[ceejayoz]

> I imagine Democrats wouldn't do this if they had control of the government.

Why not? It's already decriminalized in virtually the entire country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_cannabis_by_U.S._j...

35 states have legalized it for medical use, and 15 have legalized it recreationally. From the map, it looks like Idaho stands alone on it being completely illegal and criminalized.

[tick_tock_tick]

There is a really good point Democrats were almost universally against gay marriage until it cross the public support threshold. Looks at the stark difference between Obama on gay marriage in his first vs second term. If the polling shows enough people support it Democrats will pretty quickly flip to the support side of the issue if it goes anything like marriage.

[loeg]

Legalizing marijuana (67-32) is slightly more popular than gay marriage (61-31), and the crossover was at roughly the same time as gay marriage.

https://www.pewforum.org/fact-sheet/changing-attitudes-on-ga...

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/11/14/americans-s...

[BHSPitMonkey]

To a certain extent, that's how representative government is intended to work.

[tick_tock_tick]

For sure this should be considered a feature not a bug.

[free2OSS]

Big policy changes spends your political capital.

You are going to be getting angry phone calls. Better to get those angry phone calls in exchange for a spending bill that goes to your donors/constituents.

Elections have razor thin margins. What benefit does the politician get?

[ceejayoz]

> Big policy changes spends your political capital.

That's the point, though. It's not a big policy change - the map demonstrates that. Decriminalization is already the de facto situation in nearly the entire country.

Federal law with regards to marijuana is completely and openly ignored in much of the country. Dispensaries operate with relative impunity.