Posted on 03/09/2015 6:11:09 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Senators Kristen Gillibrand, Cory Booker, and Rand Paul announced that they plan to unveil legislation that would lift the federal ban on medical marijuana on Tuesday. The bill, which adheres to the unfortunate and by no means necessary rule that all attention-grabbing legislation must feature a tortured acronym, is called the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States (CARERS) Act, and would “allow patients, doctors and businesses in states that have already passed medical marijuana laws to participate in those programs without fear of federal prosecution," according to a statement released by the co-sponsors. Medical marijuana is legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia, but federal agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration are still able to shut down dispensaries owing to federal law.
At first glance, this looks like an odd team to champion medical marijuana, but Gillibrand and Paul have a history of being called an "odd couple" —they worked together on a bill that would change how the military deals with sexual-assault cases in 2013; last year, the senators co-sponsored bills to repeal the Authorization for Military Force in Iraq and help parents pay for child care. Paul and Booker have been called a congressional "odd couple." too, for working together on a criminal-justice bill that sought to help young nonviolent offenders.
Paul also happens to be interested in differentiating himself from the rest of the crowded 2016 presidential field, something that might be helped by his increasingly burnished bipartisan credentials in issues near and dear to many young voters' hearts.
Several other 2016 candidates have said that pot is an issue that should be left to the states, but most seem to take that position as a way of avoiding discussion on the topic altogether.
Regardless of whether this bill succeeds, the United States will likely welcome a few more states to the legal-weed fray by the time we have a new president. A handful of states will likely put marijuana legalization on the ballot in 2016, while other states have state legislatures considering legalization. And during an election cycle when marijuana is on everyone's mind, Paul is going to be the presidential candidate with the most to talk about.
Boy are they in for a fight. I can see the massive ads taken out by the American Lung Assn., American Cancer Society, NIH, etc. .... oh wait, “token ain’t smokin’ “.
Leading the way on the most crucial issues of our time once again. Go Rand!
Maybe they can funnel the profits to ISIS.
--Ted Cruz at CPAC.
You can see his comments starting about 2:46 => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prbn-ycOONM
Pot, Palestinians, and ... what was the other “P”?
Leading issue of our time? Lol
Ted Cruz: “If shady billionaires want to drag the rest of the country into socialism, aw shucks, I sure don’t won’t bother stopping them.”
In any normal time, Ted Cruz would be an extreme moderate. Only in this age does he look conservative by comparison.
Keep ‘em high and you’ll have them eating out of your hand.
Rand Paul also opposed DOMA, and supports abortion with his “thousands of exception”.
Rand is betraying the country by working with the RAT party on ANYTHING! I dont care if its fixing a busted water pipe. The RATS are anti-American scum. They need only one thing. Its made of rope.
HOw nice that Rand has found his allies in the congress
Does anybody think Bush or Rand will be president? Most people would rather eat rat poison.
Does anybody think Bush or Rand will be president? Most people would rather eat rat poison.
Now state constitutional amendments upholding and defining traditional marriage...bad state, baaaaad state Mommy says no-no.
He’s a lying, pandering piece of garbage.
Industrial Hemp Profile
Hemp and Marijuana
The confusion between industrial hemp and marijuana is based on the visual similarities of widely differentiated varieties of plants. By definition, industrial hemp is high in fiber and low in active tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that makes some cannabis varieties a valued drug. Canada and the European Union maintain this distinction by strictly regulating the THC levels of industrial hemp, requiring it to be less than 0.3 percent, compared to THC levels of between 3 to 30 percent in marijuana.*
Though smoking industrial hemp would result in no psychological effects, THC could be extracted by means of solvent extraction using butane other solvents. This process produces a more concentrated source of TCH and a more “intense” high. Even so the process can be quite dangerous due to the often flammable nature of the solvents. Using industrial hemp for the production of hash oil would be highly inefficient and time consuming.
Most pro-hemp initiatives in the United States are now focused on defining and distinguishing between industrial hemp and marijuana. Some pro-hemp supporters would like to move the control of U.S. hemp production from the DEA to the USDA. Proponents of legalizing hemp also argue that new technology to distinguish THC levels both in the field and from the air will allow for adequate production enforcement.
A tip for American farmers: Grow hemp, make money
Nope. It's because U.S. policy is finally acknowledging that hemp can help restore our agricultural economy, play a key role in dealing with climate change and, best of all, allow American family farmers to get in on a hemp market that, just north of us in Canada, is verging on $1 billion a year.
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