The Democratic Party’s hard right views on marijuana

OK, maybe they are a bit less bad than the GOP, but this is truly inexcusable in the era of Black Lives Matter:

It’s 2020 and the leadership of the Democratic Party still cannot get it together on marijuana legalization, which two-thirds of Americans support. . . .

Marijuana Moment reports that on Monday the Democratic National Committee rejected an amendment to put a plank supporting marijuana legalization into the party’s platform. The final vote against, 50-106, is almost a perfect inversion of the two-thirds of the public who want legalization.

This issue is like a thousand times more important than Confederate statues.

On the state and local level, marijuana offenses still account for 40 percent of drug-related arrests. And the vast majority of those arrests (more than 90 percent) are for possession, not manufacture or sale.

Biden stands with the 32% of Americans with especially stupid and mean-spirited views.

What a disgrace. Let’s see how progressives react to this news. Can delegates vote to overrule the Platform Committee? Would they even wish to?


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24 Responses to “The Democratic Party’s hard right views on marijuana”

  1. Gravatar of Tom Brown Tom Brown
    28. July 2020 at 14:45

    True

  2. Gravatar of Skeptical Skeptical
    28. July 2020 at 15:24

    African American Boomers/Silent Gen oppose it.

    If your assumption is that Biden is generally aligned policy-wise with African American Boomers/Silent Gen then everything makes sense. Whether it’s marijuana, M4A, or illegal immigration policy.

  3. Gravatar of Stoner Stoner
    28. July 2020 at 15:28

    Legalize it and heavily discourage it, like tobacco and alcohol (well even more so). My wife keeps getting addicted now that the state next door legalized it. We need to run full stop propaganda campaigns that it’s a bad thing to do because as it stands everyone thinks it’s cool and harmless which it is not. Though maybe it’s better than alcohol.

  4. Gravatar of Benjamin Cole Benjamin Cole
    28. July 2020 at 15:57

    Agreed.

    I wish Scott Summers would concentrate more on his forte, which is monetary policy. There are interesting things going on monetary policy in Indonesia, Great Britain, and Mainland China.

    I wish somebody would try to disentangle and explain China monetary policy, especially as it relates to fiscal policy and credit policies, and the treatment of sour loans in the Sino of banking system.

    After all, China has performed well through the 2009 and 2020 debacles.

    Why?

  5. Gravatar of Benjamin Cole Benjamin Cole
    28. July 2020 at 18:44

    Add on: just be glad marijuana legalization is at least up for discussion.

    A constitutional ban on property zoning would do more for the employee class of America than anything the Donks are jibber-jabbering about… but it remains a verboten topic.

  6. Gravatar of bb bb
    28. July 2020 at 18:57

    Scott,
    100% agree with everything you wrote. Hopefully the states continue to advance this cause, and Biden appoints an AG that is smart enough to look the other way.

  7. Gravatar of jancie jancie
    28. July 2020 at 23:07

    What does Marijuana have to do with BLM? BLM is a Marxist group, right?
    My only issue with legalizing drugs is the threat that drugs have to productivity, and the economy more generally. If you have a nation of addicted brainless losers, then you will not be a very prosperous one. Just look at what opium did to China!

  8. Gravatar of rayward rayward
    29. July 2020 at 04:31

    The power of impure political alliances: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/praise-impure-alliances/614695/

  9. Gravatar of mike mike
    29. July 2020 at 05:02

    I don’t see any correlation between BLM and Marijuana. The former is a disillusioned mob.

    Legalizing drugs is probably a bad idea. Teens will become addicted, drug dens will replace Friday night clubbing, and the US will be a scene out of the walking dead. Addiction is not a joke. People have a hard enough time controlling their alcohol abuse. And you want to introduce meth and cocaine? That would be the end of the US as we know it…

  10. Gravatar of Michael Rulle Michael Rulle
    29. July 2020 at 05:56

    Why do you quote Biden on anything? His views have always sat on a foundation of wind blown shifting sands and mean nothing. He has no “views”. His views matter less to day due to weaker mental faculties.

    Pot should be legal. But Pot is not harmless. But lots of Harmful things are legal——in fact most things which can create harm are legal, as they should be.

    But I care more about the illegal destruction of private and government property—-today at least—-then I care about pot legalization.

  11. Gravatar of ssumner ssumner
    29. July 2020 at 16:45

    Stoner, You of all people are opposed to pot. I’m shocked!

    mike, You said:

    “and the US will be a scene out of the walking dead.”

    Yeah, the 10 states that legalized pot have all become hell holes. I’m afraid to walk outside my door in California.

    And let’s not even talk about 1912, when hard drugs were legal in America. What a nightmare!

  12. Gravatar of Michael Sandifer Michael Sandifer
    29. July 2020 at 17:33

    Scott,

    Do you think it’s more likely that the Democratic Party is simply incompetent on this issue, genuinely conservative on the issue, or concerned about a small minority of voters, perhaps older voters, who might make a large difference in November?

  13. Gravatar of Raver Raver
    29. July 2020 at 23:41

    Scott,
    Off topic but on topic for this blog given your intetrst in markets. Why doesn’t someone start a market in which you can short business ideas? If someone wants to open another Italian restaurant in my neighborhood, why can’t I short that?

    If you believe in progress, why shouldn’t such a market exist in the future?

    Should I get into the business of starting such a market or would that bar crazy?

  14. Gravatar of Ray Lopez Ray Lopez
    30. July 2020 at 02:34

    Shorter SS: “stoned again”.

    OT – Biden is one tough cookie, despite his mushy and befuddled grandpa looks. How many of you know that his son died of a brain tumor as a man, and Biden had the top of his head sawed off to treat, when he was younger, two brain aneurysms? Meanwhile Trump complains about his bone spurs.

  15. Gravatar of Ray Lopez Ray Lopez
    30. July 2020 at 02:38

    @Raver – lol. You amuse me. How’s that Robinhood day trading working out? FYI Google your absurd proposal. Start with this: “Why can’t I run an illegal gambling operation out of my home that bets on whether the US stock market will finish green or red for the day?” and work backwards…

    @Dr. Ben Cole – you should embrace Modern Monetary Theory wholeheartedly. It would make you more trendy, more modern.

  16. Gravatar of dtoh dtoh
    30. July 2020 at 04:20

    IMHO, we should legalize the sale and criminalize the use of marijuana.

  17. Gravatar of Justin Justin
    30. July 2020 at 07:00

    –“On the state and local level, marijuana offenses still account for 40 percent of drug-related arrests. And the vast majority of those arrests (more than 90 percent) are for possession, not manufacture or sale.”–

    What proportion of such arrests are for marijuana possession alone, rather than in tandem with other charges?

    My wife worked at a police station for a while, and a lot of times drug possession would be one of multiple charges when a person was taken into custody. Most people arrested would be promptly released by the courts, leading my wife to describe the whole process as a catch and release system.

    My expectation is that the vast majority of these people would have been arrested anyway for other reasons. Nevertheless, I do think there are good pragmatic reasons to decriminalize possession but at the same time culturally discourage use, same as we do for binge drinking.

  18. Gravatar of Mike Hinton Mike Hinton
    30. July 2020 at 08:40

    I thought elites were supposed to have the *better* set of views.

  19. Gravatar of Justin Justin
    30. July 2020 at 09:40

    –“Do you think it’s more likely that the Democratic Party is simply incompetent on this issue, genuinely conservative on the issue, or concerned about a small minority of voters, perhaps older voters, who might make a large difference in November?”–

    Likely the latter.

    Whenever you advocate for a position, you will encourage some voters and turn other voters off.

    Democrats probably already have the legalize it crowd pretty locked up, whereas older voters are probably leaning Trump and don’t need to be pushed further. Then again, Democrats are saying things like defund the police, which probably also is poorly received by older voters. So who knows.

  20. Gravatar of Christian List Christian List
    30. July 2020 at 10:57

    Biden stands with the 32% of Americans with especially stupid and mean-spirited views.

    Scott,

    this is the view of an offended child or teenager, who can only imagine that stupidity or malevolence must be the reason of the opposing opinion. What else could it be? How childish.

    At first glance, it’s a good sign that Biden doesn’t subscribe to the populist majority opinion just like that, even though it might be really useful for him. It could be a positive sign.

    In this specific case, however, there are also negative aspects. I’ve read quite some articles and interviews in the NYT, the Atlantic and Newsweek, about Biden’s position and it’s really hard to figure out what exactly Biden’s position is and why.

    Is there coherence and substance? There doesn’t seem to be all that much to it. What is his problem? Can’t he explain his position well enough? Or is he just trying to be careful and thoughtful? Did he really think this through? Or is he just too old and confused? The information on Biden regarding this subject is quite contradictory, so that unfortunately one does not learn what is going in his head.

    The Reason article is unfortunately, as so often, not much better in terms of information and argumentation. Partisan media such as Reason would be much more convincing and better if they tried to explain pros and cons openly and honestly. Instead, they almost only print propaganda. But with this strategy you mostly convince partisan believers who have already converted to your camp anyway.

    The interview with Biden in the NYT is particularly bad. They don’t really ask tough questions and Biden gets away with one unspecified platitude after another. And not only on the subject of cannabis, but on almost all issues.

    @Justin

    My expectation is that the vast majority of these people would have been arrested anyway for other reasons.

    That’s a good point actually. Imagine the other side being right and America IS a racist hellhole that only wants to achieve one thing with the cannabis laws: putting as many black people as possible in prison for a really long time and unjustly.

    As a black man, how would you react to a crazy world like this??? You would have to be very undisciplined and crazy to sell and use cannabis in such a world. How mad would that be?

    Cannabis is not essential for anything, it is a luxury hipster drug that makes you stoned, nothing more. Nobody has to take this stuff, we don’t even know how addictive it can get, the pro-marijuana propaganda camp likes to claim one does not get addicted at all.

    Imagine living as an atheist in a strictly religious country and alcohol is forbidden under penalty of death. The first thing you would do, of course, is drink and buy alcohol. Really??? How crazy would this person be?

    These people have completely different problems when they react like this in such a situation.

    No matter how “unjust” the law itself may be. If you can’t live without cannabis or alcohol in such a situation, you have much more serious serious problems, which will not disappear with the legalization of cannabis at all. But don’t worry, the SJWs will immediately come up with the next absurd “explanation” and excuse.

  21. Gravatar of ssumner ssumner
    30. July 2020 at 11:31

    Michael, I certainly doubt they are genuinely conservative.

    Raver, I doubt there’s much interest in such a market.

    dtoh, It’s a comment on the appalling evil of our current policy regime that your evil proposal would actually be a distinct improvement over current law.

    Justin, This is not directed at you (more at Christian), but I just shake my head when I read the “they’re guilty anyway” argument. Most small business people are probably also guilty of at least some tax evasion. Would that excuse locked them up on some trumped up charge. It’s amazing how easily some people sleep at night without thinking of the 400,000 people in prison for drug offenses.

    Mike, Yes, that thought also occurred to me. I believe there are other issues like right to die where you see this as well. The Boston Globe opposed the referendum in Massachusetts.

    Christian, You said:

    “this is the view of an offended child or teenager, who can only imagine that stupidity or malevolence must be the reason of the opposing opinion.”

    LOL, I’ll try to recall your moral relativism next time you post some over the top comment on the evil CCP.

    And see my reply to Justin.

    I suppose you also think that lots of those Uighers are terrorist sympathizers anyway, right? That’s the view of many in the Chinese public.

  22. Gravatar of Christian List Christian List
    30. July 2020 at 12:23

    Scott,

    you said yourself that the CCP is evil, for a great many reasons.

    You even called them fascist very recently. So I wonder what “over the top comment” on the CCP I made that is worse than calling them fascist.

    Somehow you seem to think I said something worse or beyond fascist. It’s hard to tell what’s that supposed to be.

    And about your other point: I would not call people stupid or mean based solely on the fact that they’re against the complete legalization of cannabis.

    but I just shake my head when I read the “they’re guilty anyway” argument.

    Scott,

    I do not support being punished for possession of small quantities or for consumption.

    I am simply saying that I consider the immense expectations and promises associated with the legalization plans to be unrealistic. Many people will be disappointed, and I suspect, that in the end, when the dust has settled, not so much will have changed.

    I have also said that I do not understand the motivation of certain actors. Either the US is really so vicious and draconian when it comes down to cannabis, as many people claim, but then it’s kind of crazy to be active in this field.

    Or the US is really not so draconian as it’s claimed, then it would make more sense to be active in this field.

  23. Gravatar of Justin Justin
    30. July 2020 at 18:02

    Scott,

    What I was trying to say is that I suspect the marijuana possession charge is very often some minor charge tacked on to a more serious offense, such as DUI, possession of illegal weapons, grand theft auto, etc. Sort of like a seat belt citation given after the cop pulls you over for reckless op.

    It’s an anecdote from a small urban municipality police department, but I asked my wife specifically about this over an almost 2 year period, she didn’t recall a single person arrested solely on marijuana possession (small amount for personal consumption), but plenty of people arrested for other reasons who also happened to have marijuana on their person or in their vehicle.

    I’m sure it happens, that people are arrested just for marijuana, but my guess is that the vast majority of current marijuana offenders would be in jail (or at least have been arrested) for a separate offense we could all agree is more serious.

    I’m open to evidence that this is a serious problem but I don’t trust vague statistics like 40% of people in jail for drug offenses are in for marijuana “alone”. I would need something that controls for other crimes.

  24. Gravatar of dtoh dtoh
    30. July 2020 at 19:21

    Scott,
    If I am not mistaken, you don’t think marijuana consumption is a good thing, you just think it’s bad to put people in jail for its consumption. Would that be an accurate description of your views?

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