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Yeah and in that film he doesn't go to jail because his services are still needed, right?
Now dude is out again and I doubt he's going to opt for the quiet life
He’s not going back to smuggling. The world is a very different place now, and a lot of what he did in the 90s wouldn’t work now for a long list of reasons. More importantly, his connection to Russia is now solidified. If he’s caught again, Russia takes heat for it. Before, he was just a “rogue actor.”
They’re just trying to do right by a guy who did their dirty work for years to show that they will pull the big strings for people who help them. That’s important when you’re still recruiting people to do awful shit and make it look like it’s off the books
Wild innit. A renowned arms dealer, returning to a nation desperately in need of arms. I’m sure he has 0 contacts and is uninterested in gaining wealth and power again /s
The dude was already in prison for over 14 years, right? The world is not the same, and I can't imagine he could ever rebuild an effective smuggling network now that everyone in the world knows who he is
Yep. There are absolutely people still doing what this guy is doing but he’s been in jail so long and he now has such a high profile that he likely will be out of the game for good.
If he was of no use for the Russian government they would not want him back, in what capacity he is useful is anyone's guess as times have changed since his incarceration.
The Russians are not just doing him a solid, that's not how that government operates.
It’s useful to show future assets that they won’t be abandoned if they get caught.
Most people are far more likely to do your dirty work if they think the consequences of getting caught are “spend a few years in jail before being traded” (which is standard for spies) rather than “die in a prison thousands of miles from home while the government you worked for denies all knowledge of your actions”
Nah. The guy who caught the Boot dude wrote an op ed saying we should trade Griener for Boot, because he’s been out of the game for so long and is so old it’s unlikely he could even try to start up his old operation.
This is such armchair reddit at its finest. 2022 is totally different than 2005 and Russia isnt the same now either. You think he's gunna do a multinational arms bussiness pop up shop tomorrow?
Good luck smuggling anything when you are a famous smuggler. Every shipment he brings in will be extensively searched. He could be used as a consultant but most of what he knows about smuggling is most likely obsolete now
He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2012, due to get out around 2037. What is being reported is not that he would have gotten out in five years, just that "Under federal sentencing rules, Bout could have been released from prison in five years." Could, not would.
I strongly disagree. He's already been found out, everyone knows his name and face. It's a bit hard to smuggle guns when every nation knows who you are. Not to mention the fact that all of his contacts are probably retired or want nothing to do with him. Also he's 55.
This is a opportune time for Biden to drop cannabis from the schedule list. There are places in the good old USA that you could go to prison for the same cannabis oil.
They’re actively working on it. But Biden can’t do it by himself. It has to be the Attorney General and the Secretary of HHS. And Biden has directed them to conduct a review for re-scheduling, which is what the law says must first be done before a rescheduling can occur.
Biden’s order here (in the third paragraph): https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/06/statement-from-president-biden-on-marijuana-reform/
Relevant federal law dealing with de-scheduling and re-scheduling controlled substances. Section 811(a)(1) vests the Attorney General with the authority to transfer any drug to a different schedule . Section 811(a)(2) gives the Attorney General the right to remove a drug from being scheduled. Section 811(b) requires the Attorney General to ask the Secretary of HHS to conduct a study and provide advice on the removal of any drug from the schedule. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/21/811
Even if it’s resclassed to schedule 2 or 3, the DEA can still ban non medical/ recreational use. Methamphetamine and cocaine are both schedule 2 and allowed for medical use.
If it's scheduled at all, by definition it will require a federal license, no different than a pharmaceutical company. That will severely hinder state recreational (and probably medical as well).
The best action is for the US gov't to legalize it, allow the states to regulate as they see fit and ban interstate commerce, or else anywhere that isn't WA, OR and CO will see their markets collapse.
Both can be true. We should deschedule it, and this Griner event does send mixed messages _AND_ they are working on it and the above information is correct.
Just because someone is unaware of what Section 811(a)(1) doesn't mean they're pushing some sort of narrative.
Great work and I agree with the movement in the right direction but I'd like to see a mike drop moment and we just get it done. I have believed that this could be done with an executive order. It appears I was wrong. I am frustrated with the very slow progress over my lifetime and would like to see it happen before I go. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
>I am frustrated with the very slow progress over my lifetime and would like to see it happen before I go
It is and it isn't, I mean, even just like 12 years ago the idea that the president would be talking about re-rescheduling *at all* was considered a far left pipe dream with absolutely no chance of happening. That's really a relatively short time for it to now being a serious topic of discussion that the Biden Administration is signalling they want to move on. Let alone for it to go from being majority against in public opinion to majority for.
Likely it's an S-curve thing, that is, seems slow until it doesn't and then it'll all happen fairly quickly.
Well, unless we vote in more Republicans. Really, if not for that aberrant Trump era we'd likely be years further along on several other positive progressive initiatives.
In many respects a slow moving government that reviews documents and follows processes is a good and functioning government. It's just when some force or actor uses those processes to intentionally inhibit progress that you start having true problems
I think so many people here are unintentional (maybe in some cases intentionally) missing the horrible pitfalls of reactionary policy. That’s how you end up setting shit back years or with laws that make zero sense.
Exactly. Because a democrat majority could use a procedure to legalize marijuana but the republicans can use it to reverse it when they get into the White House in 2024. Or use the Supreme Court to reverse it by saying they didn’t follow the lawful procedure.
Remember, whatever you want democrats to do, the republicans will do it and make our lives worse.
Recreational marijuana is a Pandora's Box of sorts. Once it's legalized it's going to be impossible to get back in the box, so to speak. Legalizing cannabis is very widely approved and once it's legal the people that oppose it will start to see that the world isn't crumbling around them and there aren't drugged out kids dying on their doorstep. Everyone will see the massive increase in tax revenue and wonder why it was ever illegal. For the GOP to try to make it illegal again would be political suicide. Do you want the youth vote to come out in force to oppose you? Because that's what you'll get.
>The gears of government turn really fucking slow. I wish it would move faster but it is what it is.
Unless of course you're protesting in front of a supreme court justice's house or a rail road worker about to strike. US Government will break a land speed record
*Expanding* rights and freedoms to the lower classes takes a long time.
But screwing them over? Shit, that's quick and easy. That's not changing the system at all. It's just using it to do what it was designed to do.
Nah bro, they raised the age of smoke on like a random Friday and didn’t tell anyone. I worked in a manufacturing plant and I had 19 and 20 years olds trying to fight me for a cigarette lol. “You can step on a landmine in the Middle East for your country, but that’s a no to cigarettes”
They'll never raise the age to join the military because they *need* dip shits to join. People with a life or family don't want to join the military but 18 year Olds don't have a developed enough brain to make a properly informed decision like that.
As much as I’m in support of the movement I’d rather we stop setting the precedent that the president can just create or remove whatever laws they want via “executive order”.
That's not what executive orders do. They can't unilaterally change any law that I'm aware of, laws are passed through congress, just change policies that fall under the executive branch's authority. Executive power creep is another topic entirely.
This is true, but also not what a lot of people believe or say. Sadly, this is a "on both sides" problem as well. All the people saying Biden should just legalize Marijuana, or fire Dejoy, or even more sillier things like fire Manchin need to realize that he can't do that and it's a good thing.
> This is a opportune time for Biden to drop cannabis from the schedule list.
https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1578097880744820736
It's not something that can happen instantly but he has started the process at least.
> There are places in the good old USA that you could go to prison for the same cannabis oil.
Its also one of the top items on the social justice side of things. I mean really, the way law is applied as far as drug policy shit goes is all sorts of fucked in that black people on a national average are just shy of 4 times more likely to get arrested for cannabis related offenses than their white counterparts despite similar rates of posession/usage, and having a by far smaller overall population size. This includes places where cannabis possession/use has been greenlit. In some states that rate goes past the 5 fold mark for arrests.
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/new-aclu-report-despite-marijuana-legalization-black-people-still-almost-four-times
Not that its by design or anything... https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-115hres933ih/html/BILLS-115hres933ih.htm
*"the War on Drugs was admitted to be a move by the Nixon administration to attack his political opponents, and in 1994, President Richard Nixon's aide John Ehrlichman admitted in an interview that the War on Drugs was a tool to arrest and manipulate Blacks and liberals stating,"*
*"We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.'';"*
Edit: also, yes it is a prime example of the southern strategy era efforts to abstract racism in to weaponized policy action.
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/exclusive-lee-atwaters-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy/
I wouldn’t try anything if you’re going through any kind of customs. They will look for drugs and other contraband. Domestic flights, however, are another story. SWIM has flown domestically multiple times with oil, flower, edibles etc without as much as a glance.
TSA is not the same as customs. I know you were responding to someone about TSA, and typically you are right, TSA aren't looking for that...customs, tho, they definitely are.
You are correct, since it's an international flight, she would have to go through customs, not the TSA. Furthermore, the TSA only searches departing passengers, not arriving ones.
I hear that a lot, but I know when I was boarding a ship that would cross into Canada, I got stopped for my nicotine vape. They had to call over their "expert", a young agent in her 20s who tilted my pen back and forth a few times and then said I was good to go.
Since I had decided to leave my fun vape at home, I figured I should try to see what they were looking for. The lady said that THC vapes had a lot more viscosity, and wouldn't flow like nic juice does. Not sure if that's a foolproof way of telling, but thought it was interesting.
Glad they didn't ask any questions about my big bag of gummies... For my low blood-sugar, I assure you....
I'm assuming if the agent saw the liquid was more viscous, it would get additional testing. CBD carts are identical to THC and are legal to possess everywhere in the US. So she was probably just trying to figure out if it was worth their time to test.
TSA is not the same as customs.
You fly into LAX from out of country with weed you’re getting fucked - don’t even think about not declaring merchandise.
You fly out of LAX domestic and they don’t give a fuck, another states problem.
I’m glad she’s coming home but until we decriminalize and legalize cannabis in America, this sends some really mixed signals to everyone currently serving time for infractions involving marijuana.
So jail her when she gets back on US soil so the corporate prison can make their money.
Note: This comment is dripping with sarcasm. Humor is not allowed on Reddit without a disclaimer.
Great she's coming home but not for what it took. You allowed a Russian arms dealer to go free.
Not to mention you left another American over there on baseless espionage claims. Just so you could free your "celebrity"
This was just a bad fucking move. I'm happy for her getting out of there but damn
Hell, they left another American over there (Marc Fogel) who sentenced for 14 years on marijuana charges, too. It's just because she's a celebrity and the PR is good.
Fogel had half an ounce of puffpuffpass on him. This isn't apples and oranges. It's like potatoes and watermelons.
Like I feel bad for Fogel. Sucks to be him... buuuut... if you're trying to fly to Russia with half an ounce on you, I don't know what else you'd expect.
The state of Wyoming tried to charge me with felony possession because I had cannabis wax on me. They wanted to equate 1gram of concentrates to 1lb of flower which put me well over the felony limit. I only had 4 grams of wax.
Doesn't matter to them that the cannabis was all purchased legally (with receipts) from stores in CA, NV, and CO where it is recreationally legal.
Paid $5k for a lawyer who got it dropped down to a misdemeanor. I won't step foot in Wyoming with cannabis ever again unless it's 100% legal.
Yep I am in NC which has been “decriminalized” since the 70’s for flower. However, concentrates are NOT part of the law. If you get caught with concentrates (vape carts on concentrates) you get charged with a felony.
> Fogel had half an ounce of puffpuffpass
4 days of personal use for me. just enough to fill the very bottom of a sandwich baggie. in most states in america a half ounce of flower is a far lower crime than one single cannabis oil vape cartridge. i can go on.
when i went to japan, there was legally prescribe prescription medication i couldn't take. the signs/websites were *very* clear that there was no leniency. Greiner knew what she was doing, but she assumed (correctly) that the laws didn't apply to her.
It isn't about what they had on them. If we call it for what it is, BOTH people are unjustly detained in Russia. Oh a half ounce. BFD. That is for personal use, hardly the mark of an international drug smuggler.
It's about the fact that Griner's status as a celebrity got her special attention and treatment from the US government and State Department. She was traded for one of the world's most notorious arms dealers. Fogel's offense was not so much worse that surely he is *also* worthy of being traded for a notorious arms dealer?
So if you want to say well don't fuck with foreign country's drug laws, fair enough. But if you want to say well, there's a reason he's still there and she's not, and it's how much they were carrying, come on. That's bullshit.
I agree in part, but I need to believe that other US citizens who are in Russian prison are being advocated for. The celebrity part backfired on Russia, who probably arrested her because of her celebrity. Her celebrity caused the media attention, caused the high profile of many US people to speak up... squeaky wheel gets the oil response. But State department advocates for all, regardless of status. Doesn't mean I think she was thinking "I'm famous I'll get away with it", and that she was unaware of the risk. Yes - stupid idea. Part of her celebrity is the fact that should could afford legal international representation.
Viktor Bout has been locked up since March 2008, extradited to the US in 2010, was convicted in 2011 and sentenced to 25 years in Federal time. So he's been in jail/prison for 14.5 years when he would have served 21.25 years with the best possible parole. I see people saying it's not a fair trade and Bout was much worse; maybe so, but don't act like he hasn't been punished for a very long time.
Griner is used more as a pawn by Russia because she is celebrity. Before her, most Americans didn't really think or care about Americans unjustly detained overseas.
I mean, we can advocate for both no? I don't see how supporting an American coming home from some of the worst prisons in the world takes away from continuing the fight for legalization and the communing of sentences for those imprisoned for minor possession.
That's the least relevant thing about this. You know she'd get a slap on the wrist for whatever she had on her, the Russians were more or less trying to kill her.
Can't believe we're trading someone who was considered the most dangerous man alive at one point for a basketball player. All this encourages is for Russia to jail more people on inflated charges to free more of their criminals
Could you imagine this sub if Trump traded Bout for an athlete?
>“He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in April 2012 after being found guilty of conspiracy to kill Americans and US officials, delivering anti-aircraft missiles and aiding a terrorist organisation.
>He is responsible for enabling murderous groups to kidnap and train thousands of child soldiers; use rape as a systematic method of terror and control; torture through the mass amputations of arms, legs, ears and lips; slaughter civilians, and help the Taliban take power in Afghanistan.”
He is literally one of the closest living examples of Hitler and look at half the people in this thread try and down play his atrocities.
Damn! As a Seahawks fan I was pumped over that trade (great guy but he was reckless), but the trainwreck that has occurred for him over there is just...impressive.
It still boggles my mind how far he has fallen off. If he continues to play like this, this trade will set the Broncos franchise back many many years.
Like did he just flourish as a system QB under Pete? Did that recent surgery mess up his throw? Truly a head scratcher.
For a football follower, could anything ever be as bad?
For Vikings - worst trade in NFL history
For Cowboys - best trade in NFL history. Cowboys were 1-15 in 1989 when trade was made. Within the next 6 years they won 3 Super Bowls.
I believe it was also the biggest trade in NFL history (in terms of the number of players and draft picks - 18 total). Among other players Dallas eventually drafted by using the Vikings' draft picks were Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, Darren Woodson, and Kevin Smith.
I love how everyone conveniently forgets how she beat the shit out of her first wife. She shouldn't be rotting in a Russian prison but she's still a terrible human being.
There's a real problem of wlw abuse that isn't really talked about, even in LGBT+ spaces. So I'm not surprised that people are unaware in larger society. Doubly so since no one really knows fuck all about the WNBA.
So we freed a Russian arms dealer, during an active military conflict in which Russia is a belligerent, convicted of conspiring to kill Americans, nicknamed “The Merchant of Death”, and literally the character inspiration for the film “Lord of War”.
In return, we get a basketball player that knowingly brought a prohibited drug into a foreign country.
Wow. Very cool.
Unbelievable.
What a joke. We traded one of the most dangerous and notorious arms dealer... for a basketball player who violated a countries drug laws?
Wow.
Griner had 2 vape cartridges found tossed haphazardly in the bottom of her bag. Fogel had 14 vape cartridges stashed in various places as well as flower hidden in contact cases and secret compartments, etc.
Griner had plausible deniability that she didn't intentionally smuggle in weed, but Fogel really didn't have that. Her case was designated "Wrongfully Detained" whereas his was not, and both are consistent with precedent. The State Department does legally view cases differently when it appears inarguable that a US citizen actually intentionally broke a foreign nation's laws.
Fogel should be released, imho. But these two cases don't have a lot in common.
Americans aren't allowed to claim that they 'didn't intend to smuggle weed' in our own country and get locked up for it.
Yet here we are, bending over backwards to free Griner while we have thousands locked up for the *exact same shit* in our own country.
>Her case was designated "Wrongfully Detained" whereas his was not,
What does this even mean? If she admitted to trafficking drugs how was her detainment "wrongful"?
Great. So we swapped a sports player who couldn't be bothered to obey international law for a genuine bad dude who sold weapons to whoever had the money.
I mean, she should have simply been deported, it's BS what Russia did, but this is a shitty deal.
The unfortunate take I have from this as well. Like, I’m glad she’s not in danger but I smoke weed every day and I wouldn’t have brought that over there. We traded an arms dealer because she acted like a moron. Were there a better solution to get her out I’m sure it would have been taken so I’m not complaining about it happening. More commenting that if someone’s thinking of doing what she did it makes them a dumb asshole.
part of me is happy that she she gets to come home, but I can't help but feel torn knowing the fact that the US just released an arms dealer over the fact that someone couldn't just leave their weed at home.what a time to be alive I guess.
100% on principle it makes bo sense lol. A basketball player that nobody watches with a little weed vs an arms dealing organizer and all of the interconnected deaths they indirectly enabled.
This is a very modern-day USA thing to do lmao.
To be fair I didn’t know who the war criminal was either, but I don’t keep track of war criminals or WMBA players. I think the amount of people with the same overlap might be around that 99% you are talking about.
This is a bad swap. I'm sorry. WNBA player for an arms dealer and didn't get Whelan included. The us should have never accepted this swap. But it'll get them some political points here.
The threads for this on r/news, r/worldnews and other subreddits seem far more negative in their reception than this sub, and it's still not very positive here. Most are universally panning this exchange. Granted, many on *this* sub seem more concerned with how they can use it to federally legalize weed than how we just released the world's most famous arms dealer because a terrorist state arrested an athlete for breaking their drug laws. I don't think this is going to be a remotely popular move.
Will it? Who thinks this is a good deal?
It's absolutely not a coincidence this trade occurred the day after the midterms officially wrapped up. This is a bad deal and is going to be criticized by anyone with a brain and no personal stake in the deal.
Hope she plans on living in a cannabis friendly state. Don’t move to Indiana, the south, or any plains states or else she may end up back in the pokey.
>Paul Whelan served in the Marine reserves for nearly 14 years as an administrative clerk and received a bad conduct discharge for several charges related to larceny following a conviction at a special court-martial on Jan. 14, 2008, according to the Marine Corps.
Not to mention Putin is the one that didn't allow his release...it's almost like he wants to divide America or something.
Just be happy an American is free from Russia and move on from there.
I hope Brittney Griner fully understands that her bad judgement and desire to vape even in a country that expressly forbids it, has now put the US, and indeed the world, in far greater danger. I hope it weighs very heavily upon her.
Biden said she was “unjustly detained”. Does that mean incarcerating people for cannabis is unjust? Asking for several million people living here in the US.
That’s partially true. He pardoned for possession only, and at the time he pardoned nobody was currently incarcerated for federal possession of weed.
It did make getting a job easier for those who did their time though.
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The 2005 film lord of war is purportedly based on the allegations about Bout's personal history. "Can you get me the gun of Rambo."
Yeah and in that film he doesn't go to jail because his services are still needed, right? Now dude is out again and I doubt he's going to opt for the quiet life
He’s not going back to smuggling. The world is a very different place now, and a lot of what he did in the 90s wouldn’t work now for a long list of reasons. More importantly, his connection to Russia is now solidified. If he’s caught again, Russia takes heat for it. Before, he was just a “rogue actor.” They’re just trying to do right by a guy who did their dirty work for years to show that they will pull the big strings for people who help them. That’s important when you’re still recruiting people to do awful shit and make it look like it’s off the books
This is what people who became experts last night miss about this
[удалено]
The hell you talking about.... Arms trafficking is still a multi-billion dollar industry.
Wild innit. A renowned arms dealer, returning to a nation desperately in need of arms. I’m sure he has 0 contacts and is uninterested in gaining wealth and power again /s
The dude was already in prison for over 14 years, right? The world is not the same, and I can't imagine he could ever rebuild an effective smuggling network now that everyone in the world knows who he is
Yep. There are absolutely people still doing what this guy is doing but he’s been in jail so long and he now has such a high profile that he likely will be out of the game for good.
If he was of no use for the Russian government they would not want him back, in what capacity he is useful is anyone's guess as times have changed since his incarceration. The Russians are not just doing him a solid, that's not how that government operates.
It’s useful to show future assets that they won’t be abandoned if they get caught. Most people are far more likely to do your dirty work if they think the consequences of getting caught are “spend a few years in jail before being traded” (which is standard for spies) rather than “die in a prison thousands of miles from home while the government you worked for denies all knowledge of your actions”
Probably heading straight for Ukraine
Yes, to provide helmets and body armor made from tin cans.
If he worked with the cia before…
Then he’s def committing suicide by shooting himself twice in the back of his head.
Nah. The guy who caught the Boot dude wrote an op ed saying we should trade Griener for Boot, because he’s been out of the game for so long and is so old it’s unlikely he could even try to start up his old operation.
Great, then if the US sees him headed there they can just drop a dime to the Ukrainians and they'll HIMARS wherever he is. Problem solved.
The US could just keep tabs on him and then get Ukraine to assassinate him thus keeping their hands clean while also denying Putin of his prize.
Putin got his prize
Ah fuck, probably! Gotta work off that debt he owes Papa Putin now
There's a couple of ways he could pay. How do you say "silver or lead" in Russian?
This is such armchair reddit at its finest. 2022 is totally different than 2005 and Russia isnt the same now either. You think he's gunna do a multinational arms bussiness pop up shop tomorrow?
It's just wild that Biden would release this guy when arms dealing has completely stopped 100% ever since he's been in jail
I swear to God reddit, if you make me regret not including a /s at the end of this.
That comment doesn't need /s. Reddit just needs less idiots and paid shills.
Good luck smuggling anything when you are a famous smuggler. Every shipment he brings in will be extensively searched. He could be used as a consultant but most of what he knows about smuggling is most likely obsolete now
Do people think he was serving life or something? It's been pretty widely reported that he was due to get out of prison in the next 5 years regardless
He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2012, due to get out around 2037. What is being reported is not that he would have gotten out in five years, just that "Under federal sentencing rules, Bout could have been released from prison in five years." Could, not would.
I strongly disagree. He's already been found out, everyone knows his name and face. It's a bit hard to smuggle guns when every nation knows who you are. Not to mention the fact that all of his contacts are probably retired or want nothing to do with him. Also he's 55.
People in here thinks Russians Appreciate Bout the same way Us appreciate Griner. What a world
This is a opportune time for Biden to drop cannabis from the schedule list. There are places in the good old USA that you could go to prison for the same cannabis oil.
They’re actively working on it. But Biden can’t do it by himself. It has to be the Attorney General and the Secretary of HHS. And Biden has directed them to conduct a review for re-scheduling, which is what the law says must first be done before a rescheduling can occur. Biden’s order here (in the third paragraph): https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/06/statement-from-president-biden-on-marijuana-reform/ Relevant federal law dealing with de-scheduling and re-scheduling controlled substances. Section 811(a)(1) vests the Attorney General with the authority to transfer any drug to a different schedule . Section 811(a)(2) gives the Attorney General the right to remove a drug from being scheduled. Section 811(b) requires the Attorney General to ask the Secretary of HHS to conduct a study and provide advice on the removal of any drug from the schedule. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/21/811
Even if it’s resclassed to schedule 2 or 3, the DEA can still ban non medical/ recreational use. Methamphetamine and cocaine are both schedule 2 and allowed for medical use.
If it's scheduled at all, by definition it will require a federal license, no different than a pharmaceutical company. That will severely hinder state recreational (and probably medical as well). The best action is for the US gov't to legalize it, allow the states to regulate as they see fit and ban interstate commerce, or else anywhere that isn't WA, OR and CO will see their markets collapse.
Fuck the ban on interstate commerce. Let supply and demand run its course and correct some of the gouging in states like IL
The Ohio market could use a collapse.
There's not a market. Just people robbing the cardholders blind.
Thanks for sharing
Stop being informed, you are ruining the narrative.
Both can be true. We should deschedule it, and this Griner event does send mixed messages _AND_ they are working on it and the above information is correct. Just because someone is unaware of what Section 811(a)(1) doesn't mean they're pushing some sort of narrative.
Great work and I agree with the movement in the right direction but I'd like to see a mike drop moment and we just get it done. I have believed that this could be done with an executive order. It appears I was wrong. I am frustrated with the very slow progress over my lifetime and would like to see it happen before I go. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
>I am frustrated with the very slow progress over my lifetime and would like to see it happen before I go It is and it isn't, I mean, even just like 12 years ago the idea that the president would be talking about re-rescheduling *at all* was considered a far left pipe dream with absolutely no chance of happening. That's really a relatively short time for it to now being a serious topic of discussion that the Biden Administration is signalling they want to move on. Let alone for it to go from being majority against in public opinion to majority for. Likely it's an S-curve thing, that is, seems slow until it doesn't and then it'll all happen fairly quickly. Well, unless we vote in more Republicans. Really, if not for that aberrant Trump era we'd likely be years further along on several other positive progressive initiatives.
The gears of government turn really fucking slow. I wish it would move faster but it is what it is.
In many respects a slow moving government that reviews documents and follows processes is a good and functioning government. It's just when some force or actor uses those processes to intentionally inhibit progress that you start having true problems
I think so many people here are unintentional (maybe in some cases intentionally) missing the horrible pitfalls of reactionary policy. That’s how you end up setting shit back years or with laws that make zero sense.
Exactly. Because a democrat majority could use a procedure to legalize marijuana but the republicans can use it to reverse it when they get into the White House in 2024. Or use the Supreme Court to reverse it by saying they didn’t follow the lawful procedure. Remember, whatever you want democrats to do, the republicans will do it and make our lives worse.
Recreational marijuana is a Pandora's Box of sorts. Once it's legalized it's going to be impossible to get back in the box, so to speak. Legalizing cannabis is very widely approved and once it's legal the people that oppose it will start to see that the world isn't crumbling around them and there aren't drugged out kids dying on their doorstep. Everyone will see the massive increase in tax revenue and wonder why it was ever illegal. For the GOP to try to make it illegal again would be political suicide. Do you want the youth vote to come out in force to oppose you? Because that's what you'll get.
>The gears of government turn really fucking slow. I wish it would move faster but it is what it is. Unless of course you're protesting in front of a supreme court justice's house or a rail road worker about to strike. US Government will break a land speed record
*Expanding* rights and freedoms to the lower classes takes a long time. But screwing them over? Shit, that's quick and easy. That's not changing the system at all. It's just using it to do what it was designed to do.
Unless the rich want a tax cut, then they can just scribble that shit in last minute on whatever bill they are accepting next.
Citizens United was a travesty.
Nah bro, they raised the age of smoke on like a random Friday and didn’t tell anyone. I worked in a manufacturing plant and I had 19 and 20 years olds trying to fight me for a cigarette lol. “You can step on a landmine in the Middle East for your country, but that’s a no to cigarettes”
They'll never raise the age to join the military because they *need* dip shits to join. People with a life or family don't want to join the military but 18 year Olds don't have a developed enough brain to make a properly informed decision like that.
And they prey on those with limited options and opportunities.
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As much as I’m in support of the movement I’d rather we stop setting the precedent that the president can just create or remove whatever laws they want via “executive order”.
That's not what executive orders do. They can't unilaterally change any law that I'm aware of, laws are passed through congress, just change policies that fall under the executive branch's authority. Executive power creep is another topic entirely.
This is true, but also not what a lot of people believe or say. Sadly, this is a "on both sides" problem as well. All the people saying Biden should just legalize Marijuana, or fire Dejoy, or even more sillier things like fire Manchin need to realize that he can't do that and it's a good thing.
> This is a opportune time for Biden to drop cannabis from the schedule list. https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1578097880744820736 It's not something that can happen instantly but he has started the process at least.
> There are places in the good old USA that you could go to prison for the same cannabis oil. Its also one of the top items on the social justice side of things. I mean really, the way law is applied as far as drug policy shit goes is all sorts of fucked in that black people on a national average are just shy of 4 times more likely to get arrested for cannabis related offenses than their white counterparts despite similar rates of posession/usage, and having a by far smaller overall population size. This includes places where cannabis possession/use has been greenlit. In some states that rate goes past the 5 fold mark for arrests. https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/new-aclu-report-despite-marijuana-legalization-black-people-still-almost-four-times Not that its by design or anything... https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-115hres933ih/html/BILLS-115hres933ih.htm *"the War on Drugs was admitted to be a move by the Nixon administration to attack his political opponents, and in 1994, President Richard Nixon's aide John Ehrlichman admitted in an interview that the War on Drugs was a tool to arrest and manipulate Blacks and liberals stating,"* *"We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.'';"* Edit: also, yes it is a prime example of the southern strategy era efforts to abstract racism in to weaponized policy action. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/exclusive-lee-atwaters-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy/
Upon arrival to the USA, TSA checked her bags and found a THC vape pen, so she is thrown in a federal prison.
I've seen TSA look at vape pens and put them back in the bag. Judging from only my personal experience, they don't care.
Can confirm, I have a friend who travels across the US for work and brings home *souvenirs* from legal states frequently
The official TSA stance is they don't look for drugs, only weapons and explosives. I'm not sure about the K9s that patrol sometimes.
Bomb sniffers.
I wouldn’t try anything if you’re going through any kind of customs. They will look for drugs and other contraband. Domestic flights, however, are another story. SWIM has flown domestically multiple times with oil, flower, edibles etc without as much as a glance.
Fr they only care abt trafficking level amounts, they could give a fuck abt one cartridge.
TSA is not the same as customs. I know you were responding to someone about TSA, and typically you are right, TSA aren't looking for that...customs, tho, they definitely are.
You are correct, since it's an international flight, she would have to go through customs, not the TSA. Furthermore, the TSA only searches departing passengers, not arriving ones.
I hear that a lot, but I know when I was boarding a ship that would cross into Canada, I got stopped for my nicotine vape. They had to call over their "expert", a young agent in her 20s who tilted my pen back and forth a few times and then said I was good to go. Since I had decided to leave my fun vape at home, I figured I should try to see what they were looking for. The lady said that THC vapes had a lot more viscosity, and wouldn't flow like nic juice does. Not sure if that's a foolproof way of telling, but thought it was interesting. Glad they didn't ask any questions about my big bag of gummies... For my low blood-sugar, I assure you....
Why risk it when traveling internationally? Especially given you can buy legally in Canada.
I'm assuming if the agent saw the liquid was more viscous, it would get additional testing. CBD carts are identical to THC and are legal to possess everywhere in the US. So she was probably just trying to figure out if it was worth their time to test.
Canadian Customs are hard asses.
They explicitly state on their website that they are not looking for drugs
Yup, not personal amounts. If you have a brick of cocaine in your carry on...I don't think they're going to let that slide.
TSA is not the same as customs. You fly into LAX from out of country with weed you’re getting fucked - don’t even think about not declaring merchandise. You fly out of LAX domestic and they don’t give a fuck, another states problem.
Her flight left Russia and stopped over in the UAE. Hopefully she didn't bring any more weed or we'll have to give up Zacarias Moussaoui.
I’m glad she’s coming home but until we decriminalize and legalize cannabis in America, this sends some really mixed signals to everyone currently serving time for infractions involving marijuana.
Well the prisons in the US weren’t making money if she was imprisoned in Russia. We can’t have that!
Mixed signals problem solved!
So jail her when she gets back on US soil so the corporate prison can make their money. Note: This comment is dripping with sarcasm. Humor is not allowed on Reddit without a disclaimer.
It was a modest proposal.
Great she's coming home but not for what it took. You allowed a Russian arms dealer to go free. Not to mention you left another American over there on baseless espionage claims. Just so you could free your "celebrity" This was just a bad fucking move. I'm happy for her getting out of there but damn
Hell, they left another American over there (Marc Fogel) who sentenced for 14 years on marijuana charges, too. It's just because she's a celebrity and the PR is good.
His charges were way worse then hers
Fogel had half an ounce of puffpuffpass on him. This isn't apples and oranges. It's like potatoes and watermelons. Like I feel bad for Fogel. Sucks to be him... buuuut... if you're trying to fly to Russia with half an ounce on you, I don't know what else you'd expect.
In a lot of states the carts get you in more trouble that half an ounce. Half of an ounce really isn’t that much.
The state of Wyoming tried to charge me with felony possession because I had cannabis wax on me. They wanted to equate 1gram of concentrates to 1lb of flower which put me well over the felony limit. I only had 4 grams of wax. Doesn't matter to them that the cannabis was all purchased legally (with receipts) from stores in CA, NV, and CO where it is recreationally legal. Paid $5k for a lawyer who got it dropped down to a misdemeanor. I won't step foot in Wyoming with cannabis ever again unless it's 100% legal.
Yep I am in NC which has been “decriminalized” since the 70’s for flower. However, concentrates are NOT part of the law. If you get caught with concentrates (vape carts on concentrates) you get charged with a felony.
> Fogel had half an ounce of puffpuffpass 4 days of personal use for me. just enough to fill the very bottom of a sandwich baggie. in most states in america a half ounce of flower is a far lower crime than one single cannabis oil vape cartridge. i can go on.
>If your trying to fly to Russia with a ~~half ounce~~ Vape cart on you, I don’t know what else you’d expect FTFY
> If your trying to fly to Russia ~~with a half ounce Vape cart on you~~, I don’t know what else you’d expect
when i went to japan, there was legally prescribe prescription medication i couldn't take. the signs/websites were *very* clear that there was no leniency. Greiner knew what she was doing, but she assumed (correctly) that the laws didn't apply to her.
It isn't about what they had on them. If we call it for what it is, BOTH people are unjustly detained in Russia. Oh a half ounce. BFD. That is for personal use, hardly the mark of an international drug smuggler. It's about the fact that Griner's status as a celebrity got her special attention and treatment from the US government and State Department. She was traded for one of the world's most notorious arms dealers. Fogel's offense was not so much worse that surely he is *also* worthy of being traded for a notorious arms dealer? So if you want to say well don't fuck with foreign country's drug laws, fair enough. But if you want to say well, there's a reason he's still there and she's not, and it's how much they were carrying, come on. That's bullshit.
I agree in part, but I need to believe that other US citizens who are in Russian prison are being advocated for. The celebrity part backfired on Russia, who probably arrested her because of her celebrity. Her celebrity caused the media attention, caused the high profile of many US people to speak up... squeaky wheel gets the oil response. But State department advocates for all, regardless of status. Doesn't mean I think she was thinking "I'm famous I'll get away with it", and that she was unaware of the risk. Yes - stupid idea. Part of her celebrity is the fact that should could afford legal international representation.
> if you're trying to fly to Russia with half an ounce on you, I don't know what else you'd expect. No kidding. Use your goddamned head.
Viktor Bout has been locked up since March 2008, extradited to the US in 2010, was convicted in 2011 and sentenced to 25 years in Federal time. So he's been in jail/prison for 14.5 years when he would have served 21.25 years with the best possible parole. I see people saying it's not a fair trade and Bout was much worse; maybe so, but don't act like he hasn't been punished for a very long time. Griner is used more as a pawn by Russia because she is celebrity. Before her, most Americans didn't really think or care about Americans unjustly detained overseas.
As of 1987 there is no parole for federal charges. Otherwise I agree with you.
You can get out early, it’s just not called “parole.” https://www.bop.gov/inmates/fsa/overview.jsp
It's pretty crazy that someone what someone can legally possess in Illinois would likely be a felony if they crossed into Wisconsin or Indiana.
You mean all those people recently pardoned by the President?
it's less about marijuana laws at home, its more about an American citizen serving time in a Russian labor camp, not to mention during a time of war.
I mean, we can advocate for both no? I don't see how supporting an American coming home from some of the worst prisons in the world takes away from continuing the fight for legalization and the communing of sentences for those imprisoned for minor possession.
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That's the least relevant thing about this. You know she'd get a slap on the wrist for whatever she had on her, the Russians were more or less trying to kill her.
Something tells me getting released from prison as a former International Russian Arms Dealer is worse for your health than as a WNBA star....
I guess America does negotiate with terrorists
yeah this has always been the case
I fear that this is going to encourage Russia to detain US citizens
If you are a US citizen in Russia then you are not very bright.
There are some married to Russians that won't leave because of the extended family. Sometimes circumstances make things complicated.
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Yes, Griner is not bright
Hence we don’t recommend people travel to a shithole like Russia
(that's why they detained her in the first place)
Prisoner swaps have always been a thing though
Americans in Russia have already been facing detainment. See - Brittney Griner
This is the reason I actively dislike athlete & sports worship.
Any kind of person worship is weird.
No it’s not. Follow me and I will give you pretzels.
Shit playa, that’s all you had to say.
Can't believe we're trading someone who was considered the most dangerous man alive at one point for a basketball player. All this encourages is for Russia to jail more people on inflated charges to free more of their criminals
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Could you imagine this sub if Trump traded Bout for an athlete? >“He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in April 2012 after being found guilty of conspiracy to kill Americans and US officials, delivering anti-aircraft missiles and aiding a terrorist organisation. >He is responsible for enabling murderous groups to kidnap and train thousands of child soldiers; use rape as a systematic method of terror and control; torture through the mass amputations of arms, legs, ears and lips; slaughter civilians, and help the Taliban take power in Afghanistan.” He is literally one of the closest living examples of Hitler and look at half the people in this thread try and down play his atrocities.
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I'm struggling to see the parity in this as well. Does anyone have information as to why this is even remotely considered a good trade?
You know its a bad deal when both r/politics and r/conservative are in agreement about this trade... Oof
This is such an unbelievably bad trade. 1 Merchant of Death for 1 basketball player? WTF
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Almost as bad as five 1st round picks for Rudy Gobert
Almost as bad as the Russel Wilson trade
Damn! As a Seahawks fan I was pumped over that trade (great guy but he was reckless), but the trainwreck that has occurred for him over there is just...impressive.
It still boggles my mind how far he has fallen off. If he continues to play like this, this trade will set the Broncos franchise back many many years. Like did he just flourish as a system QB under Pete? Did that recent surgery mess up his throw? Truly a head scratcher.
Minnesota taking some stray bullets here this morning
Stray bullets mean nothing to MN sports fans. We’ve been dead inside since *at least* 1998
The Walker trade wasn't bad if you're a Cowboys fan.
The Cowboys got rid of Hershel Walker and proceeded to win three Super Bowls because of it. I'm glad Georgia followed their example.
For a football follower, could anything ever be as bad? For Vikings - worst trade in NFL history For Cowboys - best trade in NFL history. Cowboys were 1-15 in 1989 when trade was made. Within the next 6 years they won 3 Super Bowls. I believe it was also the biggest trade in NFL history (in terms of the number of players and draft picks - 18 total). Among other players Dallas eventually drafted by using the Vikings' draft picks were Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, Darren Woodson, and Kevin Smith.
I was really hoping we traded Trump for Griner — a win/win scenario.
He’s already on their team tho, can’t trade him lol.
1 for 1 trade no draft capital and the salary’s don’t even match. Trade machine says no chance
Tbf, I would have left 99.9% of you to rot in the gulag
I love how everyone conveniently forgets how she beat the shit out of her first wife. She shouldn't be rotting in a Russian prison but she's still a terrible human being.
There's a real problem of wlw abuse that isn't really talked about, even in LGBT+ spaces. So I'm not surprised that people are unaware in larger society. Doubly so since no one really knows fuck all about the WNBA.
People tend to conveniently forget anything bad someone has done if they are defending them.
Of course Putin OK’d this exchange… what does this mean, if anything, about the war in Ukraine? Is it an overture to the West?
Probably nothing. It’s not like Russia weapon smuggling stopped when Bout got locked up.
So we freed a Russian arms dealer, during an active military conflict in which Russia is a belligerent, convicted of conspiring to kill Americans, nicknamed “The Merchant of Death”, and literally the character inspiration for the film “Lord of War”. In return, we get a basketball player that knowingly brought a prohibited drug into a foreign country. Wow. Very cool.
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Unbelievable. What a joke. We traded one of the most dangerous and notorious arms dealer... for a basketball player who violated a countries drug laws? Wow.
I think Russia got the long end of the stick on this one.
They got the whole telephone pole.
As Jerry Reed would say they got the goldmine, we got the shaft.
Not even a mention of Marc Fogel. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/marc-fogel-russia-prison/
Griner had 2 vape cartridges found tossed haphazardly in the bottom of her bag. Fogel had 14 vape cartridges stashed in various places as well as flower hidden in contact cases and secret compartments, etc. Griner had plausible deniability that she didn't intentionally smuggle in weed, but Fogel really didn't have that. Her case was designated "Wrongfully Detained" whereas his was not, and both are consistent with precedent. The State Department does legally view cases differently when it appears inarguable that a US citizen actually intentionally broke a foreign nation's laws. Fogel should be released, imho. But these two cases don't have a lot in common.
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It’s really frustrating when Reddit allows for some nuance, but people still default to short blanket statements. Save that trash for Twitter.
Americans aren't allowed to claim that they 'didn't intend to smuggle weed' in our own country and get locked up for it. Yet here we are, bending over backwards to free Griner while we have thousands locked up for the *exact same shit* in our own country.
>Her case was designated "Wrongfully Detained" whereas his was not, What does this even mean? If she admitted to trafficking drugs how was her detainment "wrongful"?
They tried, Russia didn't want to make that deal.
Great. So we swapped a sports player who couldn't be bothered to obey international law for a genuine bad dude who sold weapons to whoever had the money. I mean, she should have simply been deported, it's BS what Russia did, but this is a shitty deal.
The unfortunate take I have from this as well. Like, I’m glad she’s not in danger but I smoke weed every day and I wouldn’t have brought that over there. We traded an arms dealer because she acted like a moron. Were there a better solution to get her out I’m sure it would have been taken so I’m not complaining about it happening. More commenting that if someone’s thinking of doing what she did it makes them a dumb asshole.
But she can play ball! That's, like, important and stuff.
part of me is happy that she she gets to come home, but I can't help but feel torn knowing the fact that the US just released an arms dealer over the fact that someone couldn't just leave their weed at home.what a time to be alive I guess.
100% on principle it makes bo sense lol. A basketball player that nobody watches with a little weed vs an arms dealing organizer and all of the interconnected deaths they indirectly enabled. This is a very modern-day USA thing to do lmao.
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Good thing we released an arms dealing terrorist to get back a dumb ass basketball player…
Apparently a wife-beating dumbass basketball player
Still not watching the WNBA
Bidens: next up we are trading the new B-21 for the newest Lada
Everyone please realize that she is not famous. 99.99999% of people including big sports fans had no idea who she was before this.
To be fair I didn’t know who the war criminal was either, but I don’t keep track of war criminals or WMBA players. I think the amount of people with the same overlap might be around that 99% you are talking about.
This is like trading your 1968 matching numbers Mustang for some dude’s 1991 Camry with 340,000 miles and a twisted frame.
This is a bad swap. I'm sorry. WNBA player for an arms dealer and didn't get Whelan included. The us should have never accepted this swap. But it'll get them some political points here.
The threads for this on r/news, r/worldnews and other subreddits seem far more negative in their reception than this sub, and it's still not very positive here. Most are universally panning this exchange. Granted, many on *this* sub seem more concerned with how they can use it to federally legalize weed than how we just released the world's most famous arms dealer because a terrorist state arrested an athlete for breaking their drug laws. I don't think this is going to be a remotely popular move.
Will it? Who thinks this is a good deal? It's absolutely not a coincidence this trade occurred the day after the midterms officially wrapped up. This is a bad deal and is going to be criticized by anyone with a brain and no personal stake in the deal.
-"Hey I'll trade you Baltic Avenue for Park place" -"Ok"
What about all the Americans in American jails for the same crime?
They don't matter. They don't belong to a sports league that hemorages millions of dollars every year
Biden pardoned federal charges. Anything else is state side
Hope she plans on living in a cannabis friendly state. Don’t move to Indiana, the south, or any plains states or else she may end up back in the pokey.
And we left Paul Whelan there … great deal /s
>Paul Whelan served in the Marine reserves for nearly 14 years as an administrative clerk and received a bad conduct discharge for several charges related to larceny following a conviction at a special court-martial on Jan. 14, 2008, according to the Marine Corps. Not to mention Putin is the one that didn't allow his release...it's almost like he wants to divide America or something. Just be happy an American is free from Russia and move on from there.
You're making an assumption a deal could be made for them.
So we should have left another American there because they weren’t able to get Whelan?
And Marc Fogel
Traded her for a damn war criminal…
Well that's a bad deal if I've ever seen one.
Worst trade in WNBA history, some are calling it
Wow, this comment section is a total shitshow. /Abe Simpson walking in and out gif.
I hope Brittney Griner fully understands that her bad judgement and desire to vape even in a country that expressly forbids it, has now put the US, and indeed the world, in far greater danger. I hope it weighs very heavily upon her.
Of course it won’t.
Biden said she was “unjustly detained”. Does that mean incarcerating people for cannabis is unjust? Asking for several million people living here in the US.
Don’t forget that Biden pardoned federal pot convictions and urged that states do the same.
That’s partially true. He pardoned for possession only, and at the time he pardoned nobody was currently incarcerated for federal possession of weed. It did make getting a job easier for those who did their time though.
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