Baron23
Well-Known Member
hehehehe...so I release a call for content and our own Carol King pops out with a real winner (I mean that, liked the article). You been holding that one back for just such an occasion? JK LOL
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Jeff Sessions
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hehehehe...so I release a call for content and our own Carol King pops out with a real winner (I mean that, liked the article). You been holding that one back for just such an occasion? JK LOL
Baron23
Well-Known Member
Sessions Informs Hickenlooper, We Have “Higher Priorities”
Despite having good news to report on the cannabis legalization front, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper was visibly apprehensive when asked by Politico’s Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman to speak about his recent pow-wow with Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
After blazing through a myriad of timely topics, like the changing demographics of Colorado, cyber security, and Russia’s continued efforts to hack America’s political system, Anna Palmer asked Gov. Hickenlooper the question that was high on everybody’s list: “You’ve met with the Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, who very clearly has a different position on pot and other drugs, what did you guys discuss?”
Authentic and plainspoken, Hickenlooper started by explaining to Palmer he wasn’t the only elected official in Colorado who opposed recreational legalization. “Well it’s not just me, almost every elected official I know opposed the initiative to legalize recreational marijuana.”
Consumed by nervous ignorance in 2012, Hickenlooper explained how he and his fellow politicians feared that legalization would lead to a spike in consumption among Colorado’s youth. Colorado’s politicians were reportedly concerned that misfits and stoners with elevated THC metabolite levels would cause carnage on the highways and byways while toddlers got baked on mom and dad’s unguarded stash.
According to the Colorado Gov., “The things we were most worried about, and I said this to the Attorney General, were a spike in consumption. Especially a spike among teenagers.”
Fortunately for all, that didn’t happen.
After explaining the ramifications of today’s highly potent strains on developing brains – while omitting any alcohol-related data – Gov. Hickenlooper noted, “none” of those fears materialized.
No long-term increased use by Colorado’s teenagers, no blood on the highway in the Mile High City, and Colorado’s babies remained safe and sound.
Hickenlooper noted, “We had a little increase among teenagers the first year, since then, it’s come down. Overall consumption has gone up just a little bit. But it’s almost all been in just one demographic – senior citizens.”
Pot and Senior Citizens: It’s a Natural Fit
While the governor’s noteworthy observation got a chuckle from the crowd, Hickenlooper explained that senior tokers have turned to marijuana because it provides “more effective pain relief than opioids.”
During his conversation with Hickenlooper, Sessions acknowledged the Department of Justice (DOJ) lacks the resources for a full-blown war on weed, and that the DOJ has “higher priorities.”
After telling Gov. Hickenlooper, “were not going to come in and shut everything down,” the Atty. Gen. then gave one ominous caveat. “If we have to make an example of some companies or some individuals, then that’s what we’ll do,” said Sessions according to Hickenlooper.
Jake Sherman then asked the $64 million question of the governor, “Based on the tax revenue, would you recommend other states do what you guys did in Colorado and legalize marijuana?” Quick to respond, Hickenlooper, who was originally opposed to legalization, didn’t think it was worth it, at least “not for the money.”
Hickenlooper said, “I told every other governor that, if I was in their place, I would wait a year or two – there’s no big rush.”
On a recent trip to speak before the California assembly, Hickenlooper offered Gov. Jerry Brown some sage advice that’s applicable to any state considering legalizing marijuana – establish your baseline data now.
Hickenlooper told Brown, “Make sure you’re measuring right now anytime you have a fatality on the highway and it looks like it’s human error, and that person died. Make sure to take a blood test for marijuana, in addition to alcohol. It costs a little bit more money, but not much. Make sure you have as good a baseline as you can of how much damage is going on in the existing system before you go into a new system.”
Fun facts: In 2002, 351 drivers under the age of 65 died on Colorado’s highways. In 2016, four years after legalization, 219 drivers died in an automobile crash. Representing an 11% decrease in Colorado’s traffic fatalities, legalization has saved lives and generated revenue. Between 2014 – 2017, the state of Colorado has raised more than $141,064,563 via their 15% excise tax on recreational marijuana, $216,560,926 from their 10% special sales tax on adult use marijuana, and an additional $62,081,092 from a 2.9% sales tax on recreational cannabis.
If I were a CO resident, I wouldn't count too much on your Governor's commitment defend legal MJ to the Feds. Luckily, MJ industry in CO is large enough now that I don't really think Hickenlooper can do anything on his own. I found the lack of outrage by him to ole' Jeffe's threat to selectively go after individual companies to be very disappointing. I believe the correct response would be that this is a Colorado state issue, falls well within states rights within our federation of sovereign states and that he will see Sessions in court....for years...if he tries that. THAT is the response I wish to see from true representatives of the people.
Despite having good news to report on the cannabis legalization front, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper was visibly apprehensive when asked by Politico’s Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman to speak about his recent pow-wow with Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
After blazing through a myriad of timely topics, like the changing demographics of Colorado, cyber security, and Russia’s continued efforts to hack America’s political system, Anna Palmer asked Gov. Hickenlooper the question that was high on everybody’s list: “You’ve met with the Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, who very clearly has a different position on pot and other drugs, what did you guys discuss?”
Authentic and plainspoken, Hickenlooper started by explaining to Palmer he wasn’t the only elected official in Colorado who opposed recreational legalization. “Well it’s not just me, almost every elected official I know opposed the initiative to legalize recreational marijuana.”
Consumed by nervous ignorance in 2012, Hickenlooper explained how he and his fellow politicians feared that legalization would lead to a spike in consumption among Colorado’s youth. Colorado’s politicians were reportedly concerned that misfits and stoners with elevated THC metabolite levels would cause carnage on the highways and byways while toddlers got baked on mom and dad’s unguarded stash.
According to the Colorado Gov., “The things we were most worried about, and I said this to the Attorney General, were a spike in consumption. Especially a spike among teenagers.”
Fortunately for all, that didn’t happen.
After explaining the ramifications of today’s highly potent strains on developing brains – while omitting any alcohol-related data – Gov. Hickenlooper noted, “none” of those fears materialized.
No long-term increased use by Colorado’s teenagers, no blood on the highway in the Mile High City, and Colorado’s babies remained safe and sound.
Hickenlooper noted, “We had a little increase among teenagers the first year, since then, it’s come down. Overall consumption has gone up just a little bit. But it’s almost all been in just one demographic – senior citizens.”
Pot and Senior Citizens: It’s a Natural Fit
While the governor’s noteworthy observation got a chuckle from the crowd, Hickenlooper explained that senior tokers have turned to marijuana because it provides “more effective pain relief than opioids.”
During his conversation with Hickenlooper, Sessions acknowledged the Department of Justice (DOJ) lacks the resources for a full-blown war on weed, and that the DOJ has “higher priorities.”
After telling Gov. Hickenlooper, “were not going to come in and shut everything down,” the Atty. Gen. then gave one ominous caveat. “If we have to make an example of some companies or some individuals, then that’s what we’ll do,” said Sessions according to Hickenlooper.
Jake Sherman then asked the $64 million question of the governor, “Based on the tax revenue, would you recommend other states do what you guys did in Colorado and legalize marijuana?” Quick to respond, Hickenlooper, who was originally opposed to legalization, didn’t think it was worth it, at least “not for the money.”
Hickenlooper said, “I told every other governor that, if I was in their place, I would wait a year or two – there’s no big rush.”
On a recent trip to speak before the California assembly, Hickenlooper offered Gov. Jerry Brown some sage advice that’s applicable to any state considering legalizing marijuana – establish your baseline data now.
Hickenlooper told Brown, “Make sure you’re measuring right now anytime you have a fatality on the highway and it looks like it’s human error, and that person died. Make sure to take a blood test for marijuana, in addition to alcohol. It costs a little bit more money, but not much. Make sure you have as good a baseline as you can of how much damage is going on in the existing system before you go into a new system.”
Fun facts: In 2002, 351 drivers under the age of 65 died on Colorado’s highways. In 2016, four years after legalization, 219 drivers died in an automobile crash. Representing an 11% decrease in Colorado’s traffic fatalities, legalization has saved lives and generated revenue. Between 2014 – 2017, the state of Colorado has raised more than $141,064,563 via their 15% excise tax on recreational marijuana, $216,560,926 from their 10% special sales tax on adult use marijuana, and an additional $62,081,092 from a 2.9% sales tax on recreational cannabis.
If I were a CO resident, I wouldn't count too much on your Governor's commitment defend legal MJ to the Feds. Luckily, MJ industry in CO is large enough now that I don't really think Hickenlooper can do anything on his own. I found the lack of outrage by him to ole' Jeffe's threat to selectively go after individual companies to be very disappointing. I believe the correct response would be that this is a Colorado state issue, falls well within states rights within our federation of sovereign states and that he will see Sessions in court....for years...if he tries that. THAT is the response I wish to see from true representatives of the people.
ataxian
In a BLACK HOLE!
You know that song? GIN & JUICE?
My song = EJUiCE and ROSIN not lying KIEF in da juice!
Focus!
USA was a nice setup.
We got hijacked by a clown car?
Where is a more CIVILIZED PLACE to live?
USA is 3rd world these daz's!
ELMER FUDD 4 PRESIDENT
Last edited:
Baron23
Well-Known Member
Sessions promises of pot crackdown up in smoke
By Samantha Mendiguren Published August 08, 2017
Fox News
It was supposed to be one of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ most prolific wins. For years, the former Alabama senator had railed against the marijuana industry.
He’s called it a gateway drug, compared it to heroin and claimed its use led to spikes in violence.
When he was tapped to lead the Department of Justice, he vowed to use the full weight of the federal government to go after the industry.
In February, he commissioned the Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety – a group of prosecutors and federal law enforcement officials – to find ways to go after users and punish distributors. But the task force came up empty – issuing no new policy recommendations to advance Sessions’ crackdown.
Seven states and the District of Columbia have already passed major cannabis reform on recreational use. In total, 29 states, D.C., Guam and Puerto Rico have legalized medical marijuana.
Despite the primarily bipartisan “look the other way” consensus of his task force, Sessions’ efforts to crack down on cannabis could still be in the works.
“I will continue to review all of the Task Force’s recommendations, and look forward to taking additional steps toward ensuring safer communities for all Americans,” Sessions said in a statement.
Part of his strategy could include reinterpreting the so-called Cole memo.
In 2013, then-Deputy Attorney General James Cole issued a memo, addressed to all U.S. attorneys which basically told them to take a hands-off approach to legalization.
The memo said in part, “In jurisdictions that have enacted laws legalizing marijuana in some form… conduct in compliance with those laws and regulations is less likely to threaten the federal priorities.”
The memo was issued despite the fact that marijuana was – and still is – classified as a Schedule 1 illegal substance by the Drug Enforcement Agency. Heroin, LSD, and ecstasy also fall into that category.
Instead of taking the Obama administration’s laissez-faire interpretation, Sessions has emphasized that the DOJ must remain committed to the federal ban on cannabis and targeted states in particular.
In April, the Governors of Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington sent a letter to Sessions expressing their concern for his reconsideration of the Cole Memo and said that changing the regulated market could drive the marijuana industry back into the hands of the black market.
Sessions responded in a letter to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and the state’s attorney general, Robert Ferguson, that said the distribution of the “dangerous drug” should remain a criminal offense, due to potential threats on health and safety.
“The Department remains committed to enforcing the Controlled Substances Act in a manner that efficiently applies our resources to address the most significant threats to public health and safety,” Sessions wrote in the letter.
Sessions also attached state-specific federal reports where he raised concerns about the efficacy of the regulatory structures in their prospective states.
Sessions directly cited a 2016 report by the Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), entitled "Washington State Marijuana Impact Report,” listing some ramifications of the “incompletely regulated market,” targeting driving capabilities in particular.
A week later, Inslee said in a statement that he was willing to pursue efforts to ensure a stable market, but was proud of his state’s progress in the industry.
“Unfortunately [Sessions] is referring to incomplete and unreliable data that does not provide the most accurate snapshot of our efforts since the marketplace opened in 2014,” Inslee said in the statement.
Pushing back against Sessions’ war on cannabis are several advocacy groups that tout the merits of marijuana.
CEO of Medical Marijuana Inc.'s PR firm CMW Media Andrew Hard says Sessions’ push for the reversal of marijuana legalization is an outdated “personal vendetta” that doesn’t adhere with the mutual benefits reaped by states and consumers.
“It doesn’t seem like he cares about economic statistics out of Colorado and Washington that the industries are doing very well and making the states a lot of money,” Hard told Fox News.
“This also affects people’s lives and livelihood. The largest drug addiction epidemic is the opioid pain killer epidemic, and the statistics indicate that the rates of opioid addiction are down in legal [marijuana] states.”
Although Sessions’ aims are set toward fighting the war on drugs and the opioid epidemic, his efforts may be antithetical for the movement. Kannalife Sciences CEO Dean Petkanas thinks that decriminalizing marijuana will promote a “smooth and organized marketplace” for the industry, and allow enforcement to focus on halting substance abuse.
“Maybe Sessions should spend more time cracking down on pill mills and the elicit use of opioids rather than outlawing cannabis,” Petkanas told Fox News.
Several studies have found health perks from marijuana, even in recreational use.
The Departmernt of Justice did not respond to requests from Fox News for comment.
Ole Jeffe' is a continuous source of news.
By Samantha Mendiguren Published August 08, 2017
Fox News
It was supposed to be one of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ most prolific wins. For years, the former Alabama senator had railed against the marijuana industry.
He’s called it a gateway drug, compared it to heroin and claimed its use led to spikes in violence.
When he was tapped to lead the Department of Justice, he vowed to use the full weight of the federal government to go after the industry.
In February, he commissioned the Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety – a group of prosecutors and federal law enforcement officials – to find ways to go after users and punish distributors. But the task force came up empty – issuing no new policy recommendations to advance Sessions’ crackdown.
Seven states and the District of Columbia have already passed major cannabis reform on recreational use. In total, 29 states, D.C., Guam and Puerto Rico have legalized medical marijuana.
Despite the primarily bipartisan “look the other way” consensus of his task force, Sessions’ efforts to crack down on cannabis could still be in the works.
“I will continue to review all of the Task Force’s recommendations, and look forward to taking additional steps toward ensuring safer communities for all Americans,” Sessions said in a statement.
Part of his strategy could include reinterpreting the so-called Cole memo.
In 2013, then-Deputy Attorney General James Cole issued a memo, addressed to all U.S. attorneys which basically told them to take a hands-off approach to legalization.
The memo said in part, “In jurisdictions that have enacted laws legalizing marijuana in some form… conduct in compliance with those laws and regulations is less likely to threaten the federal priorities.”
The memo was issued despite the fact that marijuana was – and still is – classified as a Schedule 1 illegal substance by the Drug Enforcement Agency. Heroin, LSD, and ecstasy also fall into that category.
Instead of taking the Obama administration’s laissez-faire interpretation, Sessions has emphasized that the DOJ must remain committed to the federal ban on cannabis and targeted states in particular.
In April, the Governors of Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington sent a letter to Sessions expressing their concern for his reconsideration of the Cole Memo and said that changing the regulated market could drive the marijuana industry back into the hands of the black market.
Sessions responded in a letter to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and the state’s attorney general, Robert Ferguson, that said the distribution of the “dangerous drug” should remain a criminal offense, due to potential threats on health and safety.
“The Department remains committed to enforcing the Controlled Substances Act in a manner that efficiently applies our resources to address the most significant threats to public health and safety,” Sessions wrote in the letter.
Sessions also attached state-specific federal reports where he raised concerns about the efficacy of the regulatory structures in their prospective states.
Sessions directly cited a 2016 report by the Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), entitled "Washington State Marijuana Impact Report,” listing some ramifications of the “incompletely regulated market,” targeting driving capabilities in particular.
A week later, Inslee said in a statement that he was willing to pursue efforts to ensure a stable market, but was proud of his state’s progress in the industry.
“Unfortunately [Sessions] is referring to incomplete and unreliable data that does not provide the most accurate snapshot of our efforts since the marketplace opened in 2014,” Inslee said in the statement.
Pushing back against Sessions’ war on cannabis are several advocacy groups that tout the merits of marijuana.
CEO of Medical Marijuana Inc.'s PR firm CMW Media Andrew Hard says Sessions’ push for the reversal of marijuana legalization is an outdated “personal vendetta” that doesn’t adhere with the mutual benefits reaped by states and consumers.
“It doesn’t seem like he cares about economic statistics out of Colorado and Washington that the industries are doing very well and making the states a lot of money,” Hard told Fox News.
“This also affects people’s lives and livelihood. The largest drug addiction epidemic is the opioid pain killer epidemic, and the statistics indicate that the rates of opioid addiction are down in legal [marijuana] states.”
Although Sessions’ aims are set toward fighting the war on drugs and the opioid epidemic, his efforts may be antithetical for the movement. Kannalife Sciences CEO Dean Petkanas thinks that decriminalizing marijuana will promote a “smooth and organized marketplace” for the industry, and allow enforcement to focus on halting substance abuse.
“Maybe Sessions should spend more time cracking down on pill mills and the elicit use of opioids rather than outlawing cannabis,” Petkanas told Fox News.
Several studies have found health perks from marijuana, even in recreational use.
The Departmernt of Justice did not respond to requests from Fox News for comment.
Ole Jeffe' is a continuous source of news.
Baron23
Well-Known Member
Jeff Sessions’ Letters to Legal Weed States Were Full of Mistaken Facts
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is on a letter-writing spree to legal marijuana state governors, accusing them of things that, well, never happened and are simply not true.
In a missive obtained by the Cannabist, Sessions scolds Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper for not keeping a promise to prevent marijuana from spilling out of the state’s borders and for not keeping it out of the hands of children.
Neither accusation is based in fact, but then the White House apparently thinks nothing of spewing lies and disseminating its very own alternative facts.
Then, Sessions dashed off another letter to Washington State Governor Jay Inslee and state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, in which he complained that not enough is being done to ensure laws are being followed. Sessions also whined that too many young people have access to marijuana and that pot from Washington State has been found in 43 states.
Governor Inslee and Attorney General Ferguson quickly released statements criticizing Sessions’ letter for having used faulty information to judge the impact of marijuana legalization in Washington State.
“It is clear that our goals regarding health and safety are in step with the goals Attorney General Sessions has articulated,” Inslee’s statement said. “Unfortunately, he is referring to incomplete and unreliable data that does not provide the most accurate snapshot of our efforts since the marketplace opened in 2014.”
Inslee and Ferguson issued a joint statement and pointed out two examples of Sessions’ misleading information:
Sessions’ Letter: “The medical market for (marijuana) is considered ‘grey’ due to the lack of regulation and oversight and furthermore, aspects of Washington’s regulatory structure for the ‘medical market’ have unintentionally led to the growth of the black market enterprises.”
Washington State Response: This information pre-dates Washington state’s 2015 Cannabis Patient Protection Act, bringing the medical marijuana market under the same robust regulatory system as recreational marijuana. Washington’s Liquor and Cannabis Board verified all unlicensed storefronts were closed July 1, 2016.
Sessions’ Letter: “In 2014 alone, 17 THC extraction labs exploded”
Washington State Response: In three years of legalization, no licensed extraction business has exploded. The incidents referred to in Sessions’ letter were black or gray market facilities, often using butane in an enclosed space rather than a lab.
AG Ferguson offered to meet with Sessions and fill him in on the steps Washington State is taking to enforce its marijuana laws.
But it seems Sessions prefers to remain a pen pal rather than meet in person.
“I’m also disappointed that he has yet to accept my repeated invitations to meet in person to discuss this critical issue face-to-face,” said Ferguson.
Oh yes, Oregon’s Governor Kate Brown also got a letter, in which Sessions refers to “pervasive illicit cannabis cultivation” in her state.
Governor Brown hasn’t responded yet but has also requested a meeting with Sessions.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is on a letter-writing spree to legal marijuana state governors, accusing them of things that, well, never happened and are simply not true.
In a missive obtained by the Cannabist, Sessions scolds Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper for not keeping a promise to prevent marijuana from spilling out of the state’s borders and for not keeping it out of the hands of children.
Neither accusation is based in fact, but then the White House apparently thinks nothing of spewing lies and disseminating its very own alternative facts.
Then, Sessions dashed off another letter to Washington State Governor Jay Inslee and state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, in which he complained that not enough is being done to ensure laws are being followed. Sessions also whined that too many young people have access to marijuana and that pot from Washington State has been found in 43 states.
Governor Inslee and Attorney General Ferguson quickly released statements criticizing Sessions’ letter for having used faulty information to judge the impact of marijuana legalization in Washington State.
“It is clear that our goals regarding health and safety are in step with the goals Attorney General Sessions has articulated,” Inslee’s statement said. “Unfortunately, he is referring to incomplete and unreliable data that does not provide the most accurate snapshot of our efforts since the marketplace opened in 2014.”
Inslee and Ferguson issued a joint statement and pointed out two examples of Sessions’ misleading information:
Sessions’ Letter: “The medical market for (marijuana) is considered ‘grey’ due to the lack of regulation and oversight and furthermore, aspects of Washington’s regulatory structure for the ‘medical market’ have unintentionally led to the growth of the black market enterprises.”
Washington State Response: This information pre-dates Washington state’s 2015 Cannabis Patient Protection Act, bringing the medical marijuana market under the same robust regulatory system as recreational marijuana. Washington’s Liquor and Cannabis Board verified all unlicensed storefronts were closed July 1, 2016.
Sessions’ Letter: “In 2014 alone, 17 THC extraction labs exploded”
Washington State Response: In three years of legalization, no licensed extraction business has exploded. The incidents referred to in Sessions’ letter were black or gray market facilities, often using butane in an enclosed space rather than a lab.
AG Ferguson offered to meet with Sessions and fill him in on the steps Washington State is taking to enforce its marijuana laws.
But it seems Sessions prefers to remain a pen pal rather than meet in person.
“I’m also disappointed that he has yet to accept my repeated invitations to meet in person to discuss this critical issue face-to-face,” said Ferguson.
Oh yes, Oregon’s Governor Kate Brown also got a letter, in which Sessions refers to “pervasive illicit cannabis cultivation” in her state.
Governor Brown hasn’t responded yet but has also requested a meeting with Sessions.
He reminds me of a child who has stuck his fingers in his ears and is chanting, "la, la, la, la, la, la...."
ataxian
In a BLACK HOLE!
I want to move to a safer place?
Very UNCIVILIZED the USA.
Baron23
Well-Known Member
Hickenlooper responds to letter from AG Sessions, which calls marijuana "dangerous"
COLORADO SPRINGS - For months, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has rallied against pot.
At a congressional hearing back in 2016, he made his concerns known: "This drug is dangerous. You cannot play with it, it's not funny. Good people don't smoke marijuana."
Now, the AG has written a letter to Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper futher expressing how he feels it is problematic.
The letter states that there's been a 62% increase in marijuana-related traffic deaths since its legalization. He also cites a 20% increase in pot usage in teens.
Gov. John Hickenlooper doesn't disagree with some of those facts.
"I think we can work together," Hickenlooper explained. He does believe teens are at risk when it comes to smoking pot.
"Kids should not smoke pot. THC marijuana has a high percentage of taking a sliver of their long-term memory every single time they use it," said Hickenlooper.
However, not all Colorado leaders have agreed with the letter.
Senator Michael Merrifield says he would rather see Sessions not intervene with Colorado policies.
"Jeff Sessions needs to keep his reefer madness paranoia in Washington D.C. and let us handle a decision we've made," he said. "I think these numbers are exaggerated or pulled out of somebody's hat. I know initially they were saying the marijuana usage among youth had just exploded and that turned out to be untrue."
State leaders plan to spend $10 million on an education program for teens.
I can't really say that I admire the CO Governor's wishy-washy commitment to legal MJ and his tepid response to Sessions.
COLORADO SPRINGS - For months, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has rallied against pot.
At a congressional hearing back in 2016, he made his concerns known: "This drug is dangerous. You cannot play with it, it's not funny. Good people don't smoke marijuana."
Now, the AG has written a letter to Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper futher expressing how he feels it is problematic.
The letter states that there's been a 62% increase in marijuana-related traffic deaths since its legalization. He also cites a 20% increase in pot usage in teens.
Gov. John Hickenlooper doesn't disagree with some of those facts.
"I think we can work together," Hickenlooper explained. He does believe teens are at risk when it comes to smoking pot.
"Kids should not smoke pot. THC marijuana has a high percentage of taking a sliver of their long-term memory every single time they use it," said Hickenlooper.
However, not all Colorado leaders have agreed with the letter.
Senator Michael Merrifield says he would rather see Sessions not intervene with Colorado policies.
"Jeff Sessions needs to keep his reefer madness paranoia in Washington D.C. and let us handle a decision we've made," he said. "I think these numbers are exaggerated or pulled out of somebody's hat. I know initially they were saying the marijuana usage among youth had just exploded and that turned out to be untrue."
State leaders plan to spend $10 million on an education program for teens.
I can't really say that I admire the CO Governor's wishy-washy commitment to legal MJ and his tepid response to Sessions.
Baron23
Well-Known Member
Colorado lawmaker calls Sessions’ marijuana policy letters a “political ploy”
Colorado Rep. Dan Pabon suggested the Trump administration is skewing statistics to exaggerate the problems in Colorado when it comes to youth use and crime
Published: Aug 9, 2017, 3:24 pm • Updated: about 5 hours ago Comments (11)
By John Frank, The Denver Post
BOSTON — A leading Colorado lawmaker dismissed a recent letter from Attorney General Jeff Sessions that expressed concerns about the state’s marijuana industry, calling it a “political ploy.”
State Rep. Dan Pabon, a Denver Democrat, suggested the Trump administration is skewing statistics to exaggerate the problems in Colorado when it comes to youth use and crime.
His remarks came at a forum on marijuana legalization at the National Conference of State Legislatures summit in Boston, where lawmakers and experts appeared undeterred by the tough talk from Sessions.
Related: NCSL endorses descheduling of cannabis with eye on banking
Sessions’ letter, addressed to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, was one of four written to the governors of states that have laws regulating adult-use cannabis sales. Along with Hickenlooper, the governors of Washington, Oregon and Alaska wrote a letter to Sessions in April, asking him to “engage with us before embarking on any changes to regulatory and enforcement systems.”
Sessions is “trying to do what he feels like he needs to do to demonstrate the administration’s position of cracking down on marijuana,” said Pabon, a chief sponsor of the legislation enacted in Colorado after recreational sales were approved by voters in 2012.
Related stories
“To worry about what-ifs while we were trying to get our own system up and going, it felt like that was not good energy to spend,” said Pierce, who recently visited Colorado with a delegation of lawmakers to study the state’s system. “Obviously if things change, we’ll have to adjust course. But at this point, who knows what will happen.”
Jordan Wellington, an attorney at Denver cannabis law firm Vicente Sederberg, told dozens of lawmakers from other states at the forum that the statistics about Colorado’s experience do not match what the Department of Justice claims in the letter. And he urged others states not to be deterred.
“Don’t allow a group of people who have their minds made up before they look at an issue to control the data … to control the narrative,” said Wellington, a former Colorado marijuana regulator who now consults for the industry.
In the panel discussion, Pabon said Colorado is “certainly ready and willing and able” to discuss better policies to prevent marijuana from reaching children and how to address the black market. But he didn’t consider Sessions’ letter as a genuine effort to work with state lawmakers.
Eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized adult-use cannabis.
Earlier in the week, state lawmakers approved a resolution for the second year in a row urging the administration to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act in order to allow the cannabis industry access to banking services.
Colorado Rep. Dan Pabon suggested the Trump administration is skewing statistics to exaggerate the problems in Colorado when it comes to youth use and crime
Published: Aug 9, 2017, 3:24 pm • Updated: about 5 hours ago Comments (11)
By John Frank, The Denver Post
BOSTON — A leading Colorado lawmaker dismissed a recent letter from Attorney General Jeff Sessions that expressed concerns about the state’s marijuana industry, calling it a “political ploy.”
State Rep. Dan Pabon, a Denver Democrat, suggested the Trump administration is skewing statistics to exaggerate the problems in Colorado when it comes to youth use and crime.
His remarks came at a forum on marijuana legalization at the National Conference of State Legislatures summit in Boston, where lawmakers and experts appeared undeterred by the tough talk from Sessions.
Related: NCSL endorses descheduling of cannabis with eye on banking
Sessions’ letter, addressed to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, was one of four written to the governors of states that have laws regulating adult-use cannabis sales. Along with Hickenlooper, the governors of Washington, Oregon and Alaska wrote a letter to Sessions in April, asking him to “engage with us before embarking on any changes to regulatory and enforcement systems.”
Sessions is “trying to do what he feels like he needs to do to demonstrate the administration’s position of cracking down on marijuana,” said Pabon, a chief sponsor of the legislation enacted in Colorado after recreational sales were approved by voters in 2012.
Related stories
- Jeff Sessions’ letter to Oregon gov cites “pervasive illicit cannabis cultivation”
- Sessions’ marijuana task force report gives him no ammo to go after legal states
- Sessions raises “serious questions” about Colorado’s marijuana management in letter to gov
- Marijuana fight puts Congress on collision course with Sessions
- Why Jeff Sessions is going to lose his war on weed
“To worry about what-ifs while we were trying to get our own system up and going, it felt like that was not good energy to spend,” said Pierce, who recently visited Colorado with a delegation of lawmakers to study the state’s system. “Obviously if things change, we’ll have to adjust course. But at this point, who knows what will happen.”
Jordan Wellington, an attorney at Denver cannabis law firm Vicente Sederberg, told dozens of lawmakers from other states at the forum that the statistics about Colorado’s experience do not match what the Department of Justice claims in the letter. And he urged others states not to be deterred.
“Don’t allow a group of people who have their minds made up before they look at an issue to control the data … to control the narrative,” said Wellington, a former Colorado marijuana regulator who now consults for the industry.
In the panel discussion, Pabon said Colorado is “certainly ready and willing and able” to discuss better policies to prevent marijuana from reaching children and how to address the black market. But he didn’t consider Sessions’ letter as a genuine effort to work with state lawmakers.
Eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized adult-use cannabis.
Earlier in the week, state lawmakers approved a resolution for the second year in a row urging the administration to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act in order to allow the cannabis industry access to banking services.
The thing that bothers me is Session's avoidance of meeting face to face with the politicians that don't agree with him. Smacks of being a key board warrior.
Baron23
Well-Known Member
I agree.The thing that bothers me is Session's avoidance of meeting face to face with the politicians that don't agree with him. Smacks of being a key board warrior.
Baron23
Well-Known Member
Sessions needs to look more to reality for marijuana policy
t might not be the president’s policy to check facts. But U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions should do so before criticizing states about their marijuana policies.
It seems Sessions knows what he knows and likes what he knows. Never mind the facts. That approach does not foster good relations with the 28 states that have legalized some form of use of marijuana, including a half-dozen that legalized recreational use.
In Washington, medicinal marijuana has been legal and available for nearly two decades. State voters in 2012 took another step by authorizing a state-regulated recreational marijuana market, and the Legislature in 2015 acted to bring the medicinal market under the same tighter regulations.
In a recent letter to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Sessions warned — correctly — that weed use is still illegal under federal law. But he asserted that Washington’s medical marijuana market is operating in a gray area as a result of “the lack of regulation and oversight.”
That claim relied on outdated — if not false — information. State legislation adopted in 2015 began the merger of Washington’s medical and recreational marijuana markets. By July 2016, all unlicensed storefront dispensaries of medical marijuana were shut down, according to the state Liquor and Cannabis Board.
Those regulatory actions were taken in response to growing awareness by state policy makers that tighter rules were needed.
Better regulation was also a key part of this state’s working relationship with the Obama administration, which recognized the ongoing failures of the U.S. war on drugs. Obama’s DOJ tolerated state experiments with marijuana policy on condition they had strong oversight.
After President Donald Trump took office in January, the change in administrations raised new questions about marijuana policy’s future. In February, Inslee and Ferguson wrote in vain to Sessions inviting him to meet them and discuss it directly.
In April, Inslee and fellow governors in Colorado, Oregon and Alaska wrote to Sessions and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to caution against any revision of a 2013 Department of Justice memorandum on state marijuana programs. Dubbed the Cole Memorandum, the DOJ memo sought to balance the need for public safety against the ability of states to allow the use of marijuana in conflict with federal statutes that forbid it.
More recently, Sessions tried linking marijuana with violent crime. Yet Washington has seen a drop in violent crime rates, notching a lower rate than the national average in 2015. That contradicts conjecture that legalized marijuana is boosting crime.
Sessions does raise concerns worth paying attention to. One is to halt illegal sales of marijuana to minors and the dangers of marijuana use by drivers, both problems that existed before marijuana legalization. Preventing “leakage” of marijuana sales into neighboring states that outlaw them should remain a state priority.
Unfortunately, Sessions has not accepted the invitation by Ferguson to meet in person and discuss the matter. Were Sessions to do so, he might come to understand that wanting less crime is consistent with one of the reasons Washington voted to legalize recreational marijuana sales. Specifically, legalization may take the illicit profits out of marijuana sales and thereby curb the influence of violent and criminal enterprises.
Good data is needed to show how well the state-run weed markets are reducing illicit drug flows. To the extent Washington’s Initiative 502 is having a good effect, the Department of Justice should stand in support.
Ole' Jeffe just can't stay out of the news. And yes, @momofthegoons , this is another report on Sessions refusal to meet with state level officials from MJ legal states lest he be confronted with facts that contradict his prejudices and suppositions. Asinine, really.
t might not be the president’s policy to check facts. But U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions should do so before criticizing states about their marijuana policies.
It seems Sessions knows what he knows and likes what he knows. Never mind the facts. That approach does not foster good relations with the 28 states that have legalized some form of use of marijuana, including a half-dozen that legalized recreational use.
In Washington, medicinal marijuana has been legal and available for nearly two decades. State voters in 2012 took another step by authorizing a state-regulated recreational marijuana market, and the Legislature in 2015 acted to bring the medicinal market under the same tighter regulations.
In a recent letter to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Sessions warned — correctly — that weed use is still illegal under federal law. But he asserted that Washington’s medical marijuana market is operating in a gray area as a result of “the lack of regulation and oversight.”
That claim relied on outdated — if not false — information. State legislation adopted in 2015 began the merger of Washington’s medical and recreational marijuana markets. By July 2016, all unlicensed storefront dispensaries of medical marijuana were shut down, according to the state Liquor and Cannabis Board.
Those regulatory actions were taken in response to growing awareness by state policy makers that tighter rules were needed.
Better regulation was also a key part of this state’s working relationship with the Obama administration, which recognized the ongoing failures of the U.S. war on drugs. Obama’s DOJ tolerated state experiments with marijuana policy on condition they had strong oversight.
After President Donald Trump took office in January, the change in administrations raised new questions about marijuana policy’s future. In February, Inslee and Ferguson wrote in vain to Sessions inviting him to meet them and discuss it directly.
In April, Inslee and fellow governors in Colorado, Oregon and Alaska wrote to Sessions and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to caution against any revision of a 2013 Department of Justice memorandum on state marijuana programs. Dubbed the Cole Memorandum, the DOJ memo sought to balance the need for public safety against the ability of states to allow the use of marijuana in conflict with federal statutes that forbid it.
More recently, Sessions tried linking marijuana with violent crime. Yet Washington has seen a drop in violent crime rates, notching a lower rate than the national average in 2015. That contradicts conjecture that legalized marijuana is boosting crime.
Sessions does raise concerns worth paying attention to. One is to halt illegal sales of marijuana to minors and the dangers of marijuana use by drivers, both problems that existed before marijuana legalization. Preventing “leakage” of marijuana sales into neighboring states that outlaw them should remain a state priority.
Unfortunately, Sessions has not accepted the invitation by Ferguson to meet in person and discuss the matter. Were Sessions to do so, he might come to understand that wanting less crime is consistent with one of the reasons Washington voted to legalize recreational marijuana sales. Specifically, legalization may take the illicit profits out of marijuana sales and thereby curb the influence of violent and criminal enterprises.
Good data is needed to show how well the state-run weed markets are reducing illicit drug flows. To the extent Washington’s Initiative 502 is having a good effect, the Department of Justice should stand in support.
Ole' Jeffe just can't stay out of the news. And yes, @momofthegoons , this is another report on Sessions refusal to meet with state level officials from MJ legal states lest he be confronted with facts that contradict his prejudices and suppositions. Asinine, really.
Baron23
Well-Known Member
Action by bureaucratic inaction is a long honored tactic in DC. Go down a bit in the article and you will see a picture of what the Fed Government considers research grade cannabis. I have NEVER seen such trash in my life. Not even 40 years ago when most was Mexican ditch weed.
Is Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department Actively Blocking Cannabis Research?
More than two dozen federal applications to grow cannabis for research purposes have stalled as Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department lets them languish. The bottleneck is frustrating researchers, doctors, and other stakeholders desperate to learn more about the drug.
RELATED STORY
Feds to Study Medical Marijuana’s Effect on Opioid Use
A year ago, the US Drug Enforcement Agency began accepting applications to grow cannabis for research, a move meant to improve the availability and quality of cannabis for use in scientific research. As part of the approval process, the DEA says it needs the DOJ’s sign-off—but so far that hasn’t come.
“They’re sitting on it,” one law enforcement official told the Washington Post, which first reported the story. “They just will not act on these things.”
A senior DEA official told the Post that “the Justice Department has effectively shut down this program to increase research registrations.’’
RELATED STORY
Photos Prove Government-Grown Cannabis Is Basically Ditch Weed
As a result of what’s effectively become a DOJ roadblock, researchers are struggling to access cannabis to conduct experiments into the drug’s health effects and clinical applications. To date, there is only one place in the US that has permission from the federal government to grow and distribute cannabis: the University of Mississippi. Not exactly a cannabis hotbed, historically speaking.
The cannabis that is grown at Ole Miss is nothing to write home about. In some cases, it barely even looks like cannabis. As Leafly reported in March, cannabis provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) for a study into PTSD looked less like medical marijuana and more like clippings you might dig out of an old lawnmower.
In the PTSD study, Johns Hopkins University was slated to help conduct the multiyear clinical trial, sponsored by the nonprofit group Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, or MAPS. But soon after the researchers received the government-grown cannabis, John Hopkins pulled out of the study. In a statement to Leafly, a university spokesperson said the school withdrew “because our goals for this weren’t in alignment.”
RELATED STORY
Dustup Over NIDA-Grown Ditch Weed Leads Johns Hopkins to Ditch PTSD Study
MAPS spokesman Brad Burge, however, told Leafly that the poor-quality cannabis was the primary reason the study hit a road block. “NIDA wasn’t able to provide the relatively high THC level that we wanted to look at,” Burge said. “We asked for a 12% THC strain, and they were only able to get us a 10%.” For reference, the bulk of cannabis sold at adult-use stores in legal states exceeds 20% THC.
Acting DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg said last year that the DEA would “support and promote legitimate research regarding marijuana and its constituent parts.” At the time, the statement was a victory for cannabis researchers. But so far little has come of it.
Is Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department Actively Blocking Cannabis Research?
More than two dozen federal applications to grow cannabis for research purposes have stalled as Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department lets them languish. The bottleneck is frustrating researchers, doctors, and other stakeholders desperate to learn more about the drug.
RELATED STORY
Feds to Study Medical Marijuana’s Effect on Opioid Use
A year ago, the US Drug Enforcement Agency began accepting applications to grow cannabis for research, a move meant to improve the availability and quality of cannabis for use in scientific research. As part of the approval process, the DEA says it needs the DOJ’s sign-off—but so far that hasn’t come.
“They’re sitting on it,” one law enforcement official told the Washington Post, which first reported the story. “They just will not act on these things.”
A senior DEA official told the Post that “the Justice Department has effectively shut down this program to increase research registrations.’’
RELATED STORY
Photos Prove Government-Grown Cannabis Is Basically Ditch Weed
As a result of what’s effectively become a DOJ roadblock, researchers are struggling to access cannabis to conduct experiments into the drug’s health effects and clinical applications. To date, there is only one place in the US that has permission from the federal government to grow and distribute cannabis: the University of Mississippi. Not exactly a cannabis hotbed, historically speaking.
The cannabis that is grown at Ole Miss is nothing to write home about. In some cases, it barely even looks like cannabis. As Leafly reported in March, cannabis provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) for a study into PTSD looked less like medical marijuana and more like clippings you might dig out of an old lawnmower.
In the PTSD study, Johns Hopkins University was slated to help conduct the multiyear clinical trial, sponsored by the nonprofit group Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, or MAPS. But soon after the researchers received the government-grown cannabis, John Hopkins pulled out of the study. In a statement to Leafly, a university spokesperson said the school withdrew “because our goals for this weren’t in alignment.”
RELATED STORY
Dustup Over NIDA-Grown Ditch Weed Leads Johns Hopkins to Ditch PTSD Study
MAPS spokesman Brad Burge, however, told Leafly that the poor-quality cannabis was the primary reason the study hit a road block. “NIDA wasn’t able to provide the relatively high THC level that we wanted to look at,” Burge said. “We asked for a 12% THC strain, and they were only able to get us a 10%.” For reference, the bulk of cannabis sold at adult-use stores in legal states exceeds 20% THC.
Acting DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg said last year that the DEA would “support and promote legitimate research regarding marijuana and its constituent parts.” At the time, the statement was a victory for cannabis researchers. But so far little has come of it.
If this isn't proof of why we don't want the government in charge of growing our weed, I don't know what is.
ataxian
In a BLACK HOLE!
r clinical trial, sponsored by the nonprofit group Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, or MAPS. But soon after the researchers received the government-grown cannabis, John Hopkins pulled out of the study. In a statement to Leafly, a university spokesperson said the school withdrew “because our goals for this weren’t in alignment.”
One strain is not going to tell us anything about the medical benefits?
Israel and many other countries are way ahead of the USA.
One strain is not going to tell us anything about the medical benefits?
Baron23
Well-Known Member
Ole' Jeffe is getting his dangling bits roundly...and deservedly....rung yet again. I underlined what I thought was the most relevant quote...something about people FUCKING VOTED FOR THIS, SESSIONS. Democracy...surely he remembers something about it?
Officials In Legal-Weed States Push Back Against Jeff Sessions’ Marijuana Criticisms
Alaska and Washington present more evidence that marijuana legalization is working, but the attorney general appears willing to ignore the facts.
Government officials from Alaska and Washington have pushed back against Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who sent threatening letters to the states and questioned the efficacy of their marijuana legalization and regulatory programs.
In letters obtained by HuffPost that are dated Aug. 1 and Aug. 14, Alaskan Gov. Bill Walker and Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth, both Independents, defend their state’s marijuana law and the voters who approved legalization in the state. They also ask the Department of Justice to not interfere with state-legal programs and refute some of Sessions’ assertions about their law.
Sessions told Alaskan officials that the “2015 Annual Drug Report” released by Alaska State Troopers “raises serious questions about whether marijuana ‘regulatory structures’ will be effective in your state,” according to a July 24 letter that Sessions sent and HuffPost obtained.
But in a response sent Monday, Walker and Lindemuth say the 2015 report was not relevant to the effectiveness of the legal marijuana industry in the state because sales from licensed businesses did not begin until 2016.
Lindemuth also defended the state’s marijuana policy in the letter she sent earlier this month, and argued that state governments should handle issues of legalization. The current federal marijuana enforcement policy allows states to forge their own policies surrounding the plant, although federal laws still consider all marijuana use as illegal.
Lindemuth then details the strict controls that the state has implemented over the industry and efforts made toward “neutralizing the involvement of criminal growers and traffickers, keeping marijuana away from children, and ensuring that our citizens are fully informed about the risks of using marijuana.”
Aaron Bernstein / Reuters
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has indicated that he plans to crack down on marijuana legalization.
In Washington, Gov. Jay Inslee (D) and Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D), fired back after Sessions expressed similar skepticism of their state’s marijuana laws. In a July letter, Sessions cited a 2016 law enforcement report that he says “raises serious questions about the efficacy of marijuana ‘regulatory structures’ in your state.”
State and federal prohibition of marijuana failed to prevent its widespread use, which was generating huge profits for violent criminal organizations. The people of Washington State chose by popular vote to try a different path. Gov. Jay Inslee (D) and Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) of Washington
As an example, the pair rebuke Sessions for citing more than a dozen explosions at THC extraction labs in the state. The officials acknowledge that those explosions did occur, but say the attorney general’s letter “fails to clearly acknowledge that none of these explosions were at labs operating legally under state license. ... In the history of our licensing system, no legal extraction lab has ever had an explosion.”
The pair also sent Sessions a 16-page report that the state’s Liquor and Cannabis Board published in June. It details various marijuana laws that the state has enacted to help protect public health and safety.
Sessions was not immediately available for comment on the letters, a DOJ spokesman said.
Alaska and Washington are among eight states that have legalized marijuana for adult use. Sessions has sent similarly critical letters to Colorado and Oregon, which were among the first four states to legalize the drug for recreational purposes. Those states also provided Sessions with statistics to back up their argument that state-level regulation of marijuana is working, as HuffPost previously reported.
There is widespread concern among marijuana legalization activists that the attorney general may be willing to ignore such evidence and resume strictly enforcing federal laws.
Sessions in February named a task force to review U.S. enforcement of laws surrounding immigration, drug trafficking and violent crime. The Justice Department wouldn’t disclose the task force’s proposals. The Associated Press, citing task force recommendations to Sessions that it had obtained, reported that the group of prosecutors and federal law enforcement officials largely reiterated the Justice Department’s current policy on marijuana and have not pushed for a crackdown.
National support for marijuana legalization has risen dramatically in recent years, reaching historic highs. Ninety-four percent of Americans support allowing adults to use marijuana for medical purposes if their doctor prescribes it, according to a Quinnipiac poll from earlier this year.
Advocates celebrated the letters from Alaska and Washington officials defending their state laws.
“It’s great to see these elected officials doing their jobs and standing up to so forcefully and thoroughly defend that law that their state’s voters enacted, even if they didn’t personally support legalization beforehand,” said Tom Angel, chairman of drug policy reform group Marijuana Majority. “We can only hope that Jeff Sessions will similarly be willing to take an open-minded look at the facts and realize that legalization is working in a way that effectively protects public health and safety.”
Officials In Legal-Weed States Push Back Against Jeff Sessions’ Marijuana Criticisms
Alaska and Washington present more evidence that marijuana legalization is working, but the attorney general appears willing to ignore the facts.
Government officials from Alaska and Washington have pushed back against Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who sent threatening letters to the states and questioned the efficacy of their marijuana legalization and regulatory programs.
In letters obtained by HuffPost that are dated Aug. 1 and Aug. 14, Alaskan Gov. Bill Walker and Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth, both Independents, defend their state’s marijuana law and the voters who approved legalization in the state. They also ask the Department of Justice to not interfere with state-legal programs and refute some of Sessions’ assertions about their law.
Sessions told Alaskan officials that the “2015 Annual Drug Report” released by Alaska State Troopers “raises serious questions about whether marijuana ‘regulatory structures’ will be effective in your state,” according to a July 24 letter that Sessions sent and HuffPost obtained.
But in a response sent Monday, Walker and Lindemuth say the 2015 report was not relevant to the effectiveness of the legal marijuana industry in the state because sales from licensed businesses did not begin until 2016.
“The report simply does not speak to the success or failure of the new regulatory framework,” the letter reads.
Lindemuth also defended the state’s marijuana policy in the letter she sent earlier this month, and argued that state governments should handle issues of legalization. The current federal marijuana enforcement policy allows states to forge their own policies surrounding the plant, although federal laws still consider all marijuana use as illegal.
“[M]arijuana regulation is an area where states should take the lead,” the Aug. 1 letter reads. “In Alaska, in accordance with a successful citizens’ ballot initiative, the State has implemented a comprehensive framework to regulate marijuana that we believe also protects federal interests.”
Lindemuth then details the strict controls that the state has implemented over the industry and efforts made toward “neutralizing the involvement of criminal growers and traffickers, keeping marijuana away from children, and ensuring that our citizens are fully informed about the risks of using marijuana.”
Aaron Bernstein / Reuters
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has indicated that he plans to crack down on marijuana legalization.
In Washington, Gov. Jay Inslee (D) and Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D), fired back after Sessions expressed similar skepticism of their state’s marijuana laws. In a July letter, Sessions cited a 2016 law enforcement report that he says “raises serious questions about the efficacy of marijuana ‘regulatory structures’ in your state.”
That letter “makes a number of allegations that are outdated, incorrect, or based on incomplete information,” Inslee and Ferguson wrote Monday in a response to the attorney general.
“Your letter repeatedly fails to distinguish between marijuana activity that is legal and illegal under state law,” they added. “Instead, it conflates the two in a manner that implies that state-legal marijuana activity is responsible for harms actually caused by illegal marijuana activity.”
“Your letter repeatedly fails to distinguish between marijuana activity that is legal and illegal under state law,” they added. “Instead, it conflates the two in a manner that implies that state-legal marijuana activity is responsible for harms actually caused by illegal marijuana activity.”
State and federal prohibition of marijuana failed to prevent its widespread use, which was generating huge profits for violent criminal organizations. The people of Washington State chose by popular vote to try a different path. Gov. Jay Inslee (D) and Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) of Washington
As an example, the pair rebuke Sessions for citing more than a dozen explosions at THC extraction labs in the state. The officials acknowledge that those explosions did occur, but say the attorney general’s letter “fails to clearly acknowledge that none of these explosions were at labs operating legally under state license. ... In the history of our licensing system, no legal extraction lab has ever had an explosion.”
The pair also sent Sessions a 16-page report that the state’s Liquor and Cannabis Board published in June. It details various marijuana laws that the state has enacted to help protect public health and safety.
“We encourage you to keep in mind why we are having this conversation,” Inslee and Ferguson conclude. “State and federal prohibition of marijuana failed to prevent its widespread use, which was generating huge profits for violent criminal organizations. The people of Washington State chose by popular vote to try a different path. Under Washington’s system, responsible adults are allowed access to a highly regulated product that returns substantial tax revenues to the government even as it displaces illegal activity.”
Sessions was not immediately available for comment on the letters, a DOJ spokesman said.
Alaska and Washington are among eight states that have legalized marijuana for adult use. Sessions has sent similarly critical letters to Colorado and Oregon, which were among the first four states to legalize the drug for recreational purposes. Those states also provided Sessions with statistics to back up their argument that state-level regulation of marijuana is working, as HuffPost previously reported.
There is widespread concern among marijuana legalization activists that the attorney general may be willing to ignore such evidence and resume strictly enforcing federal laws.
Sessions in February named a task force to review U.S. enforcement of laws surrounding immigration, drug trafficking and violent crime. The Justice Department wouldn’t disclose the task force’s proposals. The Associated Press, citing task force recommendations to Sessions that it had obtained, reported that the group of prosecutors and federal law enforcement officials largely reiterated the Justice Department’s current policy on marijuana and have not pushed for a crackdown.
National support for marijuana legalization has risen dramatically in recent years, reaching historic highs. Ninety-four percent of Americans support allowing adults to use marijuana for medical purposes if their doctor prescribes it, according to a Quinnipiac poll from earlier this year.
Advocates celebrated the letters from Alaska and Washington officials defending their state laws.
“It’s great to see these elected officials doing their jobs and standing up to so forcefully and thoroughly defend that law that their state’s voters enacted, even if they didn’t personally support legalization beforehand,” said Tom Angel, chairman of drug policy reform group Marijuana Majority. “We can only hope that Jeff Sessions will similarly be willing to take an open-minded look at the facts and realize that legalization is working in a way that effectively protects public health and safety.”
Baron23
Well-Known Member
Well, this could go in a couple of threads...but WTF, let's jump on ole' Jeffe again.
Governors of 2 Pot States Push Back on Trump Administration
Y BECKY BOHRER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Governors in at least two states that have legalized recreational marijuana are pushing back against the Trump administration and defending their efforts to regulate the industry.
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, a one-time Republican no longer affiliated with a party, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions this week asking the Department of Justice to maintain the Obama administration’s more hands-off enforcement approach to states that have legalized the drug still banned at the federal level.
It comes after Sessions sent responses recently to the governors of Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, who asked him to allow the pot experiments to continue in the first four states to legalize recreational marijuana. Sessions detailed concerns he had with how effective state regulatory efforts have been or will be.
Washington state also responded to Sessions this week. Gov. Jay Inslee said the attorney general made claims about the situation in Washington that are “outdated, incorrect, or based on incomplete information.”
“If we can engage in a more direct dialogue, we might avoid this sort of miscommunication and make progress on the issues that are important to both of us,” Inslee and that state’s attorney general wrote to Sessions.
Since taking office, Sessions has promised to reconsider pot policy, providing a level of uncertainty for states that have legalized the drug. A task force assembled by Sessions encouraged continued study of whether to change or rescind the approach taken under former President Barack Obama.
In Alaska, Walker said he shared Sessions’ concerns about the dangers of drug abuse but said state rules for marijuana businesses address federal interests, including public health and safety concerns. The governor said Sessions cited a 2015 state drug report in raising questions about Alaska’s regulations but noted that the first pot shops didn’t open until late last year.
The state is taking “meaningful” steps to curb illegal pot use, especially by those who are underage, Walker and state Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth wrote in the letter obtained through a public records request.
In a separate letter, Lindemuth was more pointed.
“Given the diversity of public sentiment regarding marijuana throughout the country, marijuana regulation is an area where states should take the lead,” she wrote.
Alaska political leaders have long pushed back on issues where they think the federal government is overstepping its bounds. The state’s lone U.S. House member, Republican Rep. Don Young, said he has never smoked pot but supports states’ rights.
Alaska voted on it, “and the federal government should stay out of it,” he told The Associated Press last year.
The largest voting bloc in the state is not affiliated with a political party, though President Donald Trump won with just over 50 percent of the vote last fall. Voters in 2014 approved recreational marijuana, with about 53 percent support.
Governors of 2 Pot States Push Back on Trump Administration
Y BECKY BOHRER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Governors in at least two states that have legalized recreational marijuana are pushing back against the Trump administration and defending their efforts to regulate the industry.
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, a one-time Republican no longer affiliated with a party, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions this week asking the Department of Justice to maintain the Obama administration’s more hands-off enforcement approach to states that have legalized the drug still banned at the federal level.
It comes after Sessions sent responses recently to the governors of Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, who asked him to allow the pot experiments to continue in the first four states to legalize recreational marijuana. Sessions detailed concerns he had with how effective state regulatory efforts have been or will be.
Washington state also responded to Sessions this week. Gov. Jay Inslee said the attorney general made claims about the situation in Washington that are “outdated, incorrect, or based on incomplete information.”
“If we can engage in a more direct dialogue, we might avoid this sort of miscommunication and make progress on the issues that are important to both of us,” Inslee and that state’s attorney general wrote to Sessions.
Since taking office, Sessions has promised to reconsider pot policy, providing a level of uncertainty for states that have legalized the drug. A task force assembled by Sessions encouraged continued study of whether to change or rescind the approach taken under former President Barack Obama.
In Alaska, Walker said he shared Sessions’ concerns about the dangers of drug abuse but said state rules for marijuana businesses address federal interests, including public health and safety concerns. The governor said Sessions cited a 2015 state drug report in raising questions about Alaska’s regulations but noted that the first pot shops didn’t open until late last year.
The state is taking “meaningful” steps to curb illegal pot use, especially by those who are underage, Walker and state Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth wrote in the letter obtained through a public records request.
In a separate letter, Lindemuth was more pointed.
“Given the diversity of public sentiment regarding marijuana throughout the country, marijuana regulation is an area where states should take the lead,” she wrote.
Alaska political leaders have long pushed back on issues where they think the federal government is overstepping its bounds. The state’s lone U.S. House member, Republican Rep. Don Young, said he has never smoked pot but supports states’ rights.
Alaska voted on it, “and the federal government should stay out of it,” he told The Associated Press last year.
The largest voting bloc in the state is not affiliated with a political party, though President Donald Trump won with just over 50 percent of the vote last fall. Voters in 2014 approved recreational marijuana, with about 53 percent support.
Baron23
Well-Known Member
And the Cato Institute is a libertarian/conservative think tank. Dang, eveybody across the political spectrum is now participating in the "Let's Ring Jeffrey's Nads"...an up and coming national sport. RAAAAANG!! Oh shit, some one just rang his nads again! LOL
High on His Own Supply?
Sessions Cites Junk Science to Shut Down Pot Research
Once again, a committed drug warrior ignores and blocks legitimate scientific research, then cites the fact that science hasn’t proven the drug ‘safe’ as his reason for doing so.
Trevor Burrus
08.19.17 12:00 AM ET
Does marijuana have medical uses? Which chemicals in marijuana have positive medicinal effects? Which have negative effects? Does using marijuana have negative effects on teenagers’ brains? Is it addictive?
These and many other questions are still open to scientific clarification, and for decades it’s been the federal government’s fault we don’t know the answers.
Now, Attorney General Jeff Sessions wants to continue to hinder what limited scientific research can be conducted in America into marijuana’s effects. According to The Washington Post, quoting one senior Drug Enforcement Agency official, Sessions’ Department of Justice “has effectively shut down” an Obama administration initiative to expand the number of suppliers of marijuana for scientific research.
“The standoff is the latest example of the nation’s premier narcotics enforcement agency finding itself in disagreement with the new administration,” the Post reports, noting that “The DEA is no shrinking violet when it comes to marijuana enforcement.”
It might surprise you to learn that, as far as the federal government is concerned, cocaine is less dangerous than marijuana. Cocaine is a Schedule II drug under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning the government recognizes both a high potential for abuse and legitimate medical uses, while marijuana is Schedule I, meaning it has no recognized legitimate medical uses—just a potential for abuse.
For decades marijuana’s Schedule I status has made it incredibly difficult to study. But it’s even more difficult to study marijuana than other Schedule I drugs like LSD, heroin, and bath salts. Would-be marijuana researchers looking to do clinical studies first need a license from the DEA, then approval from the FDA, and finally access to the single authorized source of legal cannabis, which is heavily controlled by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Whereas there are many sources for drugs like MDMA—in many cases, multiple labs have been contracted to synthesize it—marijuana researchers must be granted access to a supply that is consistently inadequate in both quantity and quality. On top of that, if NIDA doesn’t like the study, they may just deny it anyway.
took a small but important step toward relaxing the constraints on the production of marijuana for scientific research by allowing other groups to apply for authorization to grow the plant for research. Unsurprisingly, Jeff Sessions’ Department of Justice is now stopping that process, according to the Post report, leaving scientific study of marijuana mired in antiquated rules that are more than 50 years out of date.
For nearly a century, marijuana—unlike other, more dangerous drugs—has activated peculiar revulsions in our most prohibitionist lawmakers and federal officials. To Harry J. Anslinger, commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics from 1930 to 1962, young people were “slaves” to marijuana, “continuing addiction until they deteriorate mentally, become insane, [and] turn to violent crime and murder.”
When Anslinger found out that professor Alfred Lindesmith of Indiana University began studying scientifically marijuana and challenging Anslinger’s hyperbolic claims, Anslinger had Lindesmith harassed by his agents and wiretapped. In 1944, a commission created by NYC Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia published a study challenging the idea that marijuana caused crime and violent behavior. Anslinger attacked LaGuardia and the report’s authors viciously, saying he would throw them in jail if they ever studied marijuana again without his permission. And, although the American Medical Association initially endorsed the study’s scientific validity, the organization oddly changed course after Anslinger wrote them a letter. The LaGuardia study was now “unscientific,” according to the AMA, and scientists should “continue to regard marihuana as a menace wherever it is purveyed.”
By the late 1960s, marijuana research was still in a sorry state. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 placed marijuana in Schedule I, but, understanding that many questions about the drug were still unanswered, it also provided for a special commission to study the drug. The Shafer Commission, as it became known, recommended decriminalizing personal marijuana use and “increased support of studies which evaluate the efficacy of marihuana to the treatment of physical impairments and disease.” President Nixon—who believed communists and left wingers were pushing “homosexuality, dope, immorality in general” in order to destroy America—of course didn’t care. “I am against legalizing marijuana,” he said. “Even if the Commission does recommend that it be legalized, I will not follow that recommendation.” He didn’t.
And history has kept repeating itself. In 1988, in response to a petition for rescheduling filed by NORML in 1972, Judge Francis Young, the DEA’s own administrative law judge, ruled that “by any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care.” Then-DEA Administrator John Lawn also didn’t care. He simply overruled Judge Young.
Enter Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has slid neatly into the role formerly played by Anslinger, Nixon, and Lawn. It’s a part in a tragicomic farce with Groundhog Day elements. Committed drug warriors ignore and block legitimate scientific research and then cite the fact that science hasn’t proven the drug “safe” as a reason to continue Schedule I prohibition. Rinse and repeat.
Until Sessions and others of his ilk stop living in the past, we will continue to be inexcusably ignorant of marijuana’s harms and benefits.
Trevor Burrus is a research fellow in the Cato Institute’s Center for Constitutional Studies and managing editor of the Cato Supreme Court Review.
High on His Own Supply?
Sessions Cites Junk Science to Shut Down Pot Research
Once again, a committed drug warrior ignores and blocks legitimate scientific research, then cites the fact that science hasn’t proven the drug ‘safe’ as his reason for doing so.
Trevor Burrus
08.19.17 12:00 AM ET
Does marijuana have medical uses? Which chemicals in marijuana have positive medicinal effects? Which have negative effects? Does using marijuana have negative effects on teenagers’ brains? Is it addictive?
These and many other questions are still open to scientific clarification, and for decades it’s been the federal government’s fault we don’t know the answers.
Now, Attorney General Jeff Sessions wants to continue to hinder what limited scientific research can be conducted in America into marijuana’s effects. According to The Washington Post, quoting one senior Drug Enforcement Agency official, Sessions’ Department of Justice “has effectively shut down” an Obama administration initiative to expand the number of suppliers of marijuana for scientific research.
“The standoff is the latest example of the nation’s premier narcotics enforcement agency finding itself in disagreement with the new administration,” the Post reports, noting that “The DEA is no shrinking violet when it comes to marijuana enforcement.”
It might surprise you to learn that, as far as the federal government is concerned, cocaine is less dangerous than marijuana. Cocaine is a Schedule II drug under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning the government recognizes both a high potential for abuse and legitimate medical uses, while marijuana is Schedule I, meaning it has no recognized legitimate medical uses—just a potential for abuse.
For decades marijuana’s Schedule I status has made it incredibly difficult to study. But it’s even more difficult to study marijuana than other Schedule I drugs like LSD, heroin, and bath salts. Would-be marijuana researchers looking to do clinical studies first need a license from the DEA, then approval from the FDA, and finally access to the single authorized source of legal cannabis, which is heavily controlled by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Whereas there are many sources for drugs like MDMA—in many cases, multiple labs have been contracted to synthesize it—marijuana researchers must be granted access to a supply that is consistently inadequate in both quantity and quality. On top of that, if NIDA doesn’t like the study, they may just deny it anyway.
took a small but important step toward relaxing the constraints on the production of marijuana for scientific research by allowing other groups to apply for authorization to grow the plant for research. Unsurprisingly, Jeff Sessions’ Department of Justice is now stopping that process, according to the Post report, leaving scientific study of marijuana mired in antiquated rules that are more than 50 years out of date.
For nearly a century, marijuana—unlike other, more dangerous drugs—has activated peculiar revulsions in our most prohibitionist lawmakers and federal officials. To Harry J. Anslinger, commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics from 1930 to 1962, young people were “slaves” to marijuana, “continuing addiction until they deteriorate mentally, become insane, [and] turn to violent crime and murder.”
When Anslinger found out that professor Alfred Lindesmith of Indiana University began studying scientifically marijuana and challenging Anslinger’s hyperbolic claims, Anslinger had Lindesmith harassed by his agents and wiretapped. In 1944, a commission created by NYC Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia published a study challenging the idea that marijuana caused crime and violent behavior. Anslinger attacked LaGuardia and the report’s authors viciously, saying he would throw them in jail if they ever studied marijuana again without his permission. And, although the American Medical Association initially endorsed the study’s scientific validity, the organization oddly changed course after Anslinger wrote them a letter. The LaGuardia study was now “unscientific,” according to the AMA, and scientists should “continue to regard marihuana as a menace wherever it is purveyed.”
By the late 1960s, marijuana research was still in a sorry state. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 placed marijuana in Schedule I, but, understanding that many questions about the drug were still unanswered, it also provided for a special commission to study the drug. The Shafer Commission, as it became known, recommended decriminalizing personal marijuana use and “increased support of studies which evaluate the efficacy of marihuana to the treatment of physical impairments and disease.” President Nixon—who believed communists and left wingers were pushing “homosexuality, dope, immorality in general” in order to destroy America—of course didn’t care. “I am against legalizing marijuana,” he said. “Even if the Commission does recommend that it be legalized, I will not follow that recommendation.” He didn’t.
And history has kept repeating itself. In 1988, in response to a petition for rescheduling filed by NORML in 1972, Judge Francis Young, the DEA’s own administrative law judge, ruled that “by any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care.” Then-DEA Administrator John Lawn also didn’t care. He simply overruled Judge Young.
Enter Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has slid neatly into the role formerly played by Anslinger, Nixon, and Lawn. It’s a part in a tragicomic farce with Groundhog Day elements. Committed drug warriors ignore and block legitimate scientific research and then cite the fact that science hasn’t proven the drug “safe” as a reason to continue Schedule I prohibition. Rinse and repeat.
Until Sessions and others of his ilk stop living in the past, we will continue to be inexcusably ignorant of marijuana’s harms and benefits.
Trevor Burrus is a research fellow in the Cato Institute’s Center for Constitutional Studies and managing editor of the Cato Supreme Court Review.
Baron23
Well-Known Member
Not really anything startling or new
More evidence that Jeff Sessions' cannabis crackdown may never materialize
Despite Attorney General Jeff Sessions's well-known anti-pot prejudices, a broad federal crackdown on marijuana in states that have legalized it seems unlikely in light of the recommendations from a Justice Department subcommittee charged with studying the issue.
The Associated Press reports that the panel, part of the DOJ's Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety, "has come up with no new policy recommendations to advance the attorney general's aggressively anti-marijuana views."
According to the A.P., which obtained a copy of the unpublished recommendations, the subcommittee does say officials "should evaluate whether to maintain, revise or rescind" the 2013 memo from Deputy Attorney General James Cole that established a policy of prosecutorial restraint regarding state-licensed marijuana businesses.
But the report does not settle on any of those options, and so far Sessions seems inclined to use the Cole memo as a guide to enforcement rather than scrapping it.
The memo, which Sessions has called "truly valuable in evaluating cases," leaves lots of leeway for more vigorous enforcement of the federal ban on marijuana.
It lists eight "enforcement priorities" that could justify federal action against state-licensed marijuana producers and distributors, several of which are either impossible to fully achieve (e.g., "preventing the diversion of marijuana from states where it is legal...to other states") or so broad that they could always be used as a pretext for a crackdown (e.g. preventing "adverse public health consequences associated with marijuana use.")
As Mike Riggs noted, Sessions recently sent Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson a letter asking how they plan to address several concerns related to the enforcement priorities, including interstate smuggling, stoned driving, and underage consumption.
"Please advise as to how Washington plans...to ensure that all marijuana activity is compliant with state marijuana laws, to combat diversion of marijuana, to protect public health and safety, and to prevent marijuana use by minors," Sessions wrote.
He also pointedly noted that the Cole memo says "nothing herein precludes investigation or prosecution, even in the absence of any one of the factors listed above, in particular circumstances where investigation and prosecution otherwise serves an important federal interest."
In short, Sessions could cause a lot of trouble for the newly legal cannabis industry without bothering to retract the Cole memo, which is vague and ambiguous enough to accommodate policies ranging from laissez-faire to prosecution and forfeiture threats that put many or most marijuana merchants out of business. There are several reasons to think Sessions's approach will land somewhere in the middle.
Sessions has been in charge of the Justice Department for six months, and so far his hostility toward marijuana legalization has not gone beyond rhetorical expressions of concern. It has not resulted in prosecutions, forfeitures, or even threatening letters to cannabusinesses. Nor has Sessions signaled that he plans to challenge state marijuana laws in federal court.
Instead he punted the issue to a committee, which settled on a wait-and-see position that the A.P. describes as "tepid" and "vague." By contrast, Sessions acted swiftly to step up the war on drugs in other ways, reviving federal "adoption" of civil forfeitures initiated by state or local agencies and establishing a tougher charging policy that is apt to result in more mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders.
Sessions may recognize that a full-blown cannabis crackdown would not necessarily deliver results he would like.
Since all but one of the eight states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use allow home cultivation, shutting down state-licensed cannabusinesses would undermine federal enforcement priorities by making production and distribution less visible and harder to monitor.
Likewise a lawsuit that successfully challenged state licensing and regulation of marijuana merchants as contrary to the Controlled Substances Act.
Sessions also may be reluctant to further irk a boss who has been publicly castigating him for weeks over his handling of the investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election.
Although the A.P. says the president's "personal views on marijuana remain mostly unknown," Trump during his campaign repeatedly said medical use of the plant should be allowed and that states should be free to legalize recreational use as well (although he does not think that's such a good idea).
Abandoning that commitment would be politically risky for Trump, given that most Americans support marijuana legalization and even more— 71 percent, according to a 2017 Quinnipiac poll—say the federal government should not interfere with it.
More evidence that Jeff Sessions' cannabis crackdown may never materialize
Despite Attorney General Jeff Sessions's well-known anti-pot prejudices, a broad federal crackdown on marijuana in states that have legalized it seems unlikely in light of the recommendations from a Justice Department subcommittee charged with studying the issue.
The Associated Press reports that the panel, part of the DOJ's Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety, "has come up with no new policy recommendations to advance the attorney general's aggressively anti-marijuana views."
According to the A.P., which obtained a copy of the unpublished recommendations, the subcommittee does say officials "should evaluate whether to maintain, revise or rescind" the 2013 memo from Deputy Attorney General James Cole that established a policy of prosecutorial restraint regarding state-licensed marijuana businesses.
But the report does not settle on any of those options, and so far Sessions seems inclined to use the Cole memo as a guide to enforcement rather than scrapping it.
The memo, which Sessions has called "truly valuable in evaluating cases," leaves lots of leeway for more vigorous enforcement of the federal ban on marijuana.
It lists eight "enforcement priorities" that could justify federal action against state-licensed marijuana producers and distributors, several of which are either impossible to fully achieve (e.g., "preventing the diversion of marijuana from states where it is legal...to other states") or so broad that they could always be used as a pretext for a crackdown (e.g. preventing "adverse public health consequences associated with marijuana use.")
As Mike Riggs noted, Sessions recently sent Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson a letter asking how they plan to address several concerns related to the enforcement priorities, including interstate smuggling, stoned driving, and underage consumption.
"Please advise as to how Washington plans...to ensure that all marijuana activity is compliant with state marijuana laws, to combat diversion of marijuana, to protect public health and safety, and to prevent marijuana use by minors," Sessions wrote.
He also pointedly noted that the Cole memo says "nothing herein precludes investigation or prosecution, even in the absence of any one of the factors listed above, in particular circumstances where investigation and prosecution otherwise serves an important federal interest."
In short, Sessions could cause a lot of trouble for the newly legal cannabis industry without bothering to retract the Cole memo, which is vague and ambiguous enough to accommodate policies ranging from laissez-faire to prosecution and forfeiture threats that put many or most marijuana merchants out of business. There are several reasons to think Sessions's approach will land somewhere in the middle.
Sessions has been in charge of the Justice Department for six months, and so far his hostility toward marijuana legalization has not gone beyond rhetorical expressions of concern. It has not resulted in prosecutions, forfeitures, or even threatening letters to cannabusinesses. Nor has Sessions signaled that he plans to challenge state marijuana laws in federal court.
Instead he punted the issue to a committee, which settled on a wait-and-see position that the A.P. describes as "tepid" and "vague." By contrast, Sessions acted swiftly to step up the war on drugs in other ways, reviving federal "adoption" of civil forfeitures initiated by state or local agencies and establishing a tougher charging policy that is apt to result in more mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders.
Sessions may recognize that a full-blown cannabis crackdown would not necessarily deliver results he would like.
Since all but one of the eight states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use allow home cultivation, shutting down state-licensed cannabusinesses would undermine federal enforcement priorities by making production and distribution less visible and harder to monitor.
Likewise a lawsuit that successfully challenged state licensing and regulation of marijuana merchants as contrary to the Controlled Substances Act.
Sessions also may be reluctant to further irk a boss who has been publicly castigating him for weeks over his handling of the investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election.
Although the A.P. says the president's "personal views on marijuana remain mostly unknown," Trump during his campaign repeatedly said medical use of the plant should be allowed and that states should be free to legalize recreational use as well (although he does not think that's such a good idea).
Abandoning that commitment would be politically risky for Trump, given that most Americans support marijuana legalization and even more— 71 percent, according to a 2017 Quinnipiac poll—say the federal government should not interfere with it.
Baron23
Well-Known Member
The Health 202: Congress appears ready to buck Sessions on medical marijuana
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.
Expressing his views on drug policy, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said marijuana legalization wouldn't be “good for us.” He also doubted reports of marijuana’s effectiveness fighting opioid addiction, adding “we need to crack down more on heroin.” (Reuters)
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
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.
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