What A Trump Presidency Would Mean For Marijuana Law Reform: Worry

[Robert Celt]

Last night's string of electoral primary victories for Republican candidate Donald Trump could go down as a pivotal point in US history. Like the 2000 Republican primaries that gave us George W. Bush, and his subsequent invasion of Iraq, the consequences of Trump's Super Tuesday wins may affect the trajectory of the country for at least a generation. It's an ominous sign that America may have taken one step too far down the road toward an Idiocracy where entertainment and shock value are paramount.

So what might a Trump Presidency mean for the medical cannabis movement and the associated adult use effort? In true Trump fashion, the man is all over the place, and could at best become a lukewarm ally for state's rights, or at worst, the leader of a new pot pogrom akin to that of Ronald Reagan.

"Do I want Donald Trump in the White House determining marijuana policies? Absolutely not," said Isaac Dietrich, CEO of pot social network MassRoots, in a VICE interview. "If we elect a president that's anti-marijuana, he could choose to enforce federal law here in Colorado. He could go around and shut down all these dispensaries and put tens of thousands of people out of work and decimate local economies, so it's a huge gamble."

Trump's positions on pot have been erratic. In the Nineties, he was for the legalization of all drugs.

"We're losing badly – the war on drugs," Trump reportedly said at the time. "You have to legalize drugs to win that war."

But in June 2015, he said he strongly opposed Colorado legalization. "I think it's bad, and I feel strongly about that," Trump said, adding, "They've got a lot of problems going on right now in Colorado, some big problems."

Then in October, Trump said, "in terms of marijuana and legalization, I think that should be a state issue, state by state."

Trump has repeatedly supported the medical use of marijuana. "Marijuana is such a big thing," Trump said. "I think medical should happen – right? Don't we agree? I think so."

Last week on The O'Reilly Factor, when asked about his level of concern regarding legal Colorado pot leaking into other prohibition states, Trump reportedly said "I would really want to think about that one," Trump said. "Because in some ways I think it's good and in other ways it's bad. I do want to see what the medical effects are. I have to see what the medical effects are, and, by the way, medical marijuana, medical? I'm in favor of it a hundred percent. But what you are talking about, perhaps not. It's causing a lot of problems out there."

A President Trump who believes state legalization is "creating a lot of problems" is unlikely to continue the current administration's hands-off approach to state-legal pot activity.

Cannabis' deep history is marked by cycles of tolerance and oppression. We are twenty years into a cycle of tolerance marked by California legalizing medical cannabis in 1996.

As nativist, protectionist, xenophobia sweeps across America, the notion of tolerance appears to be waning.

News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: What A Trump Presidency Would Mean For Marijuana Law Reform: Worry
Author: David Downs
Photo Credit: Trump For America
Website: East Bay Express

 

[RCFlyer]

What part of he wants to evaluate it is bad? He has stated he wants to have the best and brightest on his team to advise him. He is open to hear both sides and who reading this has never changed their mind/opinion about something when new information becomes available? Prepare to present the facts not to a politician but to a Businessman. Facts not feelings...

 

[OlderGrower]

What part of he wants to evaluate it is bad? He has stated he wants to have the best and brightest on his team to advise him. He is open to hear both sides and who reading this has never changed their mind/opinion about something when new information becomes available? Prepare to present the facts not to a politician but to a Businessman. Facts not feelings...

Not meaning to sound negative about your observation but I watch all political debates both democratic and republican. I feel it is my duty as a voter to be informed as to what a persons position is before I cast a vote for them. We have had many Republican debates already and from what I have been able to get from Donald up to this point is this. He keeps telling us all that he is going to surround himself with the brightest and smartest people and life will be peachy. He will make America great. Sounds good, but I am curious, who are these brightest and smartest people he will be surrounding himself with? When he started Trump University he claimed he was going to have the brightest and smartest people teacher the classes and he was going to hand pick them all. According to Factcheck.org this is what they said they discovered..
Trump said that the so-called university "had an A rating from the Better Business Bureau." Actually, it once had an "A+" rating, according to a Better Business Bureau spokeswoman. But its most recent rating was a "D-."
Trump claimed that "many of" the university's instructors were "handpicked" by him. That's not true. In a 2012 deposition, a top executive for Trump University said that "none of our instructors" was picked by Trump himself.
Trump said that "98 percent of the people that took the courses ... thought they were terrific." That's misleading. A class-action lawsuit against Trump alleges that the surveys were not anonymous and were filled out during or immediately after sessions when participants were still expecting to receive future benefits from the program.

here is more of the facts about how Donald is so truthful...
Wallace, Feb. 28: A super PAC that is opposed to you is running this ad. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Sherri: All of it was just a fake. America, do not make the same mistake that I did with Donald Trump. I got hurt badly and I'd hate to see this country get hurt by Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Wallace: Now, Trump University ads promised that these instructors on your real estate genius would be handpicked by you but in fact, the story is that a lot of them were picked just so they could get people to sign up and one of them was a manager from a Buffalo Wild Wings. So did you handpick these instructors or not?

Trump: OK. Many of them we were handpicked and I handpicked top people. And the people I think did a good job. And they ran a good school.

And I'll tell you about the school. It had an "A" rating from the Better Business Bureau and the people I think that you even have on there have given a great report card, because everybody – just about everybody that took a course, almost everybody signed a document and they rated the school. ...

Trump: Listen to me, 98 percent of the people that took – Chris, 98 percent of the people that took the courses, we have report cards from everybody. They report carded on the course.

Ninety-eight percent of the people that took the courses, 98 percent approved the courses, they thought they were terrific.

I just hope for America's sake if he is elected president and hand picks the next drug czar he picks someone better then "one of them was a manager from a Buffalo Wild Wings" Who knows, maybe that guy will be the new Secretary of State

Facts not feelings = facing facts we do not want to hear = Donald Trump is no better nor worse then any other lying politician who is bought and paid for.

10/28/2015 02:40 pm ET | Updated Oct 28, 2015.
AJ Agrawal CEO and co-founder of Alumnify.
With a net worth in the billions of dollars, you would never have guessed it. But, lo and behold, Donald Trump has filed his businesses for bankruptcy four times since 1991.Oct 28, 2015
Donald Trump has been married three times. His current wife is Melania Knauss-Trump. Two of the three Donald Trump marriages have been to Slavic women. Donald Trump Wife #1 Born in what is now known as the Czech Republic, Ivana Zelnickova was the first model to take "The Donald" for a husband.Feb 27, 2010

Lets hope for all our sakes he is more successful at running a country then he is at running a business or being married. His track record is nothing to brag about.

 

[RCFlyer]

Not meaning to sound negative about your observation but I watch all political debates both democratic and republican. I feel it is my duty as a voter to be informed as to what a persons position is before I cast a vote for them. We have had many Republican debates already and from what I have been able to get from Donald up to this point is this. He keeps telling us all that he is going to surround himself with the brightest and smartest people and life will be peachy. He will make America great. Sounds good, but I am curious, who are these brightest and smartest people he will be surrounding himself with? When he started Trump University he claimed he was going to have the brightest and smartest people teacher the classes and he was going to hand pick them all. According to Factcheck.org this is what they said they discovered..
Trump said that the so-called university "had an A rating from the Better Business Bureau." Actually, it once had an "A+" rating, according to a Better Business Bureau spokeswoman. But its most recent rating was a "D-."
Trump claimed that "many of" the university's instructors were "handpicked" by him. That's not true. In a 2012 deposition, a top executive for Trump University said that "none of our instructors" was picked by Trump himself.
Trump said that "98 percent of the people that took the courses ... thought they were terrific." That's misleading. A class-action lawsuit against Trump alleges that the surveys were not anonymous and were filled out during or immediately after sessions when participants were still expecting to receive future benefits from the program.

here is more of the facts about how Donald is so truthful...
Wallace, Feb. 28: A super PAC that is opposed to you is running this ad. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Sherri: All of it was just a fake. America, do not make the same mistake that I did with Donald Trump. I got hurt badly and I'd hate to see this country get hurt by Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Wallace: Now, Trump University ads promised that these instructors on your real estate genius would be handpicked by you but in fact, the story is that a lot of them were picked just so they could get people to sign up and one of them was a manager from a Buffalo Wild Wings. So did you handpick these instructors or not?

Trump: OK. Many of them we were handpicked and I handpicked top people. And the people I think did a good job. And they ran a good school.

And I'll tell you about the school. It had an "A" rating from the Better Business Bureau and the people I think that you even have on there have given a great report card, because everybody – just about everybody that took a course, almost everybody signed a document and they rated the school. ...

Trump: Listen to me, 98 percent of the people that took – Chris, 98 percent of the people that took the courses, we have report cards from everybody. They report carded on the course.

Ninety-eight percent of the people that took the courses, 98 percent approved the courses, they thought they were terrific.

I just hope for America's sake if he is elected president and hand picks the next drug czar he picks someone better then "one of them was a manager from a Buffalo Wild Wings" Who knows, maybe that guy will be the new Secretary of State

Facts not feelings = facing facts we do not want to hear = Donald Trump is no better nor worse then any other lying politician who is bought and paid for.

10/28/2015 02:40 pm ET | Updated Oct 28, 2015.
AJ Agrawal CEO and co-founder of Alumnify.
With a net worth in the billions of dollars, you would never have guessed it. But, lo and behold, Donald Trump has filed his businesses for bankruptcy four times since 1991.Oct 28, 2015
Donald Trump has been married three times. His current wife is Melania Knauss-Trump. Two of the three Donald Trump marriages have been to Slavic women. Donald Trump Wife #1 Born in what is now known as the Czech Republic, Ivana Zelnickova was the first model to take "The Donald" for a husband.Feb 27, 2010

Lets hope for all our sakes he is more successful at running a country then he is at running a business or being married. His track record is nothing to brag about.

You put alot of effort into that reply, but like my statement it is an opinion. No one will know until we see him act on it. But if you think negatively you will act negatively. I am going to look for the good/best in the possibilities. Just think what we will get if Killary gets in...

 

[Radogast]

What part of he wants to evaluate it is bad? He has stated he wants to have the best and brightest on his team to advise him. He is open to hear both sides and who reading this has never changed their mind/opinion about something when new information becomes available? Prepare to present the facts not to a politician but to a Businessman. Facts not feelings...

The quote in the article was

Trump reportedly said "I would really want to think about that one,"

Thinking about something is not the same as evaluating it - especially not evaluating the merits
Thinking about could be, for example, calculating the political fallout of an answer.

This late in the electoral process, not having a clear position on one of the most monumental social changes of the decade is .. for me .. a black mark. A black mark that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump share.

 

[lilybeanz]

no winning with trump, I'm Canadian and I'm scared of the outcome if he wins. the man doesn't know the first thing about being a president. he even said he would wing it if he wins! also he doesn't understand half the questions he's asked. when asked about the nuclear triad for example. forgot to mention he is a horrible racist. Bernie Sanders for change!! best of luck U.S.A.

 

[OlderGrower]

You put alot of effort into that reply, but like my statement it is an opinion. No one will know until we see him act on it. But if you think negatively you will act negatively. I am going to look for the good/best in the possibilities. Just think what we will get if Killary gets in...

Actually it took less then 1 minute to google .. as for Trump University, had you watched the debates it was brought up by Megan Kelley. I do agree though that Hillary would be no better, though at least she can explain her position though it changes with what ever direction the political wind is blowing.

 

[RCFlyer]

You're just afraid of all the Liberals that have said they are headed your way... LOL He's leading by 20 points on all the upcoming states.

 

[OlderGrower]

You're just afraid of all the Liberals that have said they are headed your way... LOL He's leading by 20 points on all the upcoming states.

Actually I am not afraid of liberals headed my way, though I am afraid of 4 years of D. Trump as president. I hate to say it, but if Donald becomes president G.W. Bush may have competition for the "Stupidest World Leader" The fact that he is ahead by 20 points in the polls only tells me one thing, NOT that he is a great leader, but that George Carlin was right, The American people really are stupid, and not capable of critical thinking.

 

[Radogast]

Actually I am not afraid of liberals headed my way, though I am afraid of 4 years of D. Trump as president. I hate to say it, but if Donald becomes president G.W. Bush may have competition for the "Stupidest World Leader" The fact that he is ahead by 20 points in the polls only tells me one thing, NOT that he is a great leader, but that George Carlin was right, The American people really are stupid, and not capable of critical thinking.

Not just George Carlin. 'Idiocracy' is more than a movie.

20 seconds of google, cut-and-paste from Thomas Jefferson:

"Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories. And to render even them safe, their minds must be improved to a certain degree." --Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia Q.XIV, 1782. ME 2:207

"The most effectual means of preventing [the perversion of power into tyranny are] to illuminate, as far as practicable, the minds of the people at large, and more especially to give them knowledge of those facts which history exhibits, that possessed thereby of the experience of other ages and countries, they may be enabled to know ambition under all its shapes, and prompt to exert their natural powers to defeat its purposes." --Thomas Jefferson: Diffusion of Knowledge Bill, 1779. FE 2:221, Papers 2:526

"The information of the people at large can alone make them the safe as they are the sole depositary of our political and religious freedom." --Thomas Jefferson to William Duane, 1810. ME 12:417

- - -

I do however think the quote 'worried about liberals headed your way' was directed at the Canadian
My wife and I have seriously begun researching New Zealand - Canada has too much winter for me.

 

[cpla]

It's quite humorous that there are so many assumptions being made here. When someone's position (especially a politician) is murky, it's usually because they don't care about it. Usually when people don't care about something, they don't meddle with it. Trump has an agenda. It's a very obvious one. It doesn't include changing laws he doesn't care about which he can't do legally anyway.

This seems like a polical attack more than an informal post. There was no mention of the fact the Trump also said that if marijuana is going to be legal, the banks should be allowed to deal with them. This is an even better position than Obama takes. However, the fact is that since Trump has been on the campaign trail he has not given a solid answer yet one way or the other. I think it's unfair to assume the worst with next to no evidence to support it.

Cruz? Yes. An enemy through and through. Rubio is for medical marijuana but not recreational. But all of this is irrelevant. The only thing a president can do is order the DOJ to enforce federal law. When Bush was in we didn't see too many high profile raids. I don't see that happening regardless of who's elected. If Trump makes good on his promises to bring the best and brightest, I'd be more interested in his pick for Attorney General.

 

[Radogast]

If Trump makes good on his promises to bring the best and brightest, I'd be more interested in his pick for Attorney General.

What makes you think Trump would, or could, fulfill a promise to bring the best and the brightest?

As pointed out above, he didn't do that for Trump University, just CLAIMED he did that.

Having briefly met a few of the "best and the brightest" that have influenced Washington (Nina Totenberg, Elie Weisel, Elizabeth Warren) It is hard to imagine they would want to work with or for Donald Trump.

Party politics aside, I have never seen anything in Donald Trump that makes me think he is a competent administrator or empathetic to the conditions or opinions of other people. His leadership style is best characterised by bullying, threatening, and temper tantrums. Why would the 'best and the brightest' want anything to do with such a person?

 

[cpla]

So this WAS just a weak attempt at trying to bring politics into a marijuana forum for no reason other than contempt for a candidate? I'm not a supporter of anyone running. But when someone has so many haters they bleed out into a forum that has nothing to do with them, it makes me more interested in them. I'm gonna have to reevaluate my stance after reading this lol

 

[lilybeanz]

I dont mind the liberals coming to Canada everyone is welcome

 

[Radogast]

So this WAS just a weak attempt at trying to bring politics into a marijuana forum for no reason other than contempt for a candidate? I'm not a supporter of anyone running. But when someone has so many haters they bleed out into a forum that has nothing to do with them, it makes me more interested in them. I'm gonna have to reevaluate my stance after reading this lol

Haters use names like "Killary" (see RCFlyer above.)

Personally my view of Donald Trump is well described by the word 'contempt.' Like Mitt Romney before him, he was born on 3rd base, thinks he hit a home run, and looks down on anyone who hits a single or a double.

 

[Radogast]

I dont mind the liberals coming to Canada everyone is welcome

You need to hurry up on that global warming to attract some of us up there

 

[RCFlyer]

Yes I do feel that Hillary should be in prison and the FBI seems to be leaning that way as well.

 

[lilybeanz]

Haters use names like "Killary" (see RCFlyer above.)

Personally my view of Donald Trump is well described by the word 'contempt.' Like Mitt Romney before him, he was born on 3rd base, thinks he hit a home run, and looks down on anyone who hits a single or a double.

perfect analogy. a+ paper right there.

 

[SWOGA]

It's quite humorous that there are so many assumptions being made here. When someone's position (especially a politician) is murky, it's usually because they don't care about it. Usually when people don't care about something, they don't meddle with it. Trump has an agenda. It's a very obvious one. It doesn't include changing laws he doesn't care about which he can't do legally anyway.

This seems like a polical attack more than an informal post. There was no mention of the fact the Trump also said that if marijuana is going to be legal, the banks should be allowed to deal with them. This is an even better position than Obama takes. However, the fact is that since Trump has been on the campaign trail he has not given a solid answer yet one way or the other. I think it's unfair to assume the worst with next to no evidence to support it.

Cruz? Yes. An enemy through and through. Rubio is for medical marijuana but not recreational. But all of this is irrelevant. The only thing a president can do is order the DOJ to enforce federal law. When Bush was in we didn't see too many high profile raids. I don't see that happening regardless of who's elected. If Trump makes good on his promises to bring the best and brightest, I'd be more interested in his pick for Attorney General.

Trump has his Attorney General campaigning for him, it is Chris Christie, Christie said in January of this year. You pinko Communist pot smokers in Co. Oregon, Cal. Wash and Ak, enjoy it now, because when I get in power, I will send the DEA and DOJ in to bust everyone of you, and shut down all dispensaries.

Could not agree more on how stupid Americans are, and prove it time after time.

 

[cpla]

Although I agree he's grooming Christie for a position in his cabinet, I doubt very seriously he'd be the AG. That makes absolutely no sense.