[claudeganon]

>I don’t understand why federal legalization has been so difficult.

Alcohol and opioid manufacturing buying off politicians. Mass incarceration as a policy to preserve slavery in the US economy and to serve as a jobs program for police and guard forces.

[TylerE]

Not only that, but the Prison-Industrial complex is a real thing. Private prisons are an outrage.

[jdminhbg]

Private prisons only account for ~8% (and falling) of US prisoners[0]. Their incentives are bad, but public prisons have just as many self-interested groups with even more political power[1].

[0]: https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/private-priso...

[1]: e.g. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/02/biggest-obstacl...

[eagsalazar2]

So sad that this is the right answer.