I was just thinking about whether this would make him gain more support or lose support. I think it would really help him, but at the same time I don't know if everyone else feels the same.
He would definitely get a lot of pothead Democrats and people on the fence to vote for him. And it would benefit the country by emptying the prisons of drug offenders, and stopping lots of crime that's driven by the black market.
But would he lose lots of his base with that? What do you think?
The Bernie 420 Bros would all become sober the next day and become prohibitionists
Problem is all Biden would have to do is also claim support for legalization of pot and it just nullifies whatever gains he got from it. Being pro pot only matters if the other guy is against it.
and he will... But, I think Trump can show that Biden is a 30+ year politician and a liar. Why didn't Obama/Biden do something about it for 8 years?
If Trump does it by EO in a sensible way (treat it like alcohol with age restrictions), he will have taken the issue by the horns and they won't be able to do anything about it. If they take the bait and go against it, then they just lost half their base. If they try to out-do Trump, they look disingenuous and fake. It really is a win/win for Trump.
Exactly. Biden is for TALKING about solving problems. Trump is actually solving problems. Look at illegal immigration. Dems talked about solving the problem their way, by giving amnesty, releasing the illegals who got caught, etc. But they really didn't do that. Obama got the 'deporter in chief' nickname. He was supposed to be the consummate open borders enthusiast, and he deported lots of people.
Trump on the other hand, is working to solve the illegal immigration problem the other way....by stopping it....with a wall, with better enforcement, 'muh kids in cages,' now title 42 pandemic immediate repatriating. Trump is doing what he campaigned on doing. Obama didn't put in the work, he just talked about it.
Exactly this!
What Trump could do is allow financial institutions to handle cannibus transactions where states allow sales.
This would reduce robberies and other issues in and near shops. Win win for all.
It would be popular for most people under 70 years old. Older folks, like my father, grew up in the era of “Refer Madness”. They don’t like marijuana and think only druggies use it. Frustrating but true. I say go for it!
He would lose a good percentage of the evangelicals if he legalized weed.
I don't agree. Evangelicals have finally figured out they aren't voting for a new pastor, they are voting for a president to lead the country, and signing a bill to legalize federally doesn't prohibit states from keeping it illegal.
Black churchgoers are still going to vote D, and I think Hispanic church goers will swing for Biden, but it won't be a dramatic advantage.
Yeah, that's what I thought.
I just looked up how many Evangelicals there are in the US and it says they are between 6-35% of the population.
I would imagine he would gain more votes if the actual number of Evangelicals are closer to that lower percentage estimate though.
He can't 'legalize' pot at a federal level. He can have the DEA reschedule or de-list pot on their 'schedule,' but without a bill to legalize to sign, he can't actually legalize anything.
I believe Trump would sign such a bill, but really, Democrats aren't actually going to vote for federal legalization right now. Why would they want to give Trump a win?
He should go ahead and order the descheduling, though.That he can do, and he can also publicly say he will sign a legalization bill, even though he is personally against pot. That probably won't gain him many votes, but it might make a few potheads on the left unmotivated enough to not vote.
No