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at this point it's not even a young voter issue it's just a voter issue. Polling across pretty much every demographic shows majority support for legalization
Absolutely my first thought reading the title is "I'm not young". Honestly I feel like this is a bigger deal to those of us who existed long before states legalized and at least in my case live/are stuck in states that will never legalize. This is an amazing achievement that hopefully sets the government on a course to legalization (only 10 more Democrat presidents in a row for that).
I turn 51 tomorrow - and as someone who first tried weed 2 years ago, I think it's ridiculous that there are places where you get thrown in jail for it.
Even when I never tried weed, it's awful how people have been jailed for years and had lives destroyed because of a drug that everyone agrees shows little harm; the worst you can say about it is "don't drive or operate heavy machinery."
As as an older person, I'm glad they're moving ahead to stop the pointless prosecution of people over what they enjoy. It was a policy born out of racism and hate, and hopefully we can finally end it and give people their lives back.
My one HS friend is a huge MAGA guy I tried to have a conversation with him and pointed out many of the MAGA policies are against his best interest. Like he is part of the electricians union in Philly, his wife is an immigrant, he is a huge pot smoker. Literally makes no sense to me and he couldn't even really give a point to support them.
Can we get a President in their 50’s or something for the next election? I’m tired of deciding who gets to hold the remote and have the extra pudding cup for the next 4 years.
just let him know youre starting to see him as a fake ass person with no real mind of his own and you dont want those type of toxic people in close proximity to you.
you know in a nice way.
I am not as close to him as I was before, he really grew apart from the friend group during COVID and went further down the MAGA hole and became anti covid vaccine. So we didn't invite him to get togethers as things opened back up cause he wasnt vaxxed neither were his kids.
Proving once again that this is just a team sport to a lot of people. It's fun to question MAGA types on policy questions. They can only stare at you confused because they don't even know where to start.
The dems in Virginia legalized weed and the voters rewarded them by giving republicans the governorship. As much as this *should* be a win for the dems, there’s no guarantee.
Pot isn't quite strong enough to drive single-issue-votes the way abortion and guns are, but it was gobsmacking the number of people who blamed the Dems for not doing enough instead of the GOP for doing all they could to repeal (they didn't have the votes for repeal) what the Dems had done. Stop blaming your friends and allies, get out and support (vote for) them and go after the actual opponents. The VA GOP has been crystal clear they will do everything in their power to block further reforms.
This isn't much of a win. Biden promised on the campaign that he would decriminalize weed, and this doesn't even do that. Its not like we've got a lot of options about who to vote for, but I'm a bit upset that democrats can't even follow through on basic decriminalization.
Most people interested in legalizing weed will correctly note that democrats had their chance with unified control between 2020-2022 (and what did they do? stall. Schumer said a bill was coming from Jan 2021 until it was eventually introduced after democrats lost the majority in March of 2023)
I'm just saying, this isn't a massive win. it does quite literally nothing to change my situation or affect me in any way being in an illegal state. I imagine quite a few others may feel very jaded, like me, that after a promise to decriminalize we get barely a move to schedule 3...
It’s going to be a huge cost cutter for dispensaries and open up the possibility for research that will eventually allow for decriminalization. Progress is always too slow, but this IS progress.
Biden is only choosing popular positions on issues that voters care about so that they will vote for him.
Instead he should call states' secretaries of election and ask them to find exactly enough votes for him to win. As the founding fathers envisioned.
I sure hope a lot of people under 40 do again. The amount of propaganda being thrown in their faces is insane though. I've basically barely paid attention because it's just so much noise and obvious to me who the better (and good) candidate is. It's Biden and it's not even close. All the social media propaganda is working overtime to muddy this though.
Its not about the lesser of two evils anymore, you guys need to wake up. We're done with the corporate first politicians and arent going to extend the status quo because you refused to give us a better option.
Change the ticket or lose, its your choice and the consequences are on you not listening to us about your weak candidate and lack of understanding the details of the headlines. $600 billion going straight t private equity firms to build for-profit corporate run trains instead of government agencies is not "infrastructure" and its unacceptable to call it that.
You're losing progressives and people under 40 because the DNC isn't delivering, making us go directly to the polls to win back rights they lost us, while forcing a bad candidate on us.
We're not the problem. The DNC refusing to understand *it* is the problem is the problem.
This attitude is the problem right here. You think that by not voting, they’ll notice you. That isn’t how it works. They only notice voters. Show up en masse and everyone will pay attention. Don’t show up and no one will care about you or what you want. Non-voters are non-people.
Braindead take.
Biden has passed an incredible amount of GOOD legislation with a tiny house majority the first two years and a dead lock Senate. Now the house has a Republican majority and the Senate is once again tied, with Kamala as the tie breaking vote. It's nearly impossible to pass anything progressive with the GOP obstruction. Not to mention the Supreme Court that's actively stripping rights away.
We literally CANT get anything more progressive in this election cycle. If the Dems sweep the house and Senate next term (unlikely!) AND Biden remains in office, we may have a chance for some more progressive legislation. If any of those things don't happen (very likely!) we're at best case scenario, status quo, and worst case scenario, full on dictatorship and will never vote again.
But "oh no Biden didn't deliver on every single campaign promise and then some! Let's let the fascists win to show em who's boss!" Give me a fucking break.
>Braindead take.
It's not.
>"oh no Biden didn't deliver on every single campaign promise and then some! Let's let the fascists win to show em who's boss!"
If you look at his drilling permits, union busting, [environmental decisions](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/02/youth-climate-lawsuit-juliana-appeals-court), and funding of [genocide](https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/gaza-textbook-genocide/), he's done worse than break campaign promises. Not to mention [his culpability when it comes to the war on drugs in the first place](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/4/25/18282870/joe-biden-criminal-justice-war-on-drugs-mass-incarceration).
Union busting? Give me a break. He's the most pro-labor, union friendly president we've had since FDR.
Drilling permits were mostly backlogged from land leased under Trump. Maybe he could have denied them, but this was during the height of COVID and the economy runs on oil so I'm not terribly surprised he approved them.
Let's not forget that he also paused federal land leasing for new oil drilling permits. Since those approvals during his first two years, there has been a sharp decline. He's got the lowest amount of new federal land leased for oil ever.
Oh and remember Build Back Better and the Inflation Reduction Act? That granted billions of dollars for renewable energy and environmental restoration, and resulted in hundreds of billions in clean energy investments? The single biggest piece of climate legislation ever passed in this country?
100% agree that he should strip funding to Israel but it's never going to happen. At the very least he's giving Gaza billions in aid.
But yeah instead of all that we should let the guy who is ANTI union, ANTI climate change legislation, and would not only cut aid to Gaza but help Israel in whatever we he can ("get it done quickly"), get elected. Yup, great idea. Fantastic. No notes.
A union friendly president wouldn't degrade collective bargaining power via congressional bill.
Many of the drilling permits could've been rescinded, his administration has now approved more than trump's, and economic concerns have little meaning in the face of impending climate catastrophe.
BBB has potential but contains mostly corporate based solutions to multi-government size problems. It is also weak sauce compared to the original green new deal that was promised.
From the unsubstantiated claims that led to defunding UNRWA and starvation, use of executive order to ensure the further funding of genocide, rigidity in the face of criticism from voters he's supposedly courting, or a [history of zealot support for zionism](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldevents/comments/1agji32/biden_sanctions_israeli_settlers_accused_of/koibmcb/), Biden's positions are unjustifiably amoral.
>But yeah instead of all that we should let the guy who is ANTI union, ANTI climate change legislation,
No doubt on most matters he's better, but Biden's actions are really testing the lesser of two evils argument. Enabling monsters tends to do that.
Translation: I don't give a shit about the people who will suffer under another Trump presidency because I'm selfish and self centred and care more about my personal feelings of moral purity/superiority than women, the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, and many more.
A lot of people have long since made good points but I really would like to add that you need to go on a 'google journey' and read for yourself the things Biden has done. Make sure you're logged out, cookies cleared and all that so you don't get the biased search results the big corporations want you to see but the actual ones.
Biden is the most progressive President we've had since LBJ (Civil Rights Movement). I'd be surprised if you could name anything about why that is true. Based on your comment of the trains, I think you have extremely unrealistic expectations for what an American progressive is.
Are you aware of any of the crazy bad stuff Trump has said and done this week? I'm not just being facetious, I am actually asking. The reason I ask is because so much of the noise online is 'Biden bad' and not 'Trump dangerous'. On and on and on about the things Biden isn't doing (even if he can't do anything about them) and barely a peep about the absolutely insane shit Trump is saying.
I say this all as a Progressive. As a progressive who didn't vote for Hillary in 2016 and would still not vote for her, the Biden Admin *has* listened and made a strong left turn. There is still a lot to do but a lot of it is being worked on by Biden. I mean, just yesterday the DEA or w/e finally announced they were going to reclassify weed. Good shit takes years to get done, especially when the hateful establishment is in the way.
Doing nothing changes nothing.
Citations needed.
The US has vetoed UN ceasefire resolutions 3x. They just recently pushed their own resolution which studies a ceasefire, but does not explicitly call for a ceasefire; it was vetoed for doing nothing of value.
[https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-us-vote-gaza-ceasefire-resolution-f6453803b3eacc9fbaa2ce5a025e2a94#:\~:text=The%20U.S.%20has%20vetoed%20three,20](https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-us-vote-gaza-ceasefire-resolution-f6453803b3eacc9fbaa2ce5a025e2a94#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20has%20vetoed%20three,20)
>A key issue was the unusual language that said the Security Council “determines the imperative of an immediate and sustained cease-fire.” The phrasing was not a straightforward “demand” or “call” to halt hostilities.
Then of course there's the military aid that Biden has gone around Congress to provide to Israel, providing them with bombs and ammunition to continue their siege on Gaza, and the recent HUGE military aid package that Congress and the Biden admin just passed.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
But alas... I just haven't been paying attention I guess.
Don't let my simple blunt single word comment confuse you. Consider it a TLDR that's based heavily on 7 months of factual events. You want people to show up... then Biden needs to call for an immediate ceasefire.
Although, given the 35k+ civilian deaths, 70k+ civilian injuries, 100's of thousands of destroyed homes, and millions of civilians displaced and forced into a famine... some minds won't be changed on whether Biden will get their vote. Anything he does will be too little too late. People will refuse to put pen to paper to vote for a president that helped enable a genocide.
Have you ever considered all those student protesters... people whose lives involve studying night and day, may have studied this situation and may have come to a valid conclusion that lead to their choice to protest and withhold their votes?
I know, I know... the only possible explanation is that they're all ignorant simple minded troublemakers... 🙄
[https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/21/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-passover/](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/21/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-passover/)
>My Administration is working around the clock to free the hostages, and we will not rest until we bring them home. We are also working to establish an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza as a part of a deal that releases the hostages and delivers desperately needed humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians. We will continue to work toward a two-state solution that provides equal security, prosperity, and enduring peace for Israelis and Palestinians. And we are leading international efforts to ensure Israel can defend itself against Iran and its proxies, including by directing the U.S. military to help defend Israel against Iran’s unprecedented attacks last weekend.
\----
You seem to think I don't support the protesters. I do. Netanyahu is an enemy of peace and his administration is a blight upon Jews everywhere (such as myself). I've no doubt that his government wishes harm upon the civilians in Gaza even as it continues to illegally seize land in the West Bank and continue the apartheid status of Israel.
Where I take issue is with your seemingly misplaced belief that refusing to vote for Biden will get any more favorable result than voting for him. At best it will do nothing, and at worse it will get Trump elected, who will gladly turn all of Gaza to glass. Don't be foolish. Politicians listen to voters and do not care one whit about non-voters.
So your response is a 'statement'? Not an action.
If you're always willing to give a politician your vote, then they have no obligation to listen to a single fucking word you have to say. It would be wise to remember that.
Blindly believing statements rather than actions... I mean I am curious how that don't just make you a pushover. Statements, while providing weapons. Statements while providing funding. Statements while going after protestors who are demanding their universities cut funding to Israel and demand a ceasefire.
A lot of traditional Democratic voters are demanding a call for a ceasefire. I still don't see one, do you? This is a politician actively ignoring his constituency.
Again, if you're going to vote for a politician no matter what, they have no reason to listen to a word you have to say.
You’re got voting backwards. Politicians only listen to voters. They don’t listen to abstainers at all. Ask yourself why it is that the people who have the most experience living with the consequences of voting vs not voting are also the most reliable voters.
How so?
It's been mentioned that Hamas was willing to make a deal for a complete end of the war in exchange for releasing prisoners months ago. Israel rejected that.
It's also been stated that the US government has taken issue with Israel's failure to negotiate...
Seems the ball's been in Israel's and Washington's court for some time now. Why the media hasn't been shouting that from the rooftops is another story entirely.
BTW, why would it be in Hamas' court anyways? The \~35,000 innocent civilians murdered in Gaza by Israel aren't Hamas members. The 70k+ injured / maimed aren't Hamas. The hundreds of thousands that had their homes destroyed aren't Hamas. The millions who have been displaced and have been forced to deal with a famine... aren't Hamas.
People's decision to not vote for Biden has nothing to do with dealing with Hamas. It has to do with the atrocity being committed against innocent Palestinian civilians.
The main criticism liberals have had with voting for Biden is that he's helped enable a genocide and refuses to do anything to stop it. Sorry, but legalization of weed... something that's legal in most states anyways, won't convince people that are refusing to vote for Biden over this ongoing human atrocity.
It’s naive to think Biden didn’t realize the review would take 2 years and it’s just coincidence that the review ended around the election…. Come on now, they are smarter than that.
Who cares? Everyone benefits once it’s rescheduled. Yes the timing before the election is “suspicious” but does that mean Biden shouldn’t do anything the year before an election because “he’s only doing it for the votes”?
I mean, as someone in an illegal state, moving it to schedule 3 doesn't change a single thing for me.
On the campaign trail Biden promised full decriminalization. That's be a huge motivator, but it's not what we're getting..
lol young voters. It’s for boomers and X gen more so I’d say. And everyone that invested in weed stocks that tanked three years ago. He will make a LOT of people happy and put money in pockets. Then we can watch the Republicans complain about to many freedoms. And watch Abbot and DeSantis in Texas and Florida continue to fight legalization. MAGA, and their Iran Russia hell world.
Speaking as a Texan, it won't be Paxton or Abbott choosing to fight. They will, of course, but it will be entirely at the bidding of Lt Governor Dan Patrick. Remember the *"Grandma wants to die of COVID for the economy"* guy? That's him.
He has more actual legislative power than either Paxton, whom he cut a deal with to let off the impeachment hook or Abbott, who is basically just a figurehead and lightning rod for state politics. When it comes to actual policy that moves in the legislature, Abbott and Paxton do what Patrick says.
And Dan Patrick *haaaaaaaaaaaates* weed. It's actually been one of his most consistent positions.
If he has his way, Texas will be throwing people in jail for possession long after it's legal in 49 states.
I dunno if it's more for older folks because I am clueless about the toking habits of the kids. But I appreciate it as a boomer; I haven't smoked any weed in the last few years, but I'd like to have that option!
The thing about the “toking habits” of the kids, is it’s WAY less likely to be legal medicinal marijuana.
Which is what this move makes federally legal.
I can easily see, in theory, people being mad it’s not just completely legalized recreationally, because things don’t move fast enough for them.
Just look at the comments in this thread declaring this not enough. One says this is a “slap in the face”. Another “disappointing”.
I reject that theory mostly though, I think most people will see this for the monumental change that it is.
I hope so, this is a huge change. Should it be legal? Absolutely. But this is hopefully the snowball that triggers the avalanche. I hope old, young, and everyone in-between understand what a monumental achievement this is.
I've heard a lot of people saying "he's just doing it to get votes!" Like that's some kind of gotcha. I don't care why he does it, it needs to be done, it should have been done a long time ago. If it leads to more votes, maybe politicians could learn something from that.
Right!? Why is that so hard to understand. If something is popular with voters, it seems like a no brainer. I’m honestly surprised we don’t have more third party candidates espousing the popular opinion on issues regardless of which party supports it.
"he's just doing it to get votes!" can and should be translated to "he's listening to and representing the voters". It's not a gotcha at all. Enacting policy that people like, and building support by doing so, is what they are supposed to be doing as representatives of the people.
Obamacare help give millions of Americans affordable healthcare and Biden has forgiven thousands and thousands of people of their student debt. Both could cause lifetime financial burdens. But still they get no love.
The way I see it is one side is granting us more Freedoms , while the other side is nitpicking on who can have Freedoms or outright removing them.
As someone who values a professional government the choice is Easy .
I get the commenter cynicism, but this is something Biden talked about years ago. If you want it fully decriminalized and legal, you have to vote blue beyond just President.
I mean he'll, what did we get from the last GOP president during their last year? An irresponsible and unserious strategy for a global pandemic, pretty much.
I’m old and live in another country but I hope this passes for you. Smoked a bit in my teens and early 20’s then took about 15 years off. Now I have a prescription for it because my back is cooked. Easily the best pain killer. I was on 1000mg naproxen and 250mg Lyrica each day before getting the medical exemption. Now I get baked once every few days and don’t need anything else. Only downside is a spend a little bit more on chocolate and lollies each week.
I tire of cynicism sometimes.
Biden doing this is also literally the right thing to do. And he's been working on this since his first day in office.
Also, as others have noted, even if one is thinking of this solely as a ploy it's not something that's limited to "young voters". That's a silly stereotype that's existed since the 1960s. Somehow every decade it's only people in the same age bracket of teens to 20's who are smoking the Devil's Lettuce.
If your a medical patient possibly.
this appears to strengthen the mandate for the DEA to treat recreational as criminal and the financial markets to block recreational stores.
people selling ketamine for recreation are subject to felony drug charges; this makes it clear that MJ and Ketamine should be treated the same federally.
Yeah, I’m medical. In a state where it is legal for both recreational and medical purposes.
That was the question I had. Does this reclassification move weed over enough that it’s ok to use transactions with cards.
That would be DOPE!
You already can. THC-A weed is legal under the 2018 Farm Bill. It’s the exact same thing as normal weed, literally. And you can buy it online and have it shipped. Totally legally.
I mean yeah, but I use much more than simply THC-A. Dispensaries carry a wide selection of different combinations intended for different use cases.
I’m just tired of having to carry cash all the time.
And old voters. I started using at age 50 for aches, pains, and mental health.
I was going to vote for him anyway, but thanks, Joe. Now maybe I can use a credit card at a dispensary.
re schedling is not good thing. this is going to just give pharmacuetical companies control over its regulation.
It needs to be completely DE scheduled and legalized
I mean he’s forgiving their loans and - oh yeah, restoring democracy and our nation’s stability - but young people will use Gaza as a reason to let the GOP run the country.
If Biden can’t win because of Gaza, then it’s solely on him and his advisors for not adjusting to what his voters want (stop funding an ethnic cleansing with taxpayer money).
What a shit ignorant take.
The GOP are going to double down on funding that genocide. Trump is gonna go whole hog on domestic fascism as well.
If the younger voters abandon Biden over a single issue, they deserve what they get.
Not really. Facts are, its an impossible situation.
Israel and Saudi Araba were about to normalize relations which would have been bad for Iran. Iran orders Hamas to attack Israel, Israel has to respond otherwise it looks weak. But, because Hamas attacked in the way that it did, exacerbated the situation. Then on top of that there is some evidence that Israel's currently leaders LET it happens. There is also information that Israel's currently leader was partially funding Hamas to attack its own people. But the laws in Israel's prevent leadership change while a war is happening or something like that. So BiBi is going to do everything in his power to stay in power, and that can only be done through war. So that is the general backstory from my understanding.
Now, from the USA POV, you have a region that hasn't been stable in 4,000 years. You have exactly one ally really in that region which you can use to influence the region which is important as to prevent another 9/11 from happening. So, looking out for our own interests, we need Israel but Israel is also not following the rules. If you pay attention to the new aid package, there is no timeline for that aid, meaning he can order his generals to slow that aid to basic drip due to 'logistic' issues. Which to my understanding is what he is doing.
Cutting off aid, also removes a tool from the basket as a whole. It also pushes Israel, or rather BiBi towards Russia. Which would be terrible for us. There are only so many tools that he can use, he doesn't have control over Israel.
He is stuck between a hard place and a rock. Its just as simple as this. We are lucky the whole region hasn't be plunged into a state of war, which would be terrible for the everyone.
> because of a theoretical guy who might do it worse?
He's not theoretical.
And we KNOW he'll do things worse.
Or are you forgetting his first term's extreme support for Israel & racist Muslim ban?
There's nothing "theoretical" or "might" about Trump on this subject.
Or the country deserves Trump, the cementing of a conservative supreme court, and speaker of the House MTG.
I heard on the news the Vietnam protest led to the rise of the modern right, with Jimmy Carter’s one term being the only break in Republican rule until Bill Clinton was elected. Burning down the system doesn’t result in President Bernie Sanders, climate change regulation, or less overall death abroad. But by all means, proceed with this farce.
Why has this war made liberals (retroactively?) pro-Vietnam War and will the Iraq War be next? These were wars of choice that killed millions of innocent people. If Democrats wanted to be successful in the 60s and onwards they shouldn’t have pursued an unpopular war of choice that included a draft. One should question why we criticize voters more intensely than our leaders. Besides, the thing that would bring the Dems down the most in the decades after the war was the decline of unions and rightward policy shifts (think Clinton).
Why are people willing to sacrifice thousands of innocent lives in another country if they think it will help their guy win? Biden could have easily stopped support and encourage Israel to take the hostage deal offered by Hamas.
>Why has this war made liberals (retroactively?) pro-Vietnam War and will the Iraq War be next?
Of course Iraq isn't next. They already forgave Dubya and Cheney for the war. It can't be next when it's already happened.
No, he could not have “easily” stopped support to Israel. It’s foreign policy with an ally with many factors beyond you saw a Tik Tok video that made you sad.
Everyone that is counter my position always brings up tiktok when I don’t even have tik tok and have read books on the subject. They point to abstract notions of geopolitics or complexity while not getting into specifics.
There are examples abound of the US acting unilaterally or going back on agreements that aren’t in it’s interest. Israel doesn’t have the capacity to stay armed on its own and a ceasefire has been the only time when hostages have been released. Biden just isn’t willing to get in the way of Israeli plans. Its smart politics to get Israel to agree to hostages for a total withdrawal.
Foreign policy, the security of America and democracies abroad, and peace in the Middle East is more complicated than appeasing Hamas, which this is - even if that is not the expressed interest of the protesters. Life is messier than the simplistic arguments being laid out. I trust President Biden - his character, experience, and judgment.
Pro-Israel people aren’t chanting genocidal slogans, disrupting college students trying to pass their exams, and vandalizing private property. And pro-Israel people aren’t threatening to sit out the next election because the majority doesn’t give in to their list of demands.
That’s not what I asked. If Biden was more friendly then the pro-Israel people would not vote or even vote for trump.
If pro-israel/anti-palestinian people wouldn’t turn on Biden then why shouldn’t he support Palestine and work harder to prevent their famine/deaths?
What would he lose? Sounds like nothing according to you
Stop holding those threats over people's heads when you damn well know the Democrats won't do a thing to stop them. Name one thing, one piece of legislation that the party has promised to pass in order to fix the broken system that Trump took advantage of.
It's been this way for 24 years barring 2008. Vote for Gore, he sucks but we have to beat Dubya. Vote for Kerry, he sucks but we have to beat Dubya. Vote Obama, he sucks but we have to beat Romney. Vote for Hillary, she sucks but we have to beat Trump. Vote Biden, he sucks but we have to beat Trump.
Is it any wonder this argument doesn't work? You've been repeating it for two decades. The horse isn't just dead, it's rotted away and there's nothing but a skeleton but people keep beating it. The mere fact that it's new voters who have to come to the rescue, that it's the youth who must turn out, shows that *moderates" can't make up their mind either. But wheres the blame for them?
So we haven’t had college debt being forgiven, climate bills passed, gun legislation passed, infrastructure passed, NATO restored, Taiwan and Ukraine supported, and unions strengthened? Jan 6’ers and fake electorates aren’t being held accountable? Honestly, the biggest loss has been reproductive rights due to a stacked supreme court which was a talking point by Hillary about the consequences of Trump being elected and she was constantly derided online and by Progressives as using it as a scare tactic.
Is your take away that the anti-Vietnam War protestors are to blame for the right wing take over instead of the politicians carrying out an unpopular war??
How about this, if you want young people to vote for you stop waging unpopular wars. You can fear monger about the right all you want, but if you’re the one funding a genocide you have little leg to stand on. Hardly anything is worse than genocide, and Biden makes it harder and harder each day for people to want to go out and vote for him. That’s on him, that’s his fault. Not the fault of the voters begging him to change course
[Trump pledges to expel immigrants who support Hamas, ban Muslims from the U.S. - Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-pledges-expel-immigrants-who-support-hamas-ban-muslims-us-2023-10-16/)
I'd say you're shooting yourself in the foot with that argument, but in reality it's more like inserting your entire lower body into a wood chipper.
Honestly a great argument for a multi-party system. When the options are one center right party and one christofascist cult, you don’t have a choice.
Prioritize Palestinian lives all you want, Biden giving giving bombs to Netanyahu is gonna be better than, who knows, trump probably nuking Gaza on Netanyahu’s behalf.
>You don't have a choice
You're right for the wrong reasons. There is no choice when it comes to Gaza. Trump gives his full throated support. Biden tuts and wags his finger but approves of the exact same shit regardless. People are upset,and no amount of trying to shame them will get them to vote for you. No amount of lesser evil BS will get them to vote for you.
The fact is the so called reasonable moderates are why we're in this mess. Because they are the majority. If they backed Biden Trump wouldn't have a chance and it wouldn't come down to minority voters and college students at their first election.
And Bidens administration gets no blame for continuing to fund Israeli military units that have been found responsible for gross violations of human rights?
So it's a red line for Liberals? You wouldn't support Biden if he didn't support Israel? Where's all the bluster of vote blue no matter who? Why is it everyone else who has to fall in line but Biden takes one step out of line and suddenly the ones shaming everybody for not voting Biden are the ones staying home.
It’s a red line for democracy and the rule of law. You can protest, but in that process you aren’t free from consequences for breaking the law in doing so. No “protester immunity”. And there is a frame of law to work in to exercise your freedom of speech.
Throwing your vote to cause the country serious harm though is not admirable. The whole attitude of protests in action and vote like this is to threaten harm unless the majority capitulates to your demands. This is not admirable.
Ah so the civil rights movement wasn't admirable? Desegregating schools wasn't admirable? After all, by the laws of the times, civil rights advocates were breaking the law so they deserved the consequences of all the hardships they faced at the hands of police according to you?
They broke the law for civil disobedience, were arrested, and went at it again. They did peaceful protests - they didn’t take over buildings and demand everyone give in to their demands or they’ll turn up the chaos. But you are inly interested in strawman arguments.
The civil rights and Vietnam protestors definitely took over buildings and demanded people give in or else they would turn up the chaos. In fact, they turned the heat up much much hotter than anything these kids have done. Have you ever heard of Malcolm X? Or the anti-war protests at Columbia college in the late 60s?
Students protesting against the Vietnam war and segregation had multiple sit ins and building occupations during the 60s, now hailed as important parts of those protests. They weren't wrong then, they aren't wrong now.
That's not something Biden can control. He had the federal government reschedule it, and started that process 2 years ago. It's ultimately up to Congress to add or remove drugs from the controlled substances list, and up to the DEA or FDA to schedule the drugs on the list. Biden didn't even get to set the schedule, he just called for the evaluation of where it was.
If you want it to be legalized, but for Congress folks that will support it.
Feels like the classic this is what our base wants but we need to keep running on it. Yea I get Biden can’t straight legalize it. But if we get the majority in house and senate I wanna see the filibuster as it is removed and legalize weed. I don’t vote dem on this issue alone.
Funny how canabis always shows up as "about to be" legalized in election years where the DNC struggles or needs a distraction from campus protests on their watch, and then it never happens.
Cannabis was a promise from the *LAST* election Joe. Do your freaking job, man. Stop trying to take a victory lap on headlines for "maybes".
Democrats tried to push marijuana legislation through Congress but Republicans were obstructionists as usual. Hard to pass anything when almost an entire party is opposed to something.
Luckily, rescheduling doesn't require a Republican vote of approval.
“Progress" you refer to is the breadcrumbs they feed you to keep you anesthetized, when you really deserve lobster.
I’m sorry you don’t think you deserve better.
Good step, and something that wouldn't have happened under Trump or any other Republican, but I needs to be at least decriminalized at the federal level. Biden needs to push for that now
Hopefully it matters to the majority of us who are fine with adult rec. Somehow people forget that this and many other things the majority of us want, are only possible with Dems winning to keep the progress going. Many more people have healthcare now because Democrats kept working on it for us. Still a few loser states denying their people healthcare which is available in most states now, very sad.
School meals for all in some states, thank you Dems! Adult use cannabis and home grow, women's rights, better pay and benefits for workers, right to repair, etc all things Democrats try to do that most of us agree with and want done. The corporate owner class needs to pay a lot more taxes too like in the boom years like 80%. After they get done with all their loopholes you know they never pay that much anyway.
Hardly an election year move when he did it 2 years ago. It just took HHS and DEA this long to do the mandatory review of the rescheduling and to have the information ready to change their rules and to inform congress of legislation changes.
My anti-Biden liberal friends are trying to spin this as either it happened too late, or it doesn’t go far enough. These friends of mine are so angry this is happening
Yeah this is nice, but I don’t see how it’s going to make up for the WH’s atrocious messaging about the student protests, Biden circumventing congress to send weapons to Israel, or the TikTok bill/imminent ban. This is something we’ve been expecting for years, and frankly, I’ll believe it when I see it.
It won't do that. This would make cannabis a medicine that doctors can prescribe. That's it. No prescription, go to prison. Live in a state like Texas, there's no way you're getting a prescription.
Biden has pardonedthousands of people with minor pot offenses
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-22/biden-pardons-many-federal-marijuana-charges-commutes-others
Voters... quick poll. How many of you think this totally makes up for no calls for ceasefire and this administration's direct military aid going towards an ongoing genocide, and this is what will ultimately push you over the edge to vote for Biden?
While it’s a start, it does absolutely NOTHING for us folks who live in “dry” weed states like Texas. Hell, our legislators are about to ban all hemp products, removing from our market the low shitty THC Delta 8 products
“But we needed to punish Biden for Gaza!” he cried as Trump ceased Biden’s aid packages and provided unconditional arms to Israel fulfill his promise to help Netanyahu “finish it”
Who is finishing it through genocide right now in the real world rather than in an hypothetical scenario ?
As if opposing Genocide Joe equals to endorsing Trump.
Make no mistake, this is for pharma companies. Schedule III is still inaccessible without a prescription but does open the door for research. What about all the people sitting in jail for non-violent marijuana "crimes"?
The vast majority of people incarcerated for low level drug offenses are held under state penal codes. The president has no power over that. There were precious few of these prisoners in the federal system and most of them have already had their sentences commuted.
My anti-Biden liberal friends are trying to spin this as either it happened too late, or it doesn’t go far enough. Like you, these friends of mine are so angry that progress is being made
It’s a slap in the face. Putting in par with codeine and ketamine. You should be allowed to grow it. I’m not anti-biden, I’m very pro Biden but I was also affected by the war on drugs growing up.
Bus drivers still can't use Marijuana, medical or recreational because of outdated and racist department of transportation rules. This announcement just makes me madder, knowing more people will be able to get high and I can't. I have to drive by medical Marijuana stores 20 times a day on my bus routes and I can't use it.
I won't get relief because the DOT regulation won't change just because it is rescheduled. I have chronic neck and back pain because of my job that I never had before I became a bus driver, and I can't use medical Marijuana for pain relief. The DOT regulations won't change with any new law or reschedule.
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at this point it's not even a young voter issue it's just a voter issue. Polling across pretty much every demographic shows majority support for legalization
Absolutely my first thought reading the title is "I'm not young". Honestly I feel like this is a bigger deal to those of us who existed long before states legalized and at least in my case live/are stuck in states that will never legalize. This is an amazing achievement that hopefully sets the government on a course to legalization (only 10 more Democrat presidents in a row for that).
I turn 51 tomorrow - and as someone who first tried weed 2 years ago, I think it's ridiculous that there are places where you get thrown in jail for it. Even when I never tried weed, it's awful how people have been jailed for years and had lives destroyed because of a drug that everyone agrees shows little harm; the worst you can say about it is "don't drive or operate heavy machinery." As as an older person, I'm glad they're moving ahead to stop the pointless prosecution of people over what they enjoy. It was a policy born out of racism and hate, and hopefully we can finally end it and give people their lives back.
It’s been great seeing stigma on so many things get dropped, and seeing ppl who lived with it a long time enjoying themselves now
Happy birthday!
Thank you kindly!
You’re as young as you feel ;)
It's not the age. It's the mileage.
Mentally I feel 26 but physically I feel 62
And weed makes me feel younger!
Recently went to a concert and saw someone smoking a joint, wearing vans, carry a skateboard and had a hearing aid in because he was old..
Was it steve buscemi by any chance?
Do you mean fellow kid Steve Buscemi?
My MAGA supporting dad is pissed at Georgia Republicans for closing the THCa loophole.
Strong /r/leopardsatemyface energy
When it was passed I texted in my family group chat “Gotta love that party of small government huh?” It went with no response.
They can't even defend their own side. It's so fucking obnoxious.
My one HS friend is a huge MAGA guy I tried to have a conversation with him and pointed out many of the MAGA policies are against his best interest. Like he is part of the electricians union in Philly, his wife is an immigrant, he is a huge pot smoker. Literally makes no sense to me and he couldn't even really give a point to support them.
"Your side hates *everything about your life*!" "But Biden is old!" In assuming thats how that conversation ended.
Can we get a President in their 50’s or something for the next election? I’m tired of deciding who gets to hold the remote and have the extra pudding cup for the next 4 years.
just let him know youre starting to see him as a fake ass person with no real mind of his own and you dont want those type of toxic people in close proximity to you. you know in a nice way.
I am not as close to him as I was before, he really grew apart from the friend group during COVID and went further down the MAGA hole and became anti covid vaccine. So we didn't invite him to get togethers as things opened back up cause he wasnt vaxxed neither were his kids.
Proving once again that this is just a team sport to a lot of people. It's fun to question MAGA types on policy questions. They can only stare at you confused because they don't even know where to start.
I mean, I thought Gen Z where notoriously not pot users compared to previous generations. Unless 'young voter' is like, 30.
I have cousins who are all significantly younger than me all by 15+ years all of them are pot users with many smoking but not drinking alcohol
Doesn't mean that they don't recognize it should be a right.
Yeah but this isn't legalization. It's just kicking the illegality of it down a couple of notches
irrelevant to my point though. The point is that it's not just want young voters who want progress like this
Yeah this headline could have easily read: *Biden’s historic marijuana shift is his latest election-year move for aging hippies*
It won’t matter to us in Texas bro until we get the vote out and get rid of Dan “puke” Patrick
It's such an easy win in 2024. Voters are sick of prohibition.
just hope the Biden-grass connection gets through to most swing state pot heads.
I hope the pot heads vote. It’s… difficult to motivate them.
They failed us in New Zealand. Those that did vote voted against it because their mates were dealers.
well in this case, cannabis wouldn't be legalized, it would just be less illegal. So the penalties for sale and possession should be less severe.
It also means that states would have more discretion in enforcement. Potentially it would allow weed businesses to use actual banks.
This is terrible but also sooo funny.
le sigh .
Bullshit. You clearly don’t know many pot heads.
Oddly, the one thing that does motivate them is easier access to pot.
The dems in Virginia legalized weed and the voters rewarded them by giving republicans the governorship. As much as this *should* be a win for the dems, there’s no guarantee.
People in this country are so dumb that it hurts.
Pot isn't quite strong enough to drive single-issue-votes the way abortion and guns are, but it was gobsmacking the number of people who blamed the Dems for not doing enough instead of the GOP for doing all they could to repeal (they didn't have the votes for repeal) what the Dems had done. Stop blaming your friends and allies, get out and support (vote for) them and go after the actual opponents. The VA GOP has been crystal clear they will do everything in their power to block further reforms.
Youngkin can suck it
This isn't much of a win. Biden promised on the campaign that he would decriminalize weed, and this doesn't even do that. Its not like we've got a lot of options about who to vote for, but I'm a bit upset that democrats can't even follow through on basic decriminalization. Most people interested in legalizing weed will correctly note that democrats had their chance with unified control between 2020-2022 (and what did they do? stall. Schumer said a bill was coming from Jan 2021 until it was eventually introduced after democrats lost the majority in March of 2023) I'm just saying, this isn't a massive win. it does quite literally nothing to change my situation or affect me in any way being in an illegal state. I imagine quite a few others may feel very jaded, like me, that after a promise to decriminalize we get barely a move to schedule 3...
It’s going to be a huge cost cutter for dispensaries and open up the possibility for research that will eventually allow for decriminalization. Progress is always too slow, but this IS progress.
Yes
Biden is only choosing popular positions on issues that voters care about so that they will vote for him. Instead he should call states' secretaries of election and ask them to find exactly enough votes for him to win. As the founding fathers envisioned.
Well that’s the shady part of this. Why didn’t he do it 4 years ago? Saving it for a moment like this. Same as trump killing immigration reform.
Well that’s the shady part of this. Why didn’t he do it 4 years ago? Saving it for a moment like this. Same as trump killing immigration reform.
Show. Up.
I sure hope a lot of people under 40 do again. The amount of propaganda being thrown in their faces is insane though. I've basically barely paid attention because it's just so much noise and obvious to me who the better (and good) candidate is. It's Biden and it's not even close. All the social media propaganda is working overtime to muddy this though.
There are people who get their news from TikTok and it's full of targeted Russian propaganda.
Its not about the lesser of two evils anymore, you guys need to wake up. We're done with the corporate first politicians and arent going to extend the status quo because you refused to give us a better option. Change the ticket or lose, its your choice and the consequences are on you not listening to us about your weak candidate and lack of understanding the details of the headlines. $600 billion going straight t private equity firms to build for-profit corporate run trains instead of government agencies is not "infrastructure" and its unacceptable to call it that. You're losing progressives and people under 40 because the DNC isn't delivering, making us go directly to the polls to win back rights they lost us, while forcing a bad candidate on us. We're not the problem. The DNC refusing to understand *it* is the problem is the problem.
If you let perfect become the enemy of good, you just end up with bad.
This attitude is the problem right here. You think that by not voting, they’ll notice you. That isn’t how it works. They only notice voters. Show up en masse and everyone will pay attention. Don’t show up and no one will care about you or what you want. Non-voters are non-people.
Braindead take. Biden has passed an incredible amount of GOOD legislation with a tiny house majority the first two years and a dead lock Senate. Now the house has a Republican majority and the Senate is once again tied, with Kamala as the tie breaking vote. It's nearly impossible to pass anything progressive with the GOP obstruction. Not to mention the Supreme Court that's actively stripping rights away. We literally CANT get anything more progressive in this election cycle. If the Dems sweep the house and Senate next term (unlikely!) AND Biden remains in office, we may have a chance for some more progressive legislation. If any of those things don't happen (very likely!) we're at best case scenario, status quo, and worst case scenario, full on dictatorship and will never vote again. But "oh no Biden didn't deliver on every single campaign promise and then some! Let's let the fascists win to show em who's boss!" Give me a fucking break.
>Braindead take. It's not. >"oh no Biden didn't deliver on every single campaign promise and then some! Let's let the fascists win to show em who's boss!" If you look at his drilling permits, union busting, [environmental decisions](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/02/youth-climate-lawsuit-juliana-appeals-court), and funding of [genocide](https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/gaza-textbook-genocide/), he's done worse than break campaign promises. Not to mention [his culpability when it comes to the war on drugs in the first place](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/4/25/18282870/joe-biden-criminal-justice-war-on-drugs-mass-incarceration).
Union busting? Give me a break. He's the most pro-labor, union friendly president we've had since FDR. Drilling permits were mostly backlogged from land leased under Trump. Maybe he could have denied them, but this was during the height of COVID and the economy runs on oil so I'm not terribly surprised he approved them. Let's not forget that he also paused federal land leasing for new oil drilling permits. Since those approvals during his first two years, there has been a sharp decline. He's got the lowest amount of new federal land leased for oil ever. Oh and remember Build Back Better and the Inflation Reduction Act? That granted billions of dollars for renewable energy and environmental restoration, and resulted in hundreds of billions in clean energy investments? The single biggest piece of climate legislation ever passed in this country? 100% agree that he should strip funding to Israel but it's never going to happen. At the very least he's giving Gaza billions in aid. But yeah instead of all that we should let the guy who is ANTI union, ANTI climate change legislation, and would not only cut aid to Gaza but help Israel in whatever we he can ("get it done quickly"), get elected. Yup, great idea. Fantastic. No notes.
A union friendly president wouldn't degrade collective bargaining power via congressional bill. Many of the drilling permits could've been rescinded, his administration has now approved more than trump's, and economic concerns have little meaning in the face of impending climate catastrophe. BBB has potential but contains mostly corporate based solutions to multi-government size problems. It is also weak sauce compared to the original green new deal that was promised. From the unsubstantiated claims that led to defunding UNRWA and starvation, use of executive order to ensure the further funding of genocide, rigidity in the face of criticism from voters he's supposedly courting, or a [history of zealot support for zionism](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldevents/comments/1agji32/biden_sanctions_israeli_settlers_accused_of/koibmcb/), Biden's positions are unjustifiably amoral. >But yeah instead of all that we should let the guy who is ANTI union, ANTI climate change legislation, No doubt on most matters he's better, but Biden's actions are really testing the lesser of two evils argument. Enabling monsters tends to do that.
Translation: I don't give a shit about the people who will suffer under another Trump presidency because I'm selfish and self centred and care more about my personal feelings of moral purity/superiority than women, the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, and many more.
Nailed it. “I just couldn’t bring myself to vote for Hillary, now abortion is banned in my state.”
A lot of people have long since made good points but I really would like to add that you need to go on a 'google journey' and read for yourself the things Biden has done. Make sure you're logged out, cookies cleared and all that so you don't get the biased search results the big corporations want you to see but the actual ones. Biden is the most progressive President we've had since LBJ (Civil Rights Movement). I'd be surprised if you could name anything about why that is true. Based on your comment of the trains, I think you have extremely unrealistic expectations for what an American progressive is. Are you aware of any of the crazy bad stuff Trump has said and done this week? I'm not just being facetious, I am actually asking. The reason I ask is because so much of the noise online is 'Biden bad' and not 'Trump dangerous'. On and on and on about the things Biden isn't doing (even if he can't do anything about them) and barely a peep about the absolutely insane shit Trump is saying. I say this all as a Progressive. As a progressive who didn't vote for Hillary in 2016 and would still not vote for her, the Biden Admin *has* listened and made a strong left turn. There is still a lot to do but a lot of it is being worked on by Biden. I mean, just yesterday the DEA or w/e finally announced they were going to reclassify weed. Good shit takes years to get done, especially when the hateful establishment is in the way. Doing nothing changes nothing.
Ceasefire.
If you actually paid attention you’d know Biden has been trying to get the two sides to agree to a ceasefire since the war began.
Citations needed. The US has vetoed UN ceasefire resolutions 3x. They just recently pushed their own resolution which studies a ceasefire, but does not explicitly call for a ceasefire; it was vetoed for doing nothing of value. [https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-us-vote-gaza-ceasefire-resolution-f6453803b3eacc9fbaa2ce5a025e2a94#:\~:text=The%20U.S.%20has%20vetoed%20three,20](https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-us-vote-gaza-ceasefire-resolution-f6453803b3eacc9fbaa2ce5a025e2a94#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20has%20vetoed%20three,20) >A key issue was the unusual language that said the Security Council “determines the imperative of an immediate and sustained cease-fire.” The phrasing was not a straightforward “demand” or “call” to halt hostilities. Then of course there's the military aid that Biden has gone around Congress to provide to Israel, providing them with bombs and ammunition to continue their siege on Gaza, and the recent HUGE military aid package that Congress and the Biden admin just passed. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ But alas... I just haven't been paying attention I guess. Don't let my simple blunt single word comment confuse you. Consider it a TLDR that's based heavily on 7 months of factual events. You want people to show up... then Biden needs to call for an immediate ceasefire. Although, given the 35k+ civilian deaths, 70k+ civilian injuries, 100's of thousands of destroyed homes, and millions of civilians displaced and forced into a famine... some minds won't be changed on whether Biden will get their vote. Anything he does will be too little too late. People will refuse to put pen to paper to vote for a president that helped enable a genocide. Have you ever considered all those student protesters... people whose lives involve studying night and day, may have studied this situation and may have come to a valid conclusion that lead to their choice to protest and withhold their votes? I know, I know... the only possible explanation is that they're all ignorant simple minded troublemakers... 🙄
[https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/21/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-passover/](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/21/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-passover/) >My Administration is working around the clock to free the hostages, and we will not rest until we bring them home. We are also working to establish an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza as a part of a deal that releases the hostages and delivers desperately needed humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians. We will continue to work toward a two-state solution that provides equal security, prosperity, and enduring peace for Israelis and Palestinians. And we are leading international efforts to ensure Israel can defend itself against Iran and its proxies, including by directing the U.S. military to help defend Israel against Iran’s unprecedented attacks last weekend. \---- You seem to think I don't support the protesters. I do. Netanyahu is an enemy of peace and his administration is a blight upon Jews everywhere (such as myself). I've no doubt that his government wishes harm upon the civilians in Gaza even as it continues to illegally seize land in the West Bank and continue the apartheid status of Israel. Where I take issue is with your seemingly misplaced belief that refusing to vote for Biden will get any more favorable result than voting for him. At best it will do nothing, and at worse it will get Trump elected, who will gladly turn all of Gaza to glass. Don't be foolish. Politicians listen to voters and do not care one whit about non-voters.
So your response is a 'statement'? Not an action. If you're always willing to give a politician your vote, then they have no obligation to listen to a single fucking word you have to say. It would be wise to remember that. Blindly believing statements rather than actions... I mean I am curious how that don't just make you a pushover. Statements, while providing weapons. Statements while providing funding. Statements while going after protestors who are demanding their universities cut funding to Israel and demand a ceasefire. A lot of traditional Democratic voters are demanding a call for a ceasefire. I still don't see one, do you? This is a politician actively ignoring his constituency. Again, if you're going to vote for a politician no matter what, they have no reason to listen to a word you have to say.
You’re got voting backwards. Politicians only listen to voters. They don’t listen to abstainers at all. Ask yourself why it is that the people who have the most experience living with the consequences of voting vs not voting are also the most reliable voters.
Ball’s in Hamas’s court.
How so? It's been mentioned that Hamas was willing to make a deal for a complete end of the war in exchange for releasing prisoners months ago. Israel rejected that. It's also been stated that the US government has taken issue with Israel's failure to negotiate... Seems the ball's been in Israel's and Washington's court for some time now. Why the media hasn't been shouting that from the rooftops is another story entirely. BTW, why would it be in Hamas' court anyways? The \~35,000 innocent civilians murdered in Gaza by Israel aren't Hamas members. The 70k+ injured / maimed aren't Hamas. The hundreds of thousands that had their homes destroyed aren't Hamas. The millions who have been displaced and have been forced to deal with a famine... aren't Hamas. People's decision to not vote for Biden has nothing to do with dealing with Hamas. It has to do with the atrocity being committed against innocent Palestinian civilians. The main criticism liberals have had with voting for Biden is that he's helped enable a genocide and refuses to do anything to stop it. Sorry, but legalization of weed... something that's legal in most states anyways, won't convince people that are refusing to vote for Biden over this ongoing human atrocity.
I think a lot of people on the other side of 40 who deal with chronic pain and poor sleep are in that voter pool.
Headline makes it seem like this is a recent push to get votes, but Biden called for a federal review of cannabis laws in 2022 and this is the result.
It’s naive to think Biden didn’t realize the review would take 2 years and it’s just coincidence that the review ended around the election…. Come on now, they are smarter than that.
Who cares? Everyone benefits once it’s rescheduled. Yes the timing before the election is “suspicious” but does that mean Biden shouldn’t do anything the year before an election because “he’s only doing it for the votes”?
I mean, as someone in an illegal state, moving it to schedule 3 doesn't change a single thing for me. On the campaign trail Biden promised full decriminalization. That's be a huge motivator, but it's not what we're getting..
Putting it in the hands of the FDA and big pharmaceutical isn’t a win.
Opening up legitimate research options IS a win though. Give it 10, 20 years. We'll get full legalization/descheduling from this.
It’s cynical to think it’s purely a ploy to get Gen Z votes and not a hugely popular policy (and the right thing to do).
So not recent. But still a push.
lol young voters. It’s for boomers and X gen more so I’d say. And everyone that invested in weed stocks that tanked three years ago. He will make a LOT of people happy and put money in pockets. Then we can watch the Republicans complain about to many freedoms. And watch Abbot and DeSantis in Texas and Florida continue to fight legalization. MAGA, and their Iran Russia hell world.
Speaking as a Texan, it won't be Paxton or Abbott choosing to fight. They will, of course, but it will be entirely at the bidding of Lt Governor Dan Patrick. Remember the *"Grandma wants to die of COVID for the economy"* guy? That's him. He has more actual legislative power than either Paxton, whom he cut a deal with to let off the impeachment hook or Abbott, who is basically just a figurehead and lightning rod for state politics. When it comes to actual policy that moves in the legislature, Abbott and Paxton do what Patrick says. And Dan Patrick *haaaaaaaaaaaates* weed. It's actually been one of his most consistent positions. If he has his way, Texas will be throwing people in jail for possession long after it's legal in 49 states.
I dunno if it's more for older folks because I am clueless about the toking habits of the kids. But I appreciate it as a boomer; I haven't smoked any weed in the last few years, but I'd like to have that option!
The thing about the “toking habits” of the kids, is it’s WAY less likely to be legal medicinal marijuana. Which is what this move makes federally legal. I can easily see, in theory, people being mad it’s not just completely legalized recreationally, because things don’t move fast enough for them. Just look at the comments in this thread declaring this not enough. One says this is a “slap in the face”. Another “disappointing”. I reject that theory mostly though, I think most people will see this for the monumental change that it is.
I hope so, this is a huge change. Should it be legal? Absolutely. But this is hopefully the snowball that triggers the avalanche. I hope old, young, and everyone in-between understand what a monumental achievement this is.
I've heard a lot of people saying "he's just doing it to get votes!" Like that's some kind of gotcha. I don't care why he does it, it needs to be done, it should have been done a long time ago. If it leads to more votes, maybe politicians could learn something from that.
Right!? Why is that so hard to understand. If something is popular with voters, it seems like a no brainer. I’m honestly surprised we don’t have more third party candidates espousing the popular opinion on issues regardless of which party supports it.
"he's just doing it to get votes!" can and should be translated to "he's listening to and representing the voters". It's not a gotcha at all. Enacting policy that people like, and building support by doing so, is what they are supposed to be doing as representatives of the people.
Obamacare help give millions of Americans affordable healthcare and Biden has forgiven thousands and thousands of people of their student debt. Both could cause lifetime financial burdens. But still they get no love.
"Here is why that is a bad news for Biden"
Ikr? 🤣
The way I see it is one side is granting us more Freedoms , while the other side is nitpicking on who can have Freedoms or outright removing them. As someone who values a professional government the choice is Easy .
I get the commenter cynicism, but this is something Biden talked about years ago. If you want it fully decriminalized and legal, you have to vote blue beyond just President. I mean he'll, what did we get from the last GOP president during their last year? An irresponsible and unserious strategy for a global pandemic, pretty much.
I’m old and live in another country but I hope this passes for you. Smoked a bit in my teens and early 20’s then took about 15 years off. Now I have a prescription for it because my back is cooked. Easily the best pain killer. I was on 1000mg naproxen and 250mg Lyrica each day before getting the medical exemption. Now I get baked once every few days and don’t need anything else. Only downside is a spend a little bit more on chocolate and lollies each week.
I tire of cynicism sometimes. Biden doing this is also literally the right thing to do. And he's been working on this since his first day in office. Also, as others have noted, even if one is thinking of this solely as a ploy it's not something that's limited to "young voters". That's a silly stereotype that's existed since the 1960s. Somehow every decade it's only people in the same age bracket of teens to 20's who are smoking the Devil's Lettuce.
Dank Brandon, Guardian of Democracy 🍃😶🌫️💨🇺🇸💪🏻
If this means I can now use my debit card to purchase legal weed in my state, then he has my vote 🤷🏽♂️
If your a medical patient possibly. this appears to strengthen the mandate for the DEA to treat recreational as criminal and the financial markets to block recreational stores. people selling ketamine for recreation are subject to felony drug charges; this makes it clear that MJ and Ketamine should be treated the same federally.
Yeah, I’m medical. In a state where it is legal for both recreational and medical purposes. That was the question I had. Does this reclassification move weed over enough that it’s ok to use transactions with cards. That would be DOPE!
You already can. THC-A weed is legal under the 2018 Farm Bill. It’s the exact same thing as normal weed, literally. And you can buy it online and have it shipped. Totally legally.
I mean yeah, but I use much more than simply THC-A. Dispensaries carry a wide selection of different combinations intended for different use cases. I’m just tired of having to carry cash all the time.
And old voters. I started using at age 50 for aches, pains, and mental health. I was going to vote for him anyway, but thanks, Joe. Now maybe I can use a credit card at a dispensary.
Can we just admit that he’s a decent man?
re schedling is not good thing. this is going to just give pharmacuetical companies control over its regulation. It needs to be completely DE scheduled and legalized
I may be old, but I'll get you stoned.
Just because it finally happened now, he has been trying a long time.
I mean he’s forgiving their loans and - oh yeah, restoring democracy and our nation’s stability - but young people will use Gaza as a reason to let the GOP run the country.
If Biden can’t win because of Gaza, then it’s solely on him and his advisors for not adjusting to what his voters want (stop funding an ethnic cleansing with taxpayer money).
What a shit ignorant take. The GOP are going to double down on funding that genocide. Trump is gonna go whole hog on domestic fascism as well. If the younger voters abandon Biden over a single issue, they deserve what they get.
'ignorant take' like absolutely ignoring the genocide happening because of a theoretical guy who might do it worse? you've earned this
Not really. Facts are, its an impossible situation. Israel and Saudi Araba were about to normalize relations which would have been bad for Iran. Iran orders Hamas to attack Israel, Israel has to respond otherwise it looks weak. But, because Hamas attacked in the way that it did, exacerbated the situation. Then on top of that there is some evidence that Israel's currently leaders LET it happens. There is also information that Israel's currently leader was partially funding Hamas to attack its own people. But the laws in Israel's prevent leadership change while a war is happening or something like that. So BiBi is going to do everything in his power to stay in power, and that can only be done through war. So that is the general backstory from my understanding. Now, from the USA POV, you have a region that hasn't been stable in 4,000 years. You have exactly one ally really in that region which you can use to influence the region which is important as to prevent another 9/11 from happening. So, looking out for our own interests, we need Israel but Israel is also not following the rules. If you pay attention to the new aid package, there is no timeline for that aid, meaning he can order his generals to slow that aid to basic drip due to 'logistic' issues. Which to my understanding is what he is doing. Cutting off aid, also removes a tool from the basket as a whole. It also pushes Israel, or rather BiBi towards Russia. Which would be terrible for us. There are only so many tools that he can use, he doesn't have control over Israel. He is stuck between a hard place and a rock. Its just as simple as this. We are lucky the whole region hasn't be plunged into a state of war, which would be terrible for the everyone.
> because of a theoretical guy who might do it worse? He's not theoretical. And we KNOW he'll do things worse. Or are you forgetting his first term's extreme support for Israel & racist Muslim ban? There's nothing "theoretical" or "might" about Trump on this subject.
Or the country deserves Trump, the cementing of a conservative supreme court, and speaker of the House MTG. I heard on the news the Vietnam protest led to the rise of the modern right, with Jimmy Carter’s one term being the only break in Republican rule until Bill Clinton was elected. Burning down the system doesn’t result in President Bernie Sanders, climate change regulation, or less overall death abroad. But by all means, proceed with this farce.
Why has this war made liberals (retroactively?) pro-Vietnam War and will the Iraq War be next? These were wars of choice that killed millions of innocent people. If Democrats wanted to be successful in the 60s and onwards they shouldn’t have pursued an unpopular war of choice that included a draft. One should question why we criticize voters more intensely than our leaders. Besides, the thing that would bring the Dems down the most in the decades after the war was the decline of unions and rightward policy shifts (think Clinton). Why are people willing to sacrifice thousands of innocent lives in another country if they think it will help their guy win? Biden could have easily stopped support and encourage Israel to take the hostage deal offered by Hamas.
>Why has this war made liberals (retroactively?) pro-Vietnam War and will the Iraq War be next? Of course Iraq isn't next. They already forgave Dubya and Cheney for the war. It can't be next when it's already happened.
True, I forgot they did that. But, the voters were still supposed to think its bad right? Maybe not.
No, he could not have “easily” stopped support to Israel. It’s foreign policy with an ally with many factors beyond you saw a Tik Tok video that made you sad.
Everyone that is counter my position always brings up tiktok when I don’t even have tik tok and have read books on the subject. They point to abstract notions of geopolitics or complexity while not getting into specifics. There are examples abound of the US acting unilaterally or going back on agreements that aren’t in it’s interest. Israel doesn’t have the capacity to stay armed on its own and a ceasefire has been the only time when hostages have been released. Biden just isn’t willing to get in the way of Israeli plans. Its smart politics to get Israel to agree to hostages for a total withdrawal.
Foreign policy, the security of America and democracies abroad, and peace in the Middle East is more complicated than appeasing Hamas, which this is - even if that is not the expressed interest of the protesters. Life is messier than the simplistic arguments being laid out. I trust President Biden - his character, experience, and judgment.
How come pro-Israel people never get blamed for their hardline stance? Only the brown and Arab democrats can be blamed it seems
Pro-Israel people aren’t chanting genocidal slogans, disrupting college students trying to pass their exams, and vandalizing private property. And pro-Israel people aren’t threatening to sit out the next election because the majority doesn’t give in to their list of demands.
That’s not what I asked. If Biden was more friendly then the pro-Israel people would not vote or even vote for trump. If pro-israel/anti-palestinian people wouldn’t turn on Biden then why shouldn’t he support Palestine and work harder to prevent their famine/deaths? What would he lose? Sounds like nothing according to you
Stop holding those threats over people's heads when you damn well know the Democrats won't do a thing to stop them. Name one thing, one piece of legislation that the party has promised to pass in order to fix the broken system that Trump took advantage of. It's been this way for 24 years barring 2008. Vote for Gore, he sucks but we have to beat Dubya. Vote for Kerry, he sucks but we have to beat Dubya. Vote Obama, he sucks but we have to beat Romney. Vote for Hillary, she sucks but we have to beat Trump. Vote Biden, he sucks but we have to beat Trump. Is it any wonder this argument doesn't work? You've been repeating it for two decades. The horse isn't just dead, it's rotted away and there's nothing but a skeleton but people keep beating it. The mere fact that it's new voters who have to come to the rescue, that it's the youth who must turn out, shows that *moderates" can't make up their mind either. But wheres the blame for them?
So we haven’t had college debt being forgiven, climate bills passed, gun legislation passed, infrastructure passed, NATO restored, Taiwan and Ukraine supported, and unions strengthened? Jan 6’ers and fake electorates aren’t being held accountable? Honestly, the biggest loss has been reproductive rights due to a stacked supreme court which was a talking point by Hillary about the consequences of Trump being elected and she was constantly derided online and by Progressives as using it as a scare tactic.
Is your take away that the anti-Vietnam War protestors are to blame for the right wing take over instead of the politicians carrying out an unpopular war?? How about this, if you want young people to vote for you stop waging unpopular wars. You can fear monger about the right all you want, but if you’re the one funding a genocide you have little leg to stand on. Hardly anything is worse than genocide, and Biden makes it harder and harder each day for people to want to go out and vote for him. That’s on him, that’s his fault. Not the fault of the voters begging him to change course
Two paragraphs and didn’t address my point at all.
[Trump pledges to expel immigrants who support Hamas, ban Muslims from the U.S. - Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-pledges-expel-immigrants-who-support-hamas-ban-muslims-us-2023-10-16/) I'd say you're shooting yourself in the foot with that argument, but in reality it's more like inserting your entire lower body into a wood chipper.
Honestly a great argument for a multi-party system. When the options are one center right party and one christofascist cult, you don’t have a choice. Prioritize Palestinian lives all you want, Biden giving giving bombs to Netanyahu is gonna be better than, who knows, trump probably nuking Gaza on Netanyahu’s behalf.
>You don't have a choice You're right for the wrong reasons. There is no choice when it comes to Gaza. Trump gives his full throated support. Biden tuts and wags his finger but approves of the exact same shit regardless. People are upset,and no amount of trying to shame them will get them to vote for you. No amount of lesser evil BS will get them to vote for you. The fact is the so called reasonable moderates are why we're in this mess. Because they are the majority. If they backed Biden Trump wouldn't have a chance and it wouldn't come down to minority voters and college students at their first election.
if biden can't win re-election for president of the US because of gaza, maybe he should run for president of israel? /s
What?
And Bidens administration gets no blame for continuing to fund Israeli military units that have been found responsible for gross violations of human rights?
Most Americans, while disagreeing with and not liking Netanyahu and how he has gone about things, support Israel.
So it's a red line for Liberals? You wouldn't support Biden if he didn't support Israel? Where's all the bluster of vote blue no matter who? Why is it everyone else who has to fall in line but Biden takes one step out of line and suddenly the ones shaming everybody for not voting Biden are the ones staying home.
It’s a red line for democracy and the rule of law. You can protest, but in that process you aren’t free from consequences for breaking the law in doing so. No “protester immunity”. And there is a frame of law to work in to exercise your freedom of speech. Throwing your vote to cause the country serious harm though is not admirable. The whole attitude of protests in action and vote like this is to threaten harm unless the majority capitulates to your demands. This is not admirable.
Ah so the civil rights movement wasn't admirable? Desegregating schools wasn't admirable? After all, by the laws of the times, civil rights advocates were breaking the law so they deserved the consequences of all the hardships they faced at the hands of police according to you?
They broke the law for civil disobedience, were arrested, and went at it again. They did peaceful protests - they didn’t take over buildings and demand everyone give in to their demands or they’ll turn up the chaos. But you are inly interested in strawman arguments.
The civil rights and Vietnam protestors definitely took over buildings and demanded people give in or else they would turn up the chaos. In fact, they turned the heat up much much hotter than anything these kids have done. Have you ever heard of Malcolm X? Or the anti-war protests at Columbia college in the late 60s?
Students protesting against the Vietnam war and segregation had multiple sit ins and building occupations during the 60s, now hailed as important parts of those protests. They weren't wrong then, they aren't wrong now.
Most Americans support giving money to armies that commit Human rights violations?
No, they support allied democracies. And oppose countries ran by terrorist organizations.
This is a big deal, yes. However, it’s still a bit disappointing. It should be classified the same as alcohol, which is not at all.
That's not something Biden can control. He had the federal government reschedule it, and started that process 2 years ago. It's ultimately up to Congress to add or remove drugs from the controlled substances list, and up to the DEA or FDA to schedule the drugs on the list. Biden didn't even get to set the schedule, he just called for the evaluation of where it was. If you want it to be legalized, but for Congress folks that will support it.
Seniors fastest growing segment in that market
Feels like the classic this is what our base wants but we need to keep running on it. Yea I get Biden can’t straight legalize it. But if we get the majority in house and senate I wanna see the filibuster as it is removed and legalize weed. I don’t vote dem on this issue alone.
Funny how canabis always shows up as "about to be" legalized in election years where the DNC struggles or needs a distraction from campus protests on their watch, and then it never happens. Cannabis was a promise from the *LAST* election Joe. Do your freaking job, man. Stop trying to take a victory lap on headlines for "maybes".
Democrats tried to push marijuana legislation through Congress but Republicans were obstructionists as usual. Hard to pass anything when almost an entire party is opposed to something. Luckily, rescheduling doesn't require a Republican vote of approval.
This is fucking bullshit it’s being moved to schedule 3. It’s should be legal like it is in actual free countries.
I’m sorry that marijuana being rescheduled has upset you so much, but we’re going to make progress whether you like it or not
“Progress" you refer to is the breadcrumbs they feed you to keep you anesthetized, when you really deserve lobster. I’m sorry you don’t think you deserve better.
Agreed. If they aren't treating it like alcohol, it's just another lie to win votes.
Worked for Trudeau.
Good step, and something that wouldn't have happened under Trump or any other Republican, but I needs to be at least decriminalized at the federal level. Biden needs to push for that now
"Young" voters compared to Biden maybe
Hopefully it matters to the majority of us who are fine with adult rec. Somehow people forget that this and many other things the majority of us want, are only possible with Dems winning to keep the progress going. Many more people have healthcare now because Democrats kept working on it for us. Still a few loser states denying their people healthcare which is available in most states now, very sad. School meals for all in some states, thank you Dems! Adult use cannabis and home grow, women's rights, better pay and benefits for workers, right to repair, etc all things Democrats try to do that most of us agree with and want done. The corporate owner class needs to pay a lot more taxes too like in the boom years like 80%. After they get done with all their loopholes you know they never pay that much anyway.
Hardly an election year move when he did it 2 years ago. It just took HHS and DEA this long to do the mandatory review of the rescheduling and to have the information ready to change their rules and to inform congress of legislation changes.
My anti-Biden liberal friends are trying to spin this as either it happened too late, or it doesn’t go far enough. These friends of mine are so angry this is happening
All of our past 3 presidents have said legislation is on their schedule. I’m not holding my breath.
Yeah this is nice, but I don’t see how it’s going to make up for the WH’s atrocious messaging about the student protests, Biden circumventing congress to send weapons to Israel, or the TikTok bill/imminent ban. This is something we’ve been expecting for years, and frankly, I’ll believe it when I see it.
Does this mean you can’t be fired for pissing hot if you have a medical card?
Young voters? See lots and lots of old people using in place of pain medication poison.
Should trigger a green light for reelection 🪴!
overdue but welcome. and get minor offense pot people out of prison.
It won't do that. This would make cannabis a medicine that doctors can prescribe. That's it. No prescription, go to prison. Live in a state like Texas, there's no way you're getting a prescription.
Biden has pardonedthousands of people with minor pot offenses https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-22/biden-pardons-many-federal-marijuana-charges-commutes-others
All voters!
Now get rid of Louis DeJoy
If only there wasn’t something happening right now that is completely overshadowing this news.
Voters... quick poll. How many of you think this totally makes up for no calls for ceasefire and this administration's direct military aid going towards an ongoing genocide, and this is what will ultimately push you over the edge to vote for Biden?
Not near enough, boo.
Sorry that progress being made upsets you :(
While it’s a start, it does absolutely NOTHING for us folks who live in “dry” weed states like Texas. Hell, our legislators are about to ban all hemp products, removing from our market the low shitty THC Delta 8 products
If it’s rescheduled federally, but not in Texas, I guess you have some decisions to make
Biden be like "yes genocide is bad but how about some weed meanwhile ?"
“But we needed to punish Biden for Gaza!” he cried as Trump ceased Biden’s aid packages and provided unconditional arms to Israel fulfill his promise to help Netanyahu “finish it”
Who is finishing it through genocide right now in the real world rather than in an hypothetical scenario ? As if opposing Genocide Joe equals to endorsing Trump.
Notice they only start doing shit voters want when it's time to get elected
What shift? The pussy needs to end war on drugs and abolish the DEA entirely or he's a fucking failure.
Light(en) up, Francis.
Make no mistake, this is for pharma companies. Schedule III is still inaccessible without a prescription but does open the door for research. What about all the people sitting in jail for non-violent marijuana "crimes"?
The vast majority of people incarcerated for low level drug offenses are held under state penal codes. The president has no power over that. There were precious few of these prisoners in the federal system and most of them have already had their sentences commuted.
Yep
Great, now do EO 12564.
Helpful. However there’s an active genoc1de going on and Biden is throwing gas on that fire.
"Look we know you're upset about the genocide so what if we let you get high a bit?"
It needs to be taken off the CSA. This is not a win, it should be legalized.
My anti-Biden liberal friends are trying to spin this as either it happened too late, or it doesn’t go far enough. Like you, these friends of mine are so angry that progress is being made
It’s a slap in the face. Putting in par with codeine and ketamine. You should be allowed to grow it. I’m not anti-biden, I’m very pro Biden but I was also affected by the war on drugs growing up.
Bus drivers still can't use Marijuana, medical or recreational because of outdated and racist department of transportation rules. This announcement just makes me madder, knowing more people will be able to get high and I can't. I have to drive by medical Marijuana stores 20 times a day on my bus routes and I can't use it.
Wait…it makes you madder knowing you will soon get relief from these rules? Wild reason to be mad
I won't get relief because the DOT regulation won't change just because it is rescheduled. I have chronic neck and back pain because of my job that I never had before I became a bus driver, and I can't use medical Marijuana for pain relief. The DOT regulations won't change with any new law or reschedule.