It comes after President Joe Biden called for a review of federal marijuana law in October 2022 and moved to pardon thousands of Americans convicted federally of simple possession of the drug. He has also called on governors and local leaders to take similar steps to erase marijuana convictions.

“Criminal records for marijuana use and possession have imposed needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities,” Biden said in December. “Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. It’s time that we right these wrongs.”

The election year announcement could help Biden, a Democrat, boost flagging support, particularly among younger voters.

Biden and a growing number of lawmakers from both major political parties have been pushing for the DEA decision as marijuana has become increasingly decriminalized and accepted, particularly by younger people. A Gallup poll last fall found 70% of adults support legalization, the highest level yet recorded by the polling firm and more than double the roughly 30% who backed it in 2000.

The DEA didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment.

Schedule III drugs are still controlled substances and subject to rules and regulations, and people who traffic in them without permission could still face federal criminal prosecution.

Some critics argue the DEA shouldn’t change course on marijuana, saying rescheduling isn’t necessary and could lead to harmful side effects.

Jack Riley, a former deputy administrator of the DEA, said he had concerns about the proposed change because he thinks marijuana remains a possible “gateway drug,” one that may lead to the use of other drugs.

“But in terms of us getting clear to use our resources to combat other major drugs, that’s a positive,” Riley said, noting that fentanyl alone accounts for more than 100,000 deaths in the U.S. a year.

On the other end of the spectrum, others argue marijuana should be treated the way alcohol is.

Last week, 21 Democrats led by Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York sent a letter to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram and Attorney General Merrick Garland arguing marijuana should be dropped from the controlled-substances list and instead regulated like alcohol.

“It is time for the DEA to act,” the lawmakers wrote. “Right now, the Administration has the opportunity to resolve more than 50 years of failed, racially discriminatory marijuana policy.”

Federal drug policy has lagged behind many states in recent years, with 38 having already legalized medical marijuana and 24 legalizing its recreational use.

That’s helped fuel fast growth in the marijuana industry, with an estimated worth of nearly $30 billion. Easing federal regulations could reduce the tax burden that can be 70% or more for businesses, according to industry groups. It could also make it easier to research marijuana, since it’s very difficult to conduct authorized clinical studies on Schedule I substances.

The immediate effect of rescheduling on the nation’s criminal justice system would likely be more muted, since federal prosecutions for simple possession have been fairly rare in recent years.

But loosening restrictions could carry a host of unintended consequences in the drug war and beyond.

Critics point out that as a Schedule III drug, marijuana would remain regulated by the DEA. That means the roughly 15,000 cannabis dispensaries in the U.S. would have to register with the DEA like regular pharmacies and fulfill strict reporting requirements, something that they are loath to do and that the DEA is ill equipped to handle.

Then there’s the United States’ international treaty obligations, chief among them the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, which requires the criminalization of cannabis. In 2016, during the Obama administration, the DEA cited the U.S.’ international obligations and the findings of a federal court of appeals in Washington in denying a similar request to reschedule marijuana.
___

It's over. Biden just won the 2024 election.

Time to buy back into some of those cannabis corps until this actually goes through.

Buy on rumor, sell on news.

After 50+ years in government he's finally going to do it, faggots! It's definitely going to happen this time! They surely wouldn't keep lying about it forever!

>>1291505
This is not rumor, the DEA proposal to reclassify is already moving through the system. Granted that it will take months before it's enacted but this is more than just a whispers about what might happen, it's actually happening.

Jim Crow Joe and his handlers making more false promises before an election.
Where have I seen this before?

>>1291522
What makes you think the promises are false (besides your far-right indoctrination) ?

>>1291497
At very least his approval rating just went up 30 or 40 points.

>>1291536
>30 or 40 points.
the absolute delusional

>>1291539
So how much do you think his rating is going to go up from this then, Nate Silver?

>>1291542
absolutely none, because nobody buys this ridiculous bullshit.

>>1291544
What in your mind makes it ridiculous bullshit (besides your far-right indoctrination) ?

>>1291566
They aren't going to legalize weed, and even if they did it wouldn't make any difference in voting, which is why nobody cares and they aren't going to.

>>1291567
No one said he was going to legalize it, just move it from Schedule I to Schedule III. It still would be as illegal as ketamine, just not as illegal as heroin or cocaine as it is now.

SLIDE IT

>>1291508
>After 50+ years in government he's finally going to do it, faggots! It's definitely going to happen this time! They surely wouldn't keep lying about it forever!

for sure gonna happen AFTER the election

>>1291592
I don't get why you think it wouldn't happen ASAP

>>1291593
>literally born yesterday

>>1291594
I understand you hate the government but give them some credit for fixing something they got wrong 80 years ago.

>>1291566
>>1291533
Bot

>>1291608
Wow, this guy ova 'ere knows the long term effects of marijuana.
Betcha he also knows the long term effects of second hand marijuana smoke on children, and marijuana's effects on developing children, ove 'ere.

>>1291629
Name something besides water you ingest which doesn't have any long term effects. The air you breathe has long term effects ffs.

>>1291632
Menthol cigarettes.

>>1291635
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zXDo4dL7SU

>>1291632
Thanks, retard.
>Everything has effects
No shit. BUT WHAT ARE THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS?
Fucking moron.

>>1291487
>hey jack, I know you're real torn up about the whole Palestine thing. How 'bout you have a joint and loosen up?

>>1291647
Ask Andy Kaufman. Oh wait you can't because he died of lung cancer 40 years ago despite never smoking anything.

>>1291650
Even Fauci admitted cigarettes don't cause lung cancer during the pandemic.
Short answer is: you have no answer.

>>1291656
we've reached peak contrarianism

>>1291657
Have we?

>>1291663
Are you trying to be an edgy contrarian?

>>1291508
>It's definitely going to happen this time! They surely wouldn't keep lying about it forever!
I have no clue where you people get the idea that federal policy like this depends on what the president feels like and not national sentiment. You do realize that support for marijuana legalization has only peaked in the last 10 or so years, right? In what universe would Biden, or congress attempt to legalize marijuana in like 1994 when national polls were at like 15% in favor?

>>1291567
There are tons of people who have never voted that would come out in support of him if he legalized it. There are probably even life long Republicans who would flip if he did it

>>1291696
>You do realize that support for marijuana legalization has only peaked in the last 10 or so years, right?
..I have to imagine that the people who say shit like this have never actually smoked cannabis, or been around other people who smoke cannabis.
In states like Washington, cannabis runs through the state like a river and has done so for half a century. Everybody knows at least one person who smokes.
Also, legalization means literally nothing. People who have indulged in the lightning lettuce are going to continue to purchase it illegally because the taxes on cannabis make it prohibitively expensive to purchase through dispensaries.

>>1291696
>national sentiment shapes policy
wow, that's bright, had to shield my eyes

>>1291698
>..I have to imagine that the people who say shit like this have never actually smoked cannabis, or been around other people who smoke cannabis.
It speaks a lot about your engagement with the topic that you think smoking weed or being around people who smoke weed has anything to do with national politics. Having a bunch of friends that smoke weed is great but that's an irrelevant anecdote. Polling and legislative support is what indicates where laws are going - not how many people you know that smoke weed.

>In states like Washington, cannabis runs through the state like a river and has done so for half a century. Everybody knows at least one person who smokes.
That's great. This has no impact on anything I said. National support for legalizing marijuana, in the 1990s and on a federal level, hovered around 15-20%. People didn't want it. As time moved on and support grew, the more liberal states like Oregon, California and Washington legalized at first and its been progressing ever since. This is just an objective fact.

>Also, legalization means literally nothing.
Well, you're wrong, both economically and criminally.

>>1291700
>wow, that's bright, had to shield my eyes
Yeah, imagine being in a thread with people so low IQ that you actually have to say something this obvious.

>>1291703
>It speaks a lot about your engagement with the topic that you think smoking weed or being around people who smoke weed has anything to do with national politics.
Didn't we just establish that federal policy is based on national sentiment?
Would you like to try again, reddit-spacing retard-kun?
>That's great. This has no impact on anything I said.
You should spend more time reading the posts of the anons you are trying to mimic.
>Well, you're wrong, both economically and criminally.
Confirmed for not living in a legal state.

>>1291714
>Didn't we just establish that federal policy is based on national sentiment?
Your friends who you smoke weed with are not the nation you fucking moron. "National polls say this thing is unpopular but everyone I know really likes it!" is the argument of a toddler. The world is larger than your social circle. Your personal anecdotes are irrelevant to national sentiment, anon.

>You should spend more time reading the posts of the anons you are trying to mimic.
Not an argument.

>Confirmed for not living in a legal state.
Not an argument. Thanks for playing.

>>1291714
>>Well, you're wrong, both economically and criminally.
>Confirmed for not living in a legal state.
Legal marijuana brings in billions of dollars in taxable revenue for states every year. California alone has made over 5B since 2018
https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/news/23-07.htm#:~:text=Since%20January%202018%2C%20total%20cannabis,of%20cannabis%20tax%20reform%20legislation.

>>1291717
>Legal marijuana brings in billions of dollars in taxable revenue for states every year.
Compare and contrast this to the black market, which has existed for fifty years at the very least.

>>1291720
>Compare and contrast this to the black market, which has existed for fifty years at the very least.
The contrast is that the black market doesn't generate revenue for the state you absolute buffoon.

>>1291716
> "National polls say this thing is unpopular but everyone I know really likes it!"
Anon, states have been holding massive weed conferences and festivals before you were born.

There are literally acres of wild cannabis plants growing in the ditches of the I-5 corridor from California to Washington because smokers pick the seeds out of their weed and throwing it out the window. You're a faggot liar if you think weed only became popular in the last ten years.

>>1291721
>an industry doesn't generate revenue for the state
>that means the industry doesn't exist
Alright you guys need to kill yourselves, you're clearly too stupid to argue with.

>>1291722
>Anon, states have been holding massive weed conferences and festivals before you were born.
This has absolutely nothing to do with voter sentiment, anon.

>There are literally acres of wild cannabis plants growing in the ditches of the I-5 corridor from California to Washington because smokers pick the seeds out of their weed and throwing it out the window. You're a faggot liar if you think weed only became popular in the last ten years.
I don't really know how to speak to you. You seem to conflate people who smoke weed with active voting populaces and I don't know how to bridge that gap for you. If you had bothered to read anything I said my claim was that ELECTORAL SUPPORT FOR LEGALIZING MARIJUANA has only peaked in the last ten years or so, not people who like and smoke weed. Please, anon, this conversation will go so much smoother if you just read what people are saying to you before reflexively responding.

>>1291723
You're actually illiterate. You're not following the conversation at all.

>>1291721
>"Compare and contrast state revenue to the black market!"
>"Well, the contrast is that the black market doesn't generate revenue for the state"
>"OH SO YOU'RE SAYING THE BLACK MARKET DOESN'T EXIST???"
Please go away. The adults are talking here.

>>1291717
Now tell me how much the private prison system made off marijuana incarcerations in just one year

>>1291750
Little to none

>Biden literally pulling an Andrew Cuomo
Ironic, his penning of the 1994 crime bill put thousands of people in jail for marijuana possession- now he thinks undoing his crime against humanity will save his election chances? Lmao

>>1291754
Republicans loved it what are you talking about

>>1291766
Well, none of us thought it was a bad thing.
We're just pointing out your ideological inconsistency, knowing full well you don't really care.

>>1291754
The 1994 crime bill actually didn't alter drug crime laws or enforcement. Had to do with a ton of other shit, but not that.

Not saying Biden never had involvement with the criminalization of drug use/sales, but you're just wrong on this shit.

Also it's poetic, not ironic. He campaigned on reducing drug enforcement vis a vis pot and this is broadly politically popular, especially after decades of the drug war proving an abject and costly failure and pot turning out to have medical uses and being less destructive than alcohol or tobacco.

>>1291777
It's really funny to see people criticizing the democrats for the crime bill in the 90s when the entire point was Newt Gringrich's hyperconservative house of reps wouldn't allow passage of anything less stringent.

>>1291566
Because by now stoners actually read these laws and can identify a nothingburger as it isn't getting legalized for recreational use. Getting it legalized in so many states required us to take actual political action and with the internet making it so much easier to communicate, we've gotten a lot better at identifying this shit. Besides, we're all getting it decriminalized where it counts these days, in state law, or just doing it illegally already, nobody gives a shit.

>>1291571
This.

>>1291751
Kamala Harris made plenty off it.

>>1291784
Biden authored the bill though.
And I'm not criticizing it, but you Biden supporters and voters sure should be.
Instead, you voted for Biden.
What retards.

>>1291792
Shhhh. They don't know their biggest beefs with the US criminal justice system are due to their team.
It's funny. Keep laughing at them.

>>1291803
>Instead, you voted for Biden.
Because he said he'd loosen current laws.
>What retards.
He's loosening current laws, dipshit. That's what this thread is about.

The
>You fucking dipshit, you voted for the same bullshit that fucked up last time and expected a different outcome and just got the same bullshit again.
criticism doesn't work when we actually get a different fucking outcome.

How many more felonies do you want your candidate to get the opportunity to rack up, btw? Trump's not even promising to change. He's just promising to fail to make america great again again.

>>1291813
>The guy whose policy I hate said he'd reverse policy.
Listen 'ere to this copin' sack'a bananas.

>>1291487
I hope the UK does this too. But the UK will never follo suit, because the UK is built to n misery and suffering. They can't allow people to get even a whiff of real laxation or freedom, lest they wake up and realise how much they've been scammed their whole life and their want more.

>>1291805
>Shhhh. They don't know their biggest beefs with the US criminal justice system are due to their team.
>It's funny. Keep laughing at them.


what did they mean by this?

>>1291833
You guys have an election coming up, don't you? You could at least try to get the ball rolling.

>>1291813
>criticism doesn't work when we actually get a different fucking outcome.

The big dripping dick of the criminal justice system finally removing itself from your asshole isn't proof the dick is now your friend because you voted correctly. It means you literally suffer from Stockholm syndrome and allow politicians to abuse you because you're a servile nitwit. Both Biden and Harris built their careers on putting people in jail for pot possession, Harris especially while she was in Cali.

It has nothing to do with doing whats right or even what he promised, and you know it. The only reason he's doing this is because he's getting BTFO in the polls. Andrew Cuomo tried this in NY and they still literally ran him out of office so hard he left his dog behind.

You're happy to be a lick-spittle for corruption and power as long as it throws you a bone in your cage once in a while. Pathetic.

>>1291698
every white person i know in CA buys from dispensaries

>>1291698
>>1291888
I guess I should actually say LA, Humboldt I'm sure doesnt buy from dispensaries

>>1291497
>>1291536
why do you think there are that many weed addicts?
>>1291487
expect a massive crime spike. every single time weed has been legalized crimes has gone up because weed makes people violent retards

>>1291898
How was the DARE conference?

>>1291900
there are dozens of peer reviewed articles that show how in places like oregon violent crime and property crime when up when weed was legalized or in norway how weed was associated with violence in men. I don't understand why you retards think a highly addictive drug that fucks with people's brains doesn't do anything

>>1291902
How's it feel to be perpetually stuck in 1950?

Freedom hating Republicans just can't stop being fascist faggots

>>1291697
If it's legalized and that's all they care about, why would they bother to vote for him after the fact?

>>1291904
Legalize weed, but ban menthols. Hmmm.

>>1291903
>no argument
>muh 50s
you are a weed addict
>>1291904
>banning guns and speech is fine
>no don't ban muh narcotic I am addicted to, this is fascism reeeeeeeeeee

>>1291906
>doesn't even realize he just got BTFO
(You)

>>1291889
CA allows you to get weed cards from """doctors""" for migraines. It has practically been legal way before it was legalized state-wide.
At least one person you know probably grows as a hobby and gives it away for free.

>>1291816
>The guy whose policy I hate said he'd reverse policy.
And he is actively doing that. This isn't a "we're looking into it" step. This is actual fucking progress, you fucking idiot.

>>1291880
>The big dripping dick of the criminal justice system finally removing itself from your asshole isn't proof the dick is now your friend because you voted correctly
I didn't say it was. Cope and seethe.

>It has nothing to do with doing whats right or even what he promised, and you know it.
I genuinely don't care what it has to do with as long as I get what I want.

>You're happy to be a lick-spittle for corruption
I'm not a Republican voter.

You seem very mad that a good thing is happening.

>>1291912
I'm pretty sure you are just high and don't know what is going on

>>1291916
>And he is actively doing that. This isn't a "we're looking into it" step. This is actual fucking progress, you fucking idiot.
I'm not the idiot who voted for the guy that voted for everything I hate.
Simply imagine how retarded one must be to willingly vote and advocate for the single worst person to be president since Jimmy Carter.
Even worse that Biden has had a storied history of creating legislature and voting for legislature that you hate.
What an idiot you are. It's astounding.

>>1291924
> the single worst person to be president since Jimmy Carter.
More like FDR.
Can't wait until the vaxx comes home to roost.

>>1291924
>>1291925
trump sure made you folks delusional

>>1291919
You are "pretty sure" about that and a lot of other bullshit which has no basis in reality

>>1291657
no we haven't

>>1291931
yeah, you are high and have a small penis

>>1291924
>I'm not the idiot who voted for the guy that voted for everything I hate.
You voted for a subhuman conman that did nothing but make America shittier and corrupt government for his personal benefit.

If you don't hate what you voted for, that just makes you stupid AND evil.

>Even worse that Biden has had a storied history of creating legislature and voting for legislature that you hate.
Yes. I know. I don't care. He's done a ton of shit I support in office. Would I rather someone who didn't fuck up a ton in the past be doing all this shit? Sure. But the shit getting done is what is most important.

I can hate the guy for his past fuckups and still applaud and accept the good shit he's doing now.

>>1291925
>Can't wait until the vaxx comes home to roost.
The vax released under Trump and he promotes it to this day. Anyway, shouldn't it have come home to roost by now? How many years of testing do you expect shit to go through before release?

>>1291905
>Hey this guy legalized that thing we've been asking about for decades now. I wonder what else he might give us
I'd assume that line of logic is what Biden and his team are hoping for if he were to legalize it.

>>1291939
>You voted for a subhuman conman that did nothing but make America shittier
by what metrics, cripple?

>>1291934
Only in your head

>>1291942
>by what metrics, cripple?
Employment, life expectancy, extra judicial killings, foreign relations, civil rights, governmental ethics, national security, honestly you'd be hard-pressed to come up with a metric Trump didn't make worse.

>>1291947
Ironically, operation warp speed was pretty based. Its funny that Trump wanted to take a victory lap for using U.S. ingenuity to produce a vaccine at lightning speed but his followers are so schizophrenic and conspiracy brained that he had to stop and do a complete 180.

>>1291948
You have to keep in mind at the time Operation Warp Speed was going on, before the conspiracy theories about the origin took over, Trump's followers were still denying that the virus existed.

>>1291950
I seem to remember them going to party in China town after calling the dRumpf a rassist.

>>1291975
I seem to remember the reason for Nancy's visit to Chinatown was to have a press conference denouncing Trump calling it the "China Virus" because asian people in San Francisco were getting their teeth knocked in by chuds who thought they spread it.

>>1291975
>Trump supporters are retarded and were saying the virus didn't exist while hundreds of thousands of people were dying
>"YEAH WELL NANCY PELOSI DID THIS THING ONE TIME!"
Nice whatabout.

>>1291980
Sorry the blacks did that. Democrats are terrible people.
>>1291982
>Does a strawman
>Complains about a whataboutism
Point that critical lens at yourself, faggot.

>>1291980
You must have a poor memory then because chuds aren't real. Just your left-wing indoctrination.

>>1291986
you're not real?

>>1291947
Crippletroon headcanon is wild asf.

>>1291985
>Does a strawman
What part about Trump supporters massively spreading anti-vax conspiracies and coining the phrase "plandemic" to imply that the virus wasn't real and orchestrated by the government who covers up ivermectin research and inflates death numbers a strawman? Which part of that is not accurate?

>Point that critical lens at yourself, faggot.
There's nothing I can say that will make sense to you were not conscious during 2019-Present.

>>1291989
>Literally cannot stop thinking about trannies
Seek help

>>1291986
You live in a fantasy world.

>>1291989
What the fuck is a crippletroon?

>>1291992
Crippletroon is literally a tranny though.

>>1292080
Check the 4chan invasion Discord. He posts pics of his micro penis and all the faggots call it a clit.
LMFAO.

>>1291991
>What part about Trump supporters massively spreading anti-vax conspiracies and coining the phrase "plandemic" to imply that the virus wasn't real and orchestrated by the government who covers up ivermectin research and inflates death numbers a strawman? Which part of that is not accurate?
The part where blacks attacked the Chinese over the China virus which came from a Chinese lab, nice attempt at goal post shifting.
Besides that, many people who aren't Trump supporters now believe it was a plandemic.
In fact, it was obviously a plandemic orchestrated by the UN/WEF/WHO.

>>1292142
>>>/x/

>>1292281
Well-established facts don't belong on /x/, Slapnuts.

>>1292336
Your alternative facts aren't real.

>>1291487
Since when does what Berlin does matter anyway?

>>1292469
Since now when marijuana is being decriminalized in America.

>>1292521
But it isn't. It's still going to be illegal at the federal level.