[xroche]

Reason: the DEA will lose power with less regulated substances. The only goal of some bureaucrats is to collect power, not only because it allows to have a better pay, but because mediocre people are inherently attracted to power itself.

[jbob2000]

They won't just lose power, the whole agency is dead if marijuana is legalized. 82% of illicit drug users are marijuana users (https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/nationwide-...). If you legalize weed, there's 82% less work for the DEA to do.

[tammer]

The elephant in the room regarding legalization is the overburdened prison system. As we saw with the recent Attica anniversary strikes, organized prisoner resistance is a huge threat to the security and economic status quo. Nothing would galvanize resistance like being incarcerated for a crime which is no longer illegal.

Therefore in a more liberal climate I would expect to see progressive access laws continue to be available to non-impoverished white populations, with the federal schedule remaining intact. Now, I simply expect a return to the old strategies for corralling free labor.