Thread: Trump agrees to leave state-legal marijuana programs alone

Weed is a natural plant, been around longer than alcohol and we weren't the first to figure out how to dry it and smoke it. Been around forever.

Originally Posted by Judy

I have no problem with that at all. I support legalization, you know that, I've supported it for over a decade, for all the right reasons. Corey is representing the best interests of the people in his state who in this instance want access to legal pot, medical and recreational. To me, they have every right to that access without federal prohibition. As to Trump's "nominees" versus the right of Americans to legal weed, I stand with the people of those states. Trump should have agreed to it sooner in my book, and satisfied both issues, that of the people of these states and many more to come as moved his nominees forward. At least he came to that realization today and good for him, and good for Corey for figuring out how to get it done. But Corey is not an opponent of Trump, he just had to choose and chose to sotand firm representing the legal voters and citizens of his state.

I realize you're opposed to legalization. I'm sure there were people like you who back in day supported Prohibition and were insensed with the people of this country repealed that amendment and set themselves free. You can't please all the people all the time, but you can please most of the people most of the time in the United States and fortunately, Trump is very good at that, even if sometimes it takes him awhile to get there.

I am thrilled with this news!!

THANK YOU COREY GARDNER!!

THANK YOU PRESIDENT TRUMP!!

Wow, you know what you're supporting, don't you?

It's not okay to threaten the President of the United States with non-support of his administration's nominees in order to force him to acquiesce to your demands to ignore the breaking of federal law! It may not be criminal, but it is certainly morally corrupt. I would have to question the ethics of both individuals involved in such deal making.

What makes this whole situation worse is the fact that the GOP gives Sen. Gardner a complete pass on his extremely unethical behavior. The guy should have been ostracized by every Republic in the U.S. Congress!

MW, Republicans support legalizing weed. Republicans were always going to be the ones to end the War on Drugs. It is our philosophy, of laissez-faire, "leave the people alone". Conservatives are different, they want everyone to do and think and believe what they want, think and believe. Republicans are very different than that, we are very tolerant and freedom-loving. This time, the Republicans won, and rightly so, because now every American win some of their freedom back. What is the point of freedom if you can only do what the government tells you you can do? Government can regulate for safety, government can educate, government can tax, but government can't tell you you can't smoke something you like. I don't like weed, hate the smell and look of it. I prefer cigarettes and coffee. But for those people who like weed for whatever reason, that's fine with me, it's their right. Enjoy whatever makes you happy! Live and let live!

I'm very proud of our President in making this hard decision. He made the right one!!

Originally Posted by Judy

MW, Republicans support legalizing weed. Republicans were always going to be the ones to end the War on Drugs. It is our philosophy, of laissez-faire, "leave the people alone". Conservatives are different, they want everyone to do and think and believe what they want, think and believe. Republicans are very different than that, we are very tolerant and freedom-loving. This time, the Republicans won, and rightly so, because now every American win some of their freedom back. What is the point of freedom if you can only do what the government tells you you can do? Government can regulate for safety, government can educate, government can tax, but government can't tell you you can't smoke something you like. I don't like weed, hate the smell and look of it. I prefer cigarettes and coffee. But for those people who like weed for whatever reason, that's fine with me, it's their right. Enjoy whatever makes you happy! Live and let live!

I'm very proud of our President in making this hard decision. He made the right one!!

I don't mind being in the minority. However, I think you're giving too much credit to a recent Gallup poll that only polled 1,200 people. If the polls were always right Trump wouldn't be the President of the United States today. So what did the latest poll you read say in regards to Republicans supporting the legalization of marijuana. Hmm, I think it was something like 51% for Republicans and 72% for Democrats. Based on that, I'm going to dismiss your comment where you said, "Republicans support legalizing weed. Republicans were always going to be the ones to end the War on Drugs." Furthermore, the majority of Republicans in the U.S. Congress do not support the legalization of marijuana. If they did you would see a big push in the Congress to legalize it and to remove it from the schedule 1 list. The support is not there because of the Republicans!

Hey, I wouldn't exactly hang my hat on a poll of 1,200 when we have 325.7 million people in the country.

Excerpt (dated 03/1:

"While the Democratic Party hasn’t wholly embraced marijuana legalization, the Republican Party is still seen as the larger opposition force to cannabis in the U.S. Congress. And while most of the party does not support marijuana-related proposals, there are certain members of the leadership who wield more power to kill cannabis legalization laws than others."

https://www.civilized.life/articles/republicans-preventing-marijuana-legalization

The Republicans include people like you who are Conservatives.



I'm not relying on the polls, I'm relying on people I know. We disagree on politics, immigration, Trump, some use, some have used but don't use now, some like me have never used, but we all agree it's time to end the War on Weed because the consequences of illegality far outweigh any threats to health or safety. 1.5 million drug arrests per year. 800,000 non-violent drug offenders in prison. 600,000 of them black Americans. It's a race war on drugs and at least legalizing weed will weed out about 70% of that bullshit.

Happy Friday the 13th!!

Trump, Gardner strike deal on legalized marijuana, ending standoff over Justice nominees



Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), seen here in a file photo, had been holding up Justice Department nominees due to a standoff over legalized marijuana with Attorney General Jeff Sessions. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

By Seung Min Kim April 13 at 1:17 PM Email the author

President Trump has promised a top Senate Republican that he will support congressional efforts to protect states that have legalized marijuana — defusing a months-long standoff between Sen. Cory Gardner and the administration over Justice Department nominees.

In January, the Colorado Republican said he would block all DOJ nominations after Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo that heightened the prospect of a federal marijuana crackdown in states that had legalized the substance. Gardner’s home state made recreational marijuana legal in 2014.

In a phone call late Wednesday, Trump told Gardner that despite the DOJ memo, the marijuana industry in Colorado will not be targeted, the senator said in a statement Friday. Satisfied, the first-term senator is now backing down from his nominee blockade.

“Since the campaign, President Trump has consistently supported states’ rights to decide for themselves how best to approach marijuana,” Gardner said Friday. “Late Wednesday, I received a commitment from the President that the Department of Justice’s rescission of the Cole memo will not impact Colorado’s legal marijuana industry.”

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He added: “Furthermore, President Trump has assured me that he will support a federalism-based legislative solution to fix this states’ rights issue once and for all. Because of these commitments, I have informed the Administration that I will be lifting my remaining holds on Department of Justice nominees.”

Gardner, who heads the campaign operation charged with hanging on to the Republicans’ Senate majority, was irate in January when Sessions revoked guidance from the Obama administration, known as the Cole memo, that had discouraged prosecutors from enforcing federal marijuana laws in states that had legalized the drug. Especially infuriating, from Gardner’s perspective, was that Sessions had pledged during his confirmation process for attorney general he would leave states that had legalized marijuana alone, according to the senator.

[‘That’s the model’: Republican Cory Gardner stands up to President Trump]

The January memo from Sessions stated prosecutors should use their discretion in weighing whether charges were warranted, rather than abiding by the Obama-era guidance.

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Trump has held a sharply different view from Sessions on the issue. During the presidential campaign, Trump said in an interview with KUSA-TV in Colorado that he said “it’s up to the states” on the marijuana issue. Trump “does respect Colorado’s right to decide for themselves how to best approach this issue,” White House legislative affairs director Marc Short said in an interview Friday.

Gardner held up about 20 Justice nominees, a significant number considering Senate Republicans and the White House have for months accused Democrats of slowing down consideration of other Trump picks.

“Clearly, we’ve expressed our frustration with the delay with a lot of our nominees and feel that too often, senators hijack a nominee for a policy solution,” Short said. “So we’re reluctant to reward that sort of behavior. But at the same time, we’re anxious to get our team at the Department of Justice.” A bill has not been finalized, but Gardner has been talking quietly with other senators about a legislative fix that would, in effect, make clear the federal government cannot interfere with states that have voted to legalize marijuana.

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“My colleagues and I are continuing to work diligently on a bipartisan legislative solution that can pass Congress and head to the President’s desk to deliver on his campaign position,” Gardner said.

In addition to Gardner’s holds, DOJ has faced notable bipartisan pushback from Capitol Hill when it comes to marijuana.

Sens. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) wrote to Sessions this week, urging him to back off efforts to curtail medical marijuana research at the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Washington Post reported in Augustthat Sessions’s DOJ was effectively hamstringing the agency’s research efforts by making it harder to grow marijuana.

Separately, former House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) announced this week he is joining the board of directors for a cannabis company and engaged in efforts to allow veterans to access marijuana for medicinal use. He has opposed decriminalizing the substance as an elected official.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.c6fd526789a4

Booker introduces bill to legalize marijuana nationwide

This is one time Booker gets something right. Support the bill, all Republicans, stand up for common sense and freedom, fairness and justice, set these people free, regulate if you want, fine, but no bans, no criminalization. End this horrible war on weed and the people who use it now.

Marijuana money increasingly flowing to Republican lawmakers