Congress quietly ends federal government's ban on medical marijuana
Source: LAT
Tucked deep inside the 1,603-page federal spending measure is a provision that effectively ends the federal government's prohibition on medical marijuana and signals a major shift in drug policy.
The bill's passage over the weekend marks the first time Congress has approved nationally significant legislation backed by legalization advocates. It brings almost to a close two decades of tension between the states and Washington over medical use of marijuana.
Under the provision, states where medical pot is legal would no longer need to worry about federal drug agents raiding retail operations. Agents would be prohibited from doing so.
The Obama administration has largely followed that rule since last year as a matter of policy. But the measure approved as part of the spending bill, which President Obama plans to sign this week, will codify it as a matter of law.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-medical-pot-20141216-story.html
midnight
(26,624 posts)organically.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)That's how it's done.
midnight
(26,624 posts)jtuck004
(15,882 posts)ancianita
(36,160 posts)midnight
(26,624 posts)ancianita
(36,160 posts)At the secret
compromises
deals
drawn up scenarios to whip partisan attention, fear and futile action
sellouts of law, from the Constitution down to police due force.
I want to join the "Shut It Down" crowd now.
Volaris
(10,275 posts)Phillip Morris, Phizer and Monsanto want to legally play with the same good toys as the REAL people.
It WILL happen, that the only legal cannabis will be what THEY sell you.
ancianita
(36,160 posts)smart deal cutting that has nothing at all to do with the banks getting a change in Dodd-Frank. Thanks for that cold splash in the face! I damned well get all that. I'm talking about the timings of the issues we've been bitching about for so long.
That, and the party infiltrations I've just been learning about. Don't bother explaining that, either. I do my homework.
GreatGazoo
(3,937 posts)yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)While we Democrats focus on a couple paragraphs and a couple pages, we are missing the forest for the tree!
There are gems hidden in these 1,600 pages -- this budget is gold compared to the 2015 Ryan budget sent to the Senate from the House. Democrats kicked ass!
As usual, we fail to tell the people the positives, and focus on our losses. Who wants to vote for losers?
Cha
(297,809 posts)Now...if all you care about is sticking it to Wall Street, the current battle among Democrats over this bill might be worth having. But - if you also care about enforcing the critical aspects of Wall Street reform, Obamacare, the President's actions on immigration, early childhood education, climate change, job growth, and national security - all this hysteria is simply a distraction.
snip//
UPDATE: I just learned that the "push-out" rule that is eliminated in the cromnibus was the brainchild of former Senator Blanche Lincoln. So excuse me if I'm a little skeptical about how important it is. Apparently it doesn't affect all derivative swaps - not even most of them.
In brief, the Pushout required federally insured banks to move-push out-some swaps dealing activities to separate subsidiaries that do not have access to federal deposit insurance. This does not apply to all swaps, mind you. Not even to the bulk of them (interest rate swaps, many CDS). But just to commodity derivatives (other than gold), equity derivatives, and un-cleared CDS.
MOre..
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2014/12/did-cromnibus-kill-wall-street-reform.html
yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)After Elizabeth Warren made her epic speech on the floor - which I saw as a tirade against too-big-to-fail and Congress's failure to ever do anything about that - Senator Barbara Mikulski explained exactly how this rider was limited to some reasonable concessions. But you should have seen the 6 other riders attached! Mikulski pointed out not only did her subcommittee eliminate the other riders, but the Republicans agreed to increased funding for the Federal agencies responsible for watching this one concession.
Cha
(297,809 posts)candelista
(1,986 posts)The Department of Justice confirmed to The Huffington Post after the raid that it was executing a search warrant on The Farmacy dispensary in Los Angeles, but said the warrant was under seal and it could not comment further.
Beginning around 10:30 a.m. Thursday morning, several DEA agents raided two dispensary locations of LA-based The Farmacy dispensary, one in West Hollywood and the other in Westwood, taking money, cannabis and computers in the process. Staff members at the West Hollywood location said there were no arrests made at either shop. It remains unclear how much money and cannabis was seized during the operation.
This was seven weeks ago. WTF?
JackInGreen
(2,975 posts)do you really think that they'd be stopped if they could take the time and resources off the book? I don't mean, like, an authorized behind the scenes thing, but they don't see any accountability anyway, so who's to stop them?
fbc
(1,668 posts)You can't expect Obama to control the DEA.
heaven05
(18,124 posts)holder...... .........in a sarcastic sort of way....
Ruby the Liberal
(26,219 posts)Step in the right direction, IMO.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)This provision, once highly controversial, sailed by unnoticed by most and very interestingly with most of the strong proponents of this provision and other cannabis reforms voting against it, because they were against the larger bill. Byzantine. Convoluted. Strange ways and oddball means.
It is a lesson of some sort.
NBachers
(17,149 posts)Maybe we need to let her know:
Melinda L Haag, U.S. Attorney
450 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 436-7200
Melinda.Haag@usdoj.gov
Facebook's Fire Melinda Haag page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/FIRE-Melinda-Haag/280777645334358
SCVDem
(5,103 posts)pre-employment piss tests we will have made real progress!
CrispyQ
(36,540 posts)TRoN33
(769 posts)Big Pharma must be real pissed and want to punish people who support medical marijuana by rise the cost of medications.
Renew Deal
(81,883 posts)that was otherwise legal?
jwirr
(39,215 posts)darling who tucked that in? Whoever, thank you.
Ruby the Liberal
(26,219 posts)Don't know on the other questions.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)But it means that the feds generally aren't going to interfere in states where medical marijuana is legal.
That may encourage other states to get on the bandwagon.
It should go into effect with the new fiscal year. July 1?
jwirr
(39,215 posts)medical MJ and the Supreme Court's ruling on use and growing on reservations it makes sense to finally legalize it.
SpankMe
(2,970 posts)But, they really need to take MJ off of the federal schedule. Alcohol isn't a scheduled substance, and yet affects the brain more than pot and is more responsible for more accidents and crimes than MJ would be if MJ was legal like alcohol is.
I'm not a pot smoker - I'm not interested in it, plus my job would prohibit me from using it, even of it were legal. But, I recognize how useless and destructive the criminalization of it is.
mountain grammy
(26,659 posts)marijuana from the federal schedule. Of course, Congress is way to busy passing anti woman's rights bills to take up anything else.
asiliveandbreathe
(8,203 posts)for the language - almost word for word from Citigroup - we, the tax payers will bail out the banks when their bets go south - once again - but in the words of many - don't pay any attention to the man behind removing regulations put in place by Dodd-Frank!
Yep folks...we all live in Kansas now!
I would hope the President would apply a statement, regarding this deregulation, to this abomination in the spending bill.
Javaman
(62,534 posts)we can at least smoke a joint and distress about it.
I guess that's something.
asiliveandbreathe
(8,203 posts)sammy750
(165 posts)will be doing the next 2 years. They will most likely destroy the USA and people with bills they pass. The GOP is really our Taliban. We see the mass killing of school kids trying to get an education. Well The GOP don't want an educated population. They get their votes from the dumbest and most uneducated, not the smart voters. So education is a hinderance to the GOP.
sunnystarr
(2,638 posts)and stick to replying once in a while. I posted this story late yesterday afternoon and it hardly got a nod or notice - for what I considered to be groundbreaking and a long time coming. http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251390589
At least I can be assured that someone else will always get the story out here. Somehow I always get the feeling that you have to be in the right clique for anyone to bother reading what you post.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)You just never know.
The one thing I will say is you get more attention when you post in mornings or evenings than when you post other parts of the day, for obvious reasons.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)riversedge
(70,350 posts)Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)and then, a few days later, updated them, posted again, & got 90 recs. Sometimes you begin to suspect that behind all this caprice there's a random number generator that decides these things behind the scenes.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)they can avoid them entirely. One's perspective, and sometimes freedom, is almost always enhanced by distance.
sunnystarr
(2,638 posts)Thanks for the encouraging words. It was great to feel supported.
Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)Gamble with. Now shops will be able to transfer money to banks, but will it be there? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Ruby the Liberal
(26,219 posts)in order to do business with anyone in the MMJ industry without risking huge fines and potential shutdowns. Until that happens, no accounts will be opened by any bank that is under OCC oversight.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)to the congress member to ask for the provision. I'd like to see who lobbied the congress member for the provision endorsement.
Rohrabacher has been pro-MM for a long time, he is a wingnut, but he likes MM.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)He has an organized website.
http://rohrabacher.house.gov/legislation/sponsored-bills
bemildred
(90,061 posts)shanti
(21,675 posts)Now maybe all of the dispensaries that were closed after 2011 in Sacramento County will open again! We used to have a bunch then, but they shut down in fear of forfeiture. Now ther are but a handful.
Chakaconcarne
(2,466 posts)And/ or is this just to appear as if they are going more mainstream?
locks
(2,012 posts)the District of Columbia that they aren't wise enough to use local control to legalize marijuana.