Law Biden Pardons All Federal Offenses For Marijuana Possession

[44nutman]

I look forward to the right wing media, spinning the evils of Marijunana while running beer ads during their show.
Then the army of Rubes who consume right wing media will be putting out the talking points.
Since Halloween is coming up I look forward to the Pot Gummie Bear scare to be trotted out again.

 

[kflo]

Nvm

 

[Slick_36]

Missed the point. How many incarcerated "low level sellers" are gang members?

Your sentence is based on what laws you broke. A low level seller who's incarcerated is more likely to come out in a gang than they are going in, and deeper in the gang if they were actually already in one. If marijuana was legal, you wouldn't need a criminal element to sell it, ie gangs.

 

[Fox by the Sea]

Lol rogan

what are those blue lights on rogan's belt?
apologies if it's some regular stuff and i'm just retarded. it's late here.

 

[HereticBD]

If marijuana was legal, you wouldn't need a criminal element to sell it, ie gangs.

Not true. It's not like they just stop selling weed. They just undercut the market, since their profit margins are way more flexible than the legal industry. It's legal up here, and the black market is still operational.

 

[PainIsLIfe]

There's a lot of middle class Suburban folks who sold pot; I knew many. These weren't folks who were part of gangs or engaged in other crimmnality.

I sold a little weed myself a few times. My point is simply that a lot of gang members were arrested for simply selling pot -- I'm not cool with letting gang members out of jail because we've decided pot isn't bad.

 

[PainIsLIfe]

Your sentence is based on what laws you broke. A low level seller who's incarcerated is more likely to come out in a gang than they are going in, and deeper in the gang if they were actually already in one. If marijuana was legal, you wouldn't need a criminal element to sell it, ie gangs.

All I'm saying is that we shouldn't just automatically release people arrested for selling as the original poster suggested.

There are a lot of gang affiliated inmates that are in jail for selling pot; I don't think society is safer to just turn then loose.

 

[Bald1]

You'll kill your kids

Fucktarded?
Retarded?
Ignorant?
Indoctrinated?
Close minded?
Stupid?

If I had to pick just one I'd go with a combination of all of the above.

 

[MicroBrew]

I sold a little weed myself a few times. My point is simply that a lot of gang members were arrested for simply selling pot -- I'm not cool with letting gang members out of jail because we've decided pot isn't bad.

If the charge is just pot then I don't see an issue with letting them out of jail. If some suburban kid selling pot deserves out of jail then everyone with the same charge should also be out of jail - providing ofcourse there are no other charges.

 

[Slick_36]

Not true. It's not like they just stop selling weed. They just undercut the market, since their profit margins are way more flexible than the legal industry. It's legal up here, and the black market is still operational.

People aren't going to turn to gangs for weed if they have legal options. Sure there will be growers undercutting the dispensaries, but your cutting deep in to the profit a gang would make by providing safer options. Black market ≠ gangs.

 

[HereticBD]

People aren't going to turn to gangs for weed if they have legal options. Sure there will be growers undercutting the dispensaries, but your cutting deep in to the profit a gang would make by providing safer options. Black market ≠ gangs.

Black market absolutely = Gangs. Not 100% obviously, but if there is money to be made, they're there. It's dirt cheap to produce weed. They are still doing it. Your statement of weed dealers not being affiliated with gangs on any level, wouldn't be any more true whether it's legal or illegal. They get it from a guy, who gets it from a guy, who gets it from a guy. Their suppliers aren't all old harmless dudes, growing the shit in their basement. A lot of it depends on location. The poorer you go, the seedier it gets. It's not an absolute situation one way or another.

 

[helltoupee]

For fucks sake.

CHANGING THE LEGISLATION would prevent civilians from being jailed for "minor offenses". A PRESIDENTIAL PARDON does not. Are you wilfully failing to get the point?

The Dems have proposed legislation several times to decriminalize Marijuana. Guess who turns it down every time?

 

[helltoupee]

Black market absolutely = Gangs. Not 100% obviously, but if there is money to be made, they're there. It's dirt cheap to produce weed. They are still doing it. Your statement of weed dealers not being affiliated with gangs on any level, wouldn't be any more true whether it's legal or illegal. They get it from a guy, who gets it from a guy, who gets it from a guy. Their suppliers aren't all old harmless dudes, growing the shit in their basement. A lot of it depends on location. The poorer you go, the seedier it gets. It's not an absolute situation one way or another.

That's not how legalized Marijuana works.

When you go to a dispensary to buy marijuana, the owner of the store is not buying dirt weed that some gang member grew in his backyard.

Do you realize how difficult it is to get a license to sell/grow/transport marijuana in a legalized state? Every step of the way, from seed to sale, is controlled. You can't just open a store and sell weed that you obtain from the street. You are forced to go through a licensed distributor, who himself is subject to the same controls and cannot buy weed from some ragtag guy with a couple hydroponic buckets in his garage. He has to buy from a licensed grower, who also has to jump through insane hoops just to operate.

Most of these people are not going to be stupid enough to risk the literal hundreds of thousands of dollars it takes just to get licensed and be able to operate a business by buying weed under the table from gang members.

Trust me, there are A LOT of things to complain about when it comes to legalized marijuana, but this (gangs involved in the business) is not one of them. For one, given it's weight to profit ratio and how difficult it is to smuggle (smell, bulky), most gangs go for far more lucrative drugs like heroin, cocaine, pills, or meth. That shit grown on some field in Mexico, when compared to high THC hydroponic strains like in CA, leaves almost no market for Mexican grown weed that might be coming over in bulk.

 

[HereticBD]

That's not how legalized Marijuana works.

When you go to a dispensary to buy marijuana, the owner of the store is not buying dirt weed that some gang member grew in his backyard.

Okay, I'm just gonna stop you there. I never said that, and have no idea how you would even come to that conclusion.

I'm saying the illegal market still operates outside of the legal one, and organized crime(gangs) are still producing and selling. Not that they're one in the same.

 

[helltoupee]

Okay, I'm just gonna stop you there. I never said that, and have no idea how you would even come to that conclusion.

I'm saying the illegal market still operates outside of the legal one, and organized crime(gangs) are still producing and selling. Not that they're one in the same.

Ok, my mistake. I thought you were saying that gangs were involved in the legal weed people buy from legitimate outlets.

But I still disagree with you. Since you didn't read the rest of my post, I stated that gangs go for far more profitable, easier to smuggle, easier to hide, drugs like heroin, cocaine, meth, and pills. The days of gangs selling marijuana as a money making venture has pretty much dried up (black market). It's still out there, but not nearly as lucrative as it used to be.

 

[HereticBD]

Ok, my mistake. I thought you were saying that gangs were involved in the legal weed people buy from legitimate outlets.

But I still disagree with you. Since you didn't read the rest of my post, I stated that gangs go for far more profitable, easier to smuggle, easier to hide, drugs like heroin, cocaine, meth, and pills. The days of gangs selling marijuana as a money making venture has pretty much dried up (black market). It's still out there, but not nearly as lucrative as it used to be.

You're not really disagreeing, though. I'm just saying it still exists, and that legalization doesn't all of sudden eliminate that element, like it's a magic wand. That was my point. Weed was never garnering the biggest profits for such types even when it was illegal(comparatively to other drugs), and was more of a side business among the big sellers like coke and pills. It's still very much profitable for them, though, and the fact that possession under 30 grams is legal, means the street dealers can sell it without much to worry about having decent amounts on their person. Money is still money, and it's hard to price out the black market on such an easy to produce drug.

 

[Slick_36]

Okay, I'm just gonna stop you there. I never said that, and have no idea how you would even come to that conclusion.

I'm saying the illegal market still operates outside of the legal one, and organized crime(gangs) are still producing and selling. Not that they're one in the same.

You're not really disagreeing, though. I'm just saying it still exists, and that legalization doesn't all of sudden eliminate that element, like it's a magic wand. That was my point. Weed was never garnering the biggest profits for such types even when it was illegal(comparatively to other drugs), and was more of a side business among the big sellers like coke and pills. It's still very much profitable for them, though, and the fact that possession under 30 grams is legal, means the street dealers can sell it without much to worry about having decent amounts on their person. Money is still money, and it's hard to price out the black market on such an easy to produce drug.

And my point was always that legalizing would lessen the criminal incentive, keeping "low level dealers" out of jail means keeping potential hard drug dealers away from the connections and influences that lead them down that road and in to gangs.

I never spoke in absolutes, you projected that on to what I said to discredit my position. If you are concerned about decriminalizing weed & releasing people for possession because they might be in a gang, you're just pushing people towards gangs even more.

I'm not saying it's a zero sum game, I'm saying it's a step forward.

 

[BIKES!]

That's not how legalized Marijuana works.

When you go to a dispensary to buy marijuana, the owner of the store is not buying dirt weed that some gang member grew in his backyard.

Do you realize how difficult it is to get a license to sell/grow/transport marijuana in a legalized state? Every step of the way, from seed to sale, is controlled. You can't just open a store and sell weed that you obtain from the street. You are forced to go through a licensed distributor, who himself is subject to the same controls and cannot buy weed from some ragtag guy with a couple hydroponic buckets in his garage. He has to buy from a licensed grower, who also has to jump through insane hoops just to operate.

Most of these people are not going to be stupid enough to risk the literal hundreds of thousands of dollars it takes just to get licensed and be able to operate a business by buying weed under the table from gang members.

Trust me, there are A LOT of things to complain about when it comes to legalized marijuana, but this (gangs involved in the business) is not one of them. For one, given it's weight to profit ratio and how difficult it is to smuggle (smell, bulky), most gangs go for far more lucrative drugs like heroin, cocaine, pills, or meth. That shit grown on some field in Mexico, when compared to high THC hydroponic strains like in CA, leaves almost no market for Mexican grown weed that might be coming over in bulk.

Unlike alcohol and tobacco, it will always be much more difficult to police legal (taxed) THC products due to the ability of anyone to grow and the vast forms of consumption. Flower alone is almost impossible to police given the fragmentation of distribution and the inability to stamp the end product. Alcohol has a few large distributors and a three tier system that makes them the biggest tax collectors on earth.

Sure the big chain Apple type stores likely won’t risk their license but there are plenty of smaller licensed shops I know for a fact buy flower through parties that dodge taxes. Additionally the lack of barriers to enter will make illegal weed and the cartels thrive.

 

[ShadowRun]

 

[dirtypablo]

Not true. It's not like they just stop selling weed. They just undercut the market, since their profit margins are way more flexible than the legal industry. It's legal up here, and the black market is still operational.

But significantly diminished, and given enough time it will disappear. I live in Massachusetts where its legal, and the quality of dispensaries has rapidly gone up, while the prices have gone down in just a few years. Right now a black market dealer isn't that much cheaper than a dispensary, and the selection and quality isn't comparable. Give it more time and the price will continue to fall until there's zero reason to not just buy it from the store.

There's no way small scale illegal dealers will be able to keep up with large scale operations.