For those awaiting the end of cannabis prohibition in the US, 2024 began on a hopeful note, but as the year comes to a close, many of those hopes remain unfulfilled.
“The big issue is rescheduling, and there was a lot of excitement about that, but it’s been sort of mired down,” said Alex Halperin, who has covered the cannabis industry in his newsletter WeedWeek since 2015. Rescheduling would mean that cannabis is no longer federally banned under the Controlled Substances Act.
Joe Biden has been promising to reform federal cannabis law since his 2020 campaign, and rescheduling seemed like the most significant step the president was likely to take. But recent developments mean it won’t happen during his administration, if at all.
“Now, of course, we have the new administration, and who knows what they’re going to do?” Halperin said. » | Hannah Harris Green | Friday, December 27, 2024
Sanity in the Western world is becoming a rarity. There appears to be a headlong rush right across the West to legalize cannabis whilst at the same time clamping down so hard on smokers of tobacco products. Governments right across the West have increased taxation on cigarettes so much that cigarettes today have become the preserve of the rich. Further, governments have clamped down on smokers’ freedoms so much that it is hard for them to find any space in the public arena to enjoy a smoke at all! Yet, as the very same time, they are encouraging people to indulge in a substance which is more harmful than tobacco. To me, this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
I am not a father, and probably I will never be one now. I have left that a little late. But I can assure you that if I ever became a father, or were I ever to have been one, and my son came home and told me that he had taken up smoking, I’d be cool with his decision. I would merely tell him not to over-indulge. Naturally, I would prefer him not to smoke, but why should I deny him the enormous pleasure that I derived from smoking over the years? By contrast, were my son to come home and tell me that he had started indulging in cannabis, I should be crestfallen.
I hasten to add here that I am talking of cannabis used for recreational purposes, not for medicinal use. I have zero objections to its use for medicinal purposes. But cannabis used for recreational purposes is another matter altogether. I have my own very special reasons to be against its use. I have never tried any drugs, but I did once lose an extremely lucrative position in Saudi Arabia because of someone under the influence of cannabis. I have suffered as a result of that incident ever since. Hence my aversion to the drug.
By the way, this month on December 10th, two years and eight months passed by since I smoked my last cigarette. In April, it will be three whole years. – © Mark Alexander
