cannabisnews.com: Congress Appears Ready To Buck Sessions on MMJ
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Congress Appears Ready To Buck Sessions on MMJ
Posted by CN Staff on August 23, 2017 at 07:56:42 PT
By Paige Winfield Cunningham
Source: Washington Post
Washington, D.C. -- Congress will likely renew protections next month for state medical marijuana laws -- but pro-pot lawmakers and advocates are still watching nervously in case Attorney General Jeff Sessions launches a last-minute sabotage campaign.For nearly three years now, Congress has maintained a policy prohibiting the Justice Department from using federal funds to prevent states allowing medical marijuana – which now number 29 plus the District of Columbia – from carrying out their own laws.
The amendment, offered by Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), will soon expire unless Congress renews it. And it seems likely lawmakers will include the language in a spending bill keeping the government open past Sept. 30, with one possible hiccup – intervention by Sessions, who’s famously known for his abhorrence to cannabis.Sessions, who prepared a speech in April whose initial text (later revised) called marijuana “only slightly less awful” than heroin, apparently asked congressional leaders to undo the state medical marijuana protections in a letter that became public in June. In that letter, Sessions argued the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment would restrict the DOJ from enforcing the federal Controlled Substances Act.“I believe it would be unwise for Congress to restrict the discretion of the Department to fund particular prosecutions, particularly in the midst of an historic drug epidemic and potentially long-term uptick in violent crime,” Sessions wrote. “The Department must be in a position to use all laws available to combat the transnational drug organizations and dangerous drug traffickers who threaten American lives.”Yet Sessions is up against a Congress filled with an unprecedented number of pro-pot lawmakers from a record number of states where it’s legal.Last November’s election brought sweeping victories for the pro-marijuana crowd: Seven states plus the District now allow recreational use after voters in California, Massachusetts, Maine and Nevada approved such measures. And four more states – Florida, North Dakota, Arkansas and Montana – approved medical use laws, making it legal in more than half the states for doctors to prescribe marijuana to patients.It's notable that each time the House has approved the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer language, it’s been by increasingly wider margins. The protections for state medical marijuana laws were included with little controversy in the spring spending bill. And last month, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed such protections, offered by Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), by voice vote.“This is the most sympathetic Congress we’ve ever had to issues of cannabis,” Blumenauer told me.Blumenauer said he’s had no concrete assurances yet from GOP leaders that they’ll include the protections in the spending bill they need to pass by Oct. 1 in order to keep the government funded (and in his Arizona rally remarks last night, Trump suggested he'd be open to a shutdown over funding for his border wall). But Blumenauer is “reasonably confident” the language will ultimately be renewed, barring an intervention by Sessions.Advocates are also expecting Congress to keep protecting states with medical marijuana laws, even though they’ve been deeply dismayed by Sessions and his past, well-documented opposition to pot.“I am cautiously optimistic that we are going to retain the protections,” said Justin Strekal, political director for the pro-pot group National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (known as NORML).The Obama administration made clear in the 2013 “Cole” memo – drafted by then-deputy attorney general James Cole – that it would mostly avert its eyes from state laws. The document warns U.S. attorneys in all 50 states to let states go ahead with legalization efforts, as long as pot isn’t being made available to minors or in states where it isn’t legal.For the moment, it’s unclear how hard Sessions will try to combat the legalized marijuana trend sweeping the country (a Justice Department spokeswoman didn’t respond to my questions about his approach). The AG certainly has the power to make life very, very difficult for users and growers of the drug, which remains illegal under federal law.Most significantly, Sessions could direct U.S. attorneys to go after those involved with recreational marijuana. He could use a process called asset forfeiture to seize money and property from them. He could choose to prosecute anyone involved in the industry.That’s because Congress has so far rejected the next step, which would be to protect states that allow recreational use. Two years ago, the House defeated by a 222-206 margin a bipartisan amendment from Reps. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) to prohibit federal authorities from prosecuting people for use, sale or possession of marijuana in a state in which the drug is legal under relevant state laws.Yet if Sessions tries to remove pot protections, it’s unlikely to be at the behest of the White House. President Trump said several times during his campaign that legalization should be up to the states, and even at one point expressed support for pot's medical use.“The marijuana thing is such a big thing,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Nevada in October 2015. “I think medical should happen, right? Don’t we agree? I think so. And then I really believe we should leave it up to the states.”One thing’s for certain – in a popularity contest between the president and legalized pot, the pot wins (recent polls show that six in 10 Americans now think it should be legal). Blumenauer was happy to note the reality.“In the nine states where both Donald Trump and marijuana were on the ballot, marijuana got a lot more votes than Trump,” he told me.Source: Washington Post (DC)Author: Paige Winfield CunninghamPublished: August 23, 2017Copyright: 2017 Washington Post CompanyContact: letters washpost.com Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ URL: http://drugsense.org/url/GUen3qKlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #8 posted by Hope on September 01, 2017 at 10:01:45 PT
Maybe that's why there is so much anger, 
Hatred, and resistance to the use of cannabis. I thought maybe it was the smile or the red eyes. I think I remember hearing Virtuous Bill say once that people smoked pot and started acting like smart asses. Or something like that. Oh no! Smart asses? Arrrgh! Look at how they are walking! They must be stopped!I'd like to see a "Study" done on the reasons for attacking the cannabis user so wickedly. Why do society's leaders and enforcers think that's right? There's something wrong been going on for a very long time now. I really don't understand about the lunacy, wickedness, fear, and hatred of the prohibitionist concerning his fellow man's use of cannabis. You know what really made this country great? Freedom from excessive and overbearing government. Liberty and freedom made it better than most places. In living with our fellow human the motto has always been: you keep your hands off me and I'll keep my hands off you. I won't mess with your stuff and you won't mess with mine. If you need help, I will help you. If I need your help, you will help me.But bureaucracy: fines, fees and red tape, tend to expand... and expand... and expand. Somewhere there was a moment when government was taken over by busybodies and thieves with authority. That's not so great.
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Comment #7 posted by HempWorld on August 31, 2017 at 18:09:58 PT
Thanks Hope! (springs eternal)
Cannabis users do most thing DIFFERENTLY!I would like to argue, in all little things we do it differently than say regulars, or alcoholics or opioid addicts, etc. etc. the list is long.And the difference is, WE care about ourselves and our friends and our bodies! We live longer! We get rewarded that way!
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on August 31, 2017 at 15:59:10 PT
Really? Lol!
Cannabis smokers walk differently, finds studyhttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/marijuana-smokers-walk-different-cannabis-weed-study-move-shoulders-less-elbows-knees-a7922546.htmlJust trying to 'look normal', I guess. Lol!
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Comment #5 posted by The GCW on August 30, 2017 at 19:12:07 PT
Ignorance folly
Anti-legalization group urges feds to “systematically shut down” cannabis industry
http://www.thecannabist.co/2017/08/30/smart-approaches-marijuana-sessions-laws/87003/From Denver Post-0-Every minute it gets more difficult for cannabis prohibitionists to perpetuate their hatred.Their losses are being recorded daily.One of their best hopes to perpetuate their failed policies is going through Sessions and He's a loser without much room to help their intolerance.
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Comment #4 posted by Garry Minor on August 30, 2017 at 06:25:41 PT:
Sanity in Indiana
 
Indiana Lawmakers from Both Sides of the Aisle Begin Push for Medical MarijuanaSnips"It’s not a Republican or Democrat thing. Liberal or conservative. This is a human rights issue," Republican Indiana Representative Jim Lucas told the gathered crowd. “We’ve seen the proof that it works. We heard personal testimony from people who have personally benefited from this product and I’m for it 100 percent.”“If ever there was a time, now is it. The planets are aligned. When you look there are 30 some other states that have this. The opioid issue has been declared an epidemic. We are handing out needles to try and stem it. Like I said earlier. People are dying. Families are being torn apart by it and those are prescription drugs," Lucas said. "We have to quit listening to the fear mongering, the ignorance, the people who just don’t know, but for whatever reason they have been scared of this issue for a long, long time. They are afraid to move forward. I’m hoping to help break that bubble and if it takes a conservative Republican to make that happen, I’m happy to be the one."Both Lucas and Errington said that they are currently working on more expansive medical marijuana legislation and an education campaign to try and knock the reefer madness mindset out of their lawmaking peers. "I think things are moving in the right direction hopefully fast enough we can have something passed next session," Rep. Errington said. https://www.google.com/amp/s/merryjane.com/amp/indiana-legislators-pushing-for-comprehensive-medical-marijuanaKaneh Bosm
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Comment #3 posted by Soupherb on August 30, 2017 at 02:51:27 PT:
New Studies
like this one (http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/why-marijuana-compounds-could-eventually-replace-anti-anxiety-meds/ar-AAqW2k9?li=BBnba9O&ocid=spartanntp)could scare the profits right out of the crooked pharmacology business...
But greed has it's way of showing how man is not in control of his destiny...sigh. Just ask Sessions.
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Comment #2 posted by Hope on August 29, 2017 at 07:21:10 PT
This is very interesting...
Cannabis Shows Promise In Treating Schizophrenia And Tourette Syndromehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/janetwburns/2017/08/28/cannabis-shows-promise-in-treating-schizophrenia-and-tourette-syndrome/#21f3535063deI'm sure prohibitionists are hoping it's not true... but I hope there is help in cannabis for these terrible mental issues.
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Comment #1 posted by Hope on August 26, 2017 at 09:43:54 PT
We can hope...
And write letters and e-mails, and make phone calls, to legislators' offices.
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