from the Biden administration 10 times out of 10 than one more day of a Trump administration.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Ok… so how do we run people genuinely interested in fixing it? How do we make this not how shit goes?

        Undo citizens united would be a great first step…

        Something that the majority of Dem voters agree with.

        Without those donations and the obligations they come with, neoliberals would stop winning primary elections, and the ones still in office would stop having a reason to oppose progress.

        I didn’t read anything else you typed after that, because if you didn’t understand that already, I don’t see how anything else you could have said was in any way relevant