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I was relieved to learn that Albert Einstein never actually said that “[i]nsanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” because it seems like a really bad idea to start a blog post disagreeing with Albert Einstein.
Insanity, it turns out, is American cannabis policy.
Let me say this at the outset: This is not about partisan politics or blame. Rather, it is about how Americans ended up with a cannabis policy that is so irrational and inconsistently applied that it makes the targeting rule in college football seem like old-fashioned common sense.
I’ll happily admit that it would not be insane for the federal government to prohibit cannabis and enforce that prohibition. It would not be insane for the federal government to make cannabis legal nationwide. It would not be insane for the federal government to leave the issue to the states to decide.
What is insane, however, is the following series of policies:
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- The United States Congress mandates that marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act.
- The United States Congress defunds any effort by the Department of Justice to prosecute state-legal marijuana operations.
- The Department of Justice issues and rescinds opinions opining on whether federal prosecutors should take action against state-legal marijuana operations.
- The United States Congress mandates that banking marijuana proceeds is money laundering.
- The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the Department of Treasury states that the banking of state-legal marijuana operations is not an enforcement priority.
- Thirty-seven states mandate that marijuana is legal under state law, while Congress keeps in place a law mandating that marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act.
American Cannabis Policy Is the Definition of Insanity