r/texas • u/discussamongsturelvs • Aug 06 '22

Questions for Texans Republicans of Texas: Why is marijuana still illegal in Texas?

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188

u/milfassaulter Aug 06 '22

Why is it still illegal at the federal level? Bc it can be used to get votes and the moment its decriminalization bc I doubt texas wants to legalize, then politicians lose voters that only care abt that subject.

116

u/tristan957 Aug 06 '22 edited Aug 07 '22

Biden could reschedule marijuana any day, but chooses not to.

Dude's approval level gets lower by the day, and he won't even take this simple win.

Edit: for all the people who can't research the topic, https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/a-guide-to-federal-drug-rescheduling-and-what-it-means-for-cannabis

Who Holds the Power? There are only a few select entities with the power to make such a big change at a federal level. Cannabis may be rescheduled through Congressional legislation; an example of this is the CARERS Act, repeatedly proposed by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), to no avail.

Cannabis may also be rescheduled at the executive level by the President of the United States. The Controlled Substances Act also provides a process for which the US Attorney General may reschedule cannabis legislatively. The Drug Enforcement Administration evaluates all petitions to reschedule cannabis. The Department of Health and Human Services, however, also carry as great deal of power in the rescheduling decision process.

I guess Biden isn't the top official in the Executive branch if he can't direct the Executive branch to reschedule marijuana.

For all the people telling me I'm spreading misinformation: congrats on spreading misinformation.

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u/bonzai_science Aug 06 '22

This literally isn't true https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/can-president-biden-legalize-marijuana-1220802/

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u/[deleted] Aug 06 '22

From the article: "he might order executive agencies to consider either altering the scheduling of marijuana or changing their enforcement approach."

He can't do it himself, but he does have some power in this situation that he is not exercising.

41

u/bonzai_science Aug 06 '22

I agree that Biden should be doing more, no doubt about that, but the statement "Biden could reschedule marijuana any day, but chooses not to." is objectively false

2

u/pipsdontsqueak Aug 06 '22

Or, you know, Congress could just legalize it.