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Legalized Marijuana Use Threatened
Posted by CN Staff on January 04, 2018 at 11:10:42 PT
By Matt Zapotosky and Sari Horwitz
Source: Washington Post
Washington, D.C. -- Attorney General Jeff Sessions has rescinded several Obama-era directives that discouraged enforcement of federal marijuana laws in states that had legalized the substance.In a memo sent to U.S. attorneys Thursday, Sessions noted that federal law prohibits the possession and sale of marijuana, and he undid four previous Obama administration memos that advised against bringing weed prosecutions in states where it was legal to use for recreational or medical purposes. Sessions said prosecutors should use their own discretion — taking into consideration the department’s limited resources, the seriousness of the crime, and the deterrent effect that they could impose — in weighing whether charges were appropriate.
“It is the mission of the Department of Justice to enforce the laws of the United States, and the previous issuance of guidance undermines the rule of law and the ability of our local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement partners to carry out this mission,” Sessions said in a statement. “Therefore, today’s memo on federal marijuana enforcement simply directs all U.S. Attorneys to use previously established prosecutorial principles that provide them all the necessary tools to disrupt criminal organizations, tackle the growing drug crisis, and thwart violent crime across our country.”The move, first reported by the Associated Press, potentially paves the way for the federal government to crack down on the burgeoning pot industry — though the precise impact remains to be seen. It also might spark something of a federalist crisis, and it drew some resistance even from members of Sessions’s own party.Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) said on Twitter the move “directly contradicts what Attorney General Sessions told me prior to his confirmation,” and he threatened to impede the nomination of Justice Department leaders in response.“With no prior notice to Congress, the Justice Department has trampled on the will of the voters in CO and other states,” he wrote. “I am prepared to take all steps necessary, including holding DOJ nominees, until the Attorney General lives up to the commitment he made to me prior to his confirmation.”Marijuana already was illegal under U.S. law, though the advice against bringing such cases in states that approve its use and sale had created an uneasy moratorium between local and federal authorities. Local leaders had long criticized Sessions stance on marijuana, and even President Trump had said on the campaign trail in 2016 he believed the matter should be left “up to the states.”Eight states and the District of Columbia have laws allowing for personal pot consumption, according to NORML, a group which advocates legalization and tracks pot-related legislation, and many more permit the use of medical marijuana. Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement he was “disappointed and troubled” by Sessions’s decision.“Over the past year, Sessions has demonstrated a stunning lack of knowledge about our state’s marijuana laws,” Ferguson said, adding, “I pledge to vigorously defend the will of the voters in Washington state.”In a briefing with reporters, a senior Justice Department official said it was unclear whether the new directive “will or won’t” lead to more prosecutions, because that will be up to individual U.S. attorneys across the country. But the official said the previous guidance “created a safe harbor for the marijuana industry to operate in these states,” and that was inconsistent with federal law.So far, Trump has nominated 58 people, 46 of whom have been confirmed by the Senate, to be U.S. attorneys. On Wednesday, Sessions picked 17 more to serve in interim posts, including in Nevada, California, and Washington, where marijuana is legal.Sessions’s Justice Department has long taken a hard line stance against marijuana, even effectively blocking the Drug Enforcement Administration from taking action on more than two dozen requests to grow marijuana to use in research.Sessions has said in the past he did not believe marijuana should be legalized, even suggesting at an appearance last year that medical marijuana had been “hyped, maybe too much.” He and top Justice Department officials had been reviewing the 2013 guidance from then Deputy Attorney James Cole and related memos directing federal prosecutors to effectively back off marijuana enforcement in states that had legalized the substance and had a system in place to regulate it.His new directive also ostensibly affects medical marijuana, though other prosecution guidelines might dissuade prosecutors from actually bringing a case against someone using the substance for medical purposes.“Attorney General Sessions’s reported decision is a direct attack on patients,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).In practice, the previous guidance meant U.S. attorneys in jurisdictions that had legalized marijuana at the state level were often reluctant to bring marijuana cases — though Cole’s memo stressed Congress had determined it to be an illegal drug that provided significant revenue to gangs. They might now be more willing to consider such prosecutions — though they will still potentially have to contend with jurors sympathetic to defendants whose conduct would not be illegal under state law.The Drug Enforcement Administration, too, does not necessarily consider marijuana its highest priority in every jurisdiction, though agents do feel it is problematic in some areas, including in states where it is legal, an official said.Pro-marijuana advocates have long been critical of Sessions’s views on the topic, though his latest directive might also upset those in his own party. Asked by a Colorado TV station in 2016 about using federal authority to shut down sales of recreational marijuana, President Trump said, “I wouldn’t do that, no,” but he was noncommittal on whether he would block his attorney general from doing so.Sessions’s move could have significant economic impacts, injecting even more uncertainty into investors already apprehensive about what the Justice Department might do when it comes to legal pot.“If the Trump administration goes through with a crackdown on states that have legalized marijuana, they will be taking billions of dollars away from regulated, state-sanctioned businesses and putting that money back into the hands of drug cartels,” said NORML Political Director Justin Strekal.Some pro-pot advocates, too, sought to cast the move as a continuation of Sessions’s war on drugs. Early in his tenure, he reversed another Obama-era directive and instructed prosecutors to pursue the most serious, readily provable charge — even if that might trigger stiff mandatory minimum penalties for drug crimes.Matt Zapotosky covers the Justice Department for the Washington Post's National Security team. Sari Horwitz covers the Justice Department, law enforcement and criminal justice issues nationwide for The Washington Post, where she has been a reporter for 33 years. Source: Washington Post (DC)Author: Matt Zapotosky and Sari HorwitzPublished: January 4, 2018Copyright: 2018 Washington Post CompanyContact: letters washpost.com Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ URL: http://drugsense.org/url/RnQS8OxvCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by afterburner on January 05, 2018 at 10:58:32 PT
Update on Rescinding Cole Memo w/ 2 Videos
POLITICS.
Sessions Rescinds Cole Memo, Which Protected State-Legal Cannabis From Feds.
LEAFLY STAFF
January 4, 2018
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/sessions-rescinds-cole-memo-which-protected-state-legal-cannabis-from-feds?utm_campaign=Roost&utm_source=Roost&utm_medium=push
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Comment #2 posted by Soupherb on January 05, 2018 at 10:05:50 PT:
I'll say it again from last summer...
It never has been about Herb. It is control and profits by corporations. They buy the politicians and get the laws corporations need to keep the immensely useful "PLANT" cannabis or hemp from hurting their corp. profits...It's always about the money.
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Comment #1 posted by Oleg the Tumor on January 05, 2018 at 08:41:17 PT
Here we go! Pickett's Charge Redux
Jeff Sessions has been selected to be loaded into the breach of History's Howitzer and fired at the moon!Any elected official who supports this position should remember that this IS an election year.Go ahead and follow him, see how far he gets.It is clear that the battle is far from over, meanwhile, why should law abiding people continue to hand over their Social Security money to cartels?Why must we spend our declining years as "Federal Criminals"?Who Can Answer?WE THE PEOPLE? or WE THE INVESTOR?
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