Posted on 01/04/2018 8:47:38 AM PST by Mariner
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Jeff Sessions is rescinding the Obama-era policy that had paved the way for legalized marijuana to flourish in states across the country, two people with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press. Sessions will instead let federal prosecutors where pot is legal decide how aggressively to enforce federal marijuana law, the people said.
The people familiar with the plan spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it before an announcement expected Thursday.
The move by President Donald Trump's attorney general likely will add to confusion about whether it's OK to grow, buy or use marijuana in states where pot is legal, since long-standing federal law prohibits it. It comes days after pot shops opened in California, launching what is expected to become the world's largest market for legal recreational marijuana and as polls show a solid majority of Americans believe the drug should be legal.
While Sessions has been carrying out a Justice Department agenda that follows Trump's top priorities on such issues as immigration and opioids, the changes to pot policy reflect his own concerns. Trump's personal views on marijuana remain largely unknown.
Sessions, who has assailed marijuana as comparable to heroin and has blamed it for spikes in violence, had been expected to ramp up enforcement. Pot advocates argue that legalizing the drug eliminates the need for a black market and would likely reduce violence, since criminals would no longer control the marijuana trade.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
And burning the evidence......
“You are of course wrong about sleepy sessions.”
Cite a single DOJ initiative that addresses the legal concerns of the American people.
Just one.
Oh, and those imaginary...secret...initiatives to “drain the swamp” are not in evidence and therefore inadmissible.
Good points and I agree. I’ll add that medical marijuana works well for some cases, and is a lot safer than opiates.
States rights issue besides. This is a fools errand. It will look like the jackboot of the federal government is on the state’s necks.
This is a lose, lose proposition. Why even go there? States will figure out on their own that legalizing “weed” was a bad idea.
Let the “people” (in the states) decide. For better or worse.
It’s a start, but let’s see the same declaration on “sanctuary cities,” that are thumbing their noses at federal immigration laws.
I agree with your take completely and would add that given the current issues facing the country this priority is a grossly inefficient use of resources.
“but let’s see the same declaration on “sanctuary cities,” that are thumbing their noses at federal immigration laws”
Jeff Sessions will rot in the gutters of hell before he takes any real action on that front.
Pot is a vice that causes some problems for the people that use it. There are many other such vices that we don’t throw people in prison for. Pot should be thought of in that category, a private struggle for individuals to manage so it doesn’t destroy their lives. Used in moderation, in the proper setting, it’s relatively harmless, used excessively and in the wrong setting it can be debilitating and dangerous to others.
They will find among the emanations and pneumbras of the Constitution, a perfect right to use cannabis. But not tobacco.
They would say that subtle ways of dragging you down is not your business, nor the government’s.
As I stated in another thread on the matter: Sessions is 100% wrong on this issue.
I sincerely hope President Trump, who as a candidate said cannabis is a states rights issue orders Sessions to cease & desist from this disastrous path.
Copenhagen is my crack.
It was the only issue after the election that got his dander up. He’s a senator. Senators hide behind a body of legislature and a body of votes. He can’t be expected to take initiative to lead and follow through with an important issue. Senators are lawyers and judges; not executives, like Trump, who has skills in sheparding his whole organization ( country) through the process of making it more free and prosperous.
Insignificant stupid things! What the hell is he doing? There is a slew of rats from the prior administration including those surrounding Hillary and Hillary herself and he is attacking obscure meaningless crap
It’s a start? It’s a start alright, a start to alienating millions of your supporters and those that support states rights.
Don’t know what this guy is thinking.
“... Marijuana is a Schedule 1 narcotic. Either take it off the list (there is a process for that) or enforce it. The way things are now is nuts.”
Which is ridiculous. It is pharmacologically distinct from the family of opium derivatives and synthetic narcotics. It is politically called a narcotic, not chemically.
I’m no fan of pot, but the way it’s treated is just over the top.
This isn’t Prohibition.
Sessions will instead let federal prosecutors where pot is legal decide how aggressively to enforce federal marijuana law, the people said.
Been chewing snuff for 42 years now. Thank you Walt Garrison!
Copenhagen, It Satisfies!
Completely agree. Nobody wins here.
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