Jeff Sessions

[Shredder]

I'm 63 yr old. In my teens and twenties the "cool" kids smoked weed. We grew our hair long, and rejected law and order, vietnam and the establishment.

The "nerds" and most of the socially awkward kids they grew their hair short and believed what authority figures fed them.. I think these antis never got over not being cool.

I know it's more complicated than that, but this non sensible resentment is still there. Jeffery Sessions no doubt got teased, wedgies, and didn't get the girl. And apparently he blames me, lol.....

 

[Baron23]

I'm 63 yr old. In my teens and twenties the "cool" kids smoked weed. We grew our hair long, and rejected law and order, vietnam and the establishment.

The "nerds" and most of the socially awkward kids they grew their hair short and believed what authority figures fed them.. I think these antis never got over not being cool.

I know it's more complicated than that, but this non sensible resentment is still there. Jeffery Sessions no doubt got teased, wedgies, and didn't get the girl. And apparently he blames me, lol.....

Yep, ole' Jeffe is still trying to work out those resentments from getting beat up in the school playground by exercising authority. Little big man complex, I think. Him and Dan "you fucking jerk" Snyder, owner of the Redskins NFL team.

 

[Baron23]

'A very real danger': US attorney general's views on marijuana create uncertainty over medical ...

At the moment, Leah Heise's soon-to-open dispensary in Baltimore is just an empty room. She hopes that by early next year, she will be selling medical marijuana to those in need.

But she is nervous that dream could end prematurely.

"And not that it could just change. It could come to a screeching halt and there is no recourse for that," she says.

"You're not going to get your money back out of this type of venture if the federal government decides to shut everyone down."

Heise is troubled by recent moves made by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

"I have concerns that he is not impartial," she says. "I don't think that he is looking at this issue with an open mind."

Tyler Kennedy, right, smells a marijuana sample from Noah Siialata at CannaDaddy's Wellness Center marijuana dispensary in Portland, Ore., on April 20, 2017.

Sessions is staunchly against marijuana use in any form, recreational or medical, a position that leaves uncertainty for dispensary owners, patients, marijuana advocates and state officials across the U.S.

In 2016, when he was still a senator, Sessions told a Senate committee that marijuana is "dangerous" and it is not something that "good people" smoke.

Speaking about Colorado's move to legalize recreational cannabis, he said: "We need grown-ups in charge in Washington to say marijuana is not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized, it ought not to be minimized, that it's in fact a very real danger."

At the moment, his powers to crack down on medical marijuana are limited, but Sessions wants that to change.

Removing a legal barrier

Every year since 2014, Congress has included a clause in a spending bill that prevents the Department of Justice (DOJ) from interfering in medical marijuana programs in states where it is legal. Marijuana is allowed for medical use in 29 states, plus the District of Columbia.

Earlier this year, Sessions wrote to lawmakers asking them to scrap the provision, reminding them that according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), marijuana has no known medical benefits.

The Senate ignored his request, but a House committee followed through. A joint committee of the two could still include the provision in the spending bill before it expires in early December.

If the committee does not include the provision, David Mangone, a legislative analyst with Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy group, says patients should be concerned.

"The prohibition ... is the only thing that limits the [DOJ] from engaging in federal prosecution of patients ... that stops [it] from conducting large-scale raids or bringing federal penalties for a lot of these patients."

Marijuana products are displayed at a medical marijuana dispensary near Laytonville, Calif., on Oct.13, 2016.

A request for comment from Sessions on why he wants the provision removed was declined through his office.

Analysts believe ultimately Congress will keep the clause in the bill because it has broad partisan and public support.

But even if it does not, John Hudak, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, says he does not expect mass raids or prosecutions against dispensaries.

He points out Sessions has the power to go after recreational marijuana distributors in states like Washington or Colorado, but so far he has not.

There is another area, though, where Hudak says Sessions has been disruptive: researching the efficacy of marijuana as a medicine.

'At some point there is blood on his hands'

In the United States, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug by the DEA, the same as heroin and ecstasy, meaning it is considered to have a "high potential for abuse" and no "accepted medical use in treatment."

There is only one facility approved by the federal government to grow the plant for clinical research.

The DEA has received applications from about two dozen groups to grow and research marijuana, but so far the applications have been held up.

Speaking before a Senate committee last month, Sessions was vague about the status of the applications, saying only that one facility may not be enough, but two dozen are unnecessary.

Mangone argues marijuana should be researched to see what role it can play in alleviating the ongoing opioid crisis.

The Centers for Disease Control estimates more than 64,000 Americans died after overdosing on drugs last year. That is an average of 175 deaths a day.

Farmworkers remove stems and leaves from newly harvested marijuana plants at Los Suenos Farms in Avondale, Colo., on Oct. 4, 2016.

The American Legion has also called for marijuana to be reclassified and studied.

Since cannabis is still banned federally, Veterans Affairs doctors are prohibited by law from prescribing marijuana, even if it is legal in the state where they are treating patients.

Lou Celli, national director for veterans affairs with the Legion, says veterans "see this as a huge hypocrisy that the federal government will allow them to be issued opiates, but will not allow them to be issued a plant-based substance that can be far more effective in some cases, and far less toxic."

But Sessions has a different view, saying in March: "I am astonished to hear people suggest that we can solve our heroin crisis by legalizing marijuana so people can trade one life-wrecking dependency for another that's only slightly less awful."

Hudak disagrees with Sessions and says if marijuana can help alleviate the opioid crisis, "and the attorney general is actively preventing research into those questions, you have to consider at some point there is blood on his hands."

Keeping the status quo

Since the appointment of Sessions, states have wondered what will happen to their marijuana programs, both medical and recreational.

California was the first state to allow medical marijuana, back in 1996. In 2012, Washington and Colorado were the first to legalize recreational use.

Under the Obama administration, the DOJ issued guidelines in 2013 known as the "Cole Memo" saying it would not interfere with marijuana programs as long as states adhered to certain priorities, including keeping cannabis away from minors.

In April of this year, Sessions formed a task force to review the memo, but The Associated Press reports that documents it has obtained show it largely recommended staying with the current policy and not a crackdown on the industry.

Sessions's deputy, Rod Rosenstein, says the department is still reviewing the Cole Memo.

"I think there is some pretty significant evidence that marijuana turns out to be more harmful than a lot of people anticipated, and it's more difficult to regulate than I think was contemplated ideally by some of those states," he said in September.

Lead grower Dave Wilson cares for marijuana plants in the Flower Room at the Ataraxia medical marijuana cultivation centre in Albion, Ill., on Sept. 15, 2015.

Sessions has also written to the governors of Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Colorado, four states where recreational marijuana is allowed, saying he has "serious concerns" about the effects of legalization.

Hudak predicts Sessions will alter the Cole Memo, although he isn't sure exactly how he will change the guidelines. But fears that Sessions will be able to shut down the entire industry are over-hyped, Hudak says.

He believes if there is enforcement, Sessions will go after easy targets: people who are not following the rules within the legal system.

"You are going to continue to see an attorney general who either keeps the status quo or does what he can to stand in the way of reform."

If Sessions does try to crack down on marijuana, he could run up against a formidable obstacle — his own boss: U.S. President Donald Trump.

On the campaign trail, Trump said he was for medical marijuana, adding the issue should be dealt with by individual states.

Since his election, though, Trump hasn't spoken much about the issue. That leaves many people confused, Hudak says, over who will win the debate on medical marijuana: Trump or his attorney general.

 

[Vicki]

Maybe it won’t matter about old Jeffrey anymore now that someone has testified under oath that Sessions lied under oath. Hopefully, he will be fired, and all his attacks against cannabis will stop.

 

[Shredder]

View attachment 1144 Maybe it won’t matter about old Jeffrey anymore now that someone has testified under oath that Sessions lied under oath. Hopefully, he will be fired, and all his attacks against cannabis will stop.

Being fired is too easy for this vile vile man. He needs to feel the pain and fear he has caused others. KARMA

 

[Baron23]

Personally, I think everybody ought to sue ole' Jeffey Sessions....he's such a complete and total asshole he must have done something to screw each of us over. Yeah, 300 million law suits against ole' Jefferson....that would be a thing of beauty.

Colorado girl suing U.S. attorney general to legalize medical marijuana nationwide

LARKSPUR, Colo. -- Alexis Bortell is hardly the first child whose family moved to Colorado for access to medical marijuana.

But the 12-year-old is the first Colorado kid to sue U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions over the nation's official marijuana policy.

Alexis Bortell

"As the seizures got worse, we had to move to Colorado to get cannabis because it's illegal in Texas," said Bortell, who was diagnosed with epilepsy as a young child.

The sixth-grader said traditional medicine wasn't helping her seizures and doctors in her home state were recommending invasive brain surgery.

But a pediatrician did mention an out-of-state option: Medical marijuana.

Shortly after moving to Larkspur, Bortell's family began using a strain of cannabis oil called Haleigh's Hope.

A drop of liquid THC in the morning and at night has kept her seizure-free for 2 1/2 years.

"I'd say it`s a lot better than brain surgery," Bortell said.

But Bortell said the federal prohibition on marijuana prevents her from returning to Texas.

"I would like to be able to visit my grandparents without risking being taken to a foster home," Bortell said on why she's joined a lawsuit that seeks to legalize medical marijuana on the federal level.

Haleigh's Hope.

Since the 1970s the Drug Enforcement Agency has classified marijuana as a Schedule One drug, which in the eyes of federal policy makes marijuana more dangerous than meth or cocaine and on par with heroin.

"How is that rationale? It's not compassionate either, but rationality? It's just outrageous," said Alexis' dad Dean Bortell.

Dean Bortell

He showed his backyard fields, where he grows five acres of marijuana plants used to derive the medicine that helps his daughter and patients he's never met.

"When you look at it from a distance and you see it saving their lives, me as a father and an American, I go, what are we doing? How could you possibly look at someone who`s benefiting from this as a medicine and threaten to take it away?" Bortell said.

Dean Bortell

Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana.

Alexis' New York attorney Michael Hiller argues it should be legal nationwide.

"As it pertains to cannabis, the (Controlled Substances Act) is irrational and thus unconstitutional," said Heller, who added the U.S. government "made a representation that cannabis has medical application for the treatments of Parkinson`s Disease, HIV-induced dementia and Alzheimer's disease and yet at the same time the United States government maintains that there is absolutely no medical benefit for the use of cannabis. That is of course absurd."

Adam Foster

Denver attorney Adam Foster represents marijuana businesses.

He said he thought the lawsuit was clever but admitted its success might be a long shot.

"Whenever you sue the government, the deck is really stacked against you," Foster said.

But he added the federal government might have a hard time arguing medical marijuana has no known medical benefits.

"We now live in an era where 62 percent of Americans live in a state where the medical use of cannabis is legal at the state level," he said.

Alexis Bortell said she hopes her lawsuit will normalize medical marijuana but also legalize it.

"We'll be able to be treated like what you call 'normal' families," she said.

Bortell is joined in the lawsuit by another child, a military veteran, a marijuana advocacy group and former Broncos player Marvin Washington, who played on the 1998 Super Bowl-winning team.

The federal government has already lost its first motion to have the case dismissed.

 

[Baron23]

I hope they stick this one to ole' Jefferson also.....asset forfeiture = legal theft by the state. That's the alpha and the omega of it.

Senators Push To Defund Jeff Sessions’ Civil Asset Forfeiture Expansion
The House passed amendments this fall blocking Jeff Sessions' asset forfeiture directive. Now senators want to make it stick

A bipartisan group of senators wants to defund Attorney General Jeff Sessions' expansion of the Justice Department's civil asset forfeiture program, following similar efforts by libertarian-leaning and progressive members of the House earlier this year.

Sessions announced in July that he was scrapping a 2015 directive by former Attorney General Eric Holder that severely curtailed when federal authorities could "adopt" asset forfeiture cases from local and state authorities. Such adoptions, civil rights group said, allowed local police to skirt stricter state forfeiture laws by taking their cases to federal court.

In September, the Republican-led House of Representatives passed several amendments to a large appropriations bill that would prohibit the Justice Department from using any funds to enact Sessions' directive, essentially using Congress' power of the purse to block it from going into effect.


In a letter to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), one of the lawmakers hammering out the difference between the House and Senate versions of the appropriations bill, Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Angus King (I-Vt.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) pushed to include at least one of the amendments in the final version.

"Adoptive forfeiture and equitable sharing are particularly egregious elements of civil asset forfeiture because they not only violate due process but also attack principles of federalism," the senators wrote. "DOJ's reinstated policy allows state law enforcement officers to circumvent state limitations on civil forfeiture by turning seized property over to federal officials for forfeiture in exchange for up to 80 percent of the proceeds of the property. This perversely incentivizes local law enforcement to confiscate suspect property even where state laws forbid the practice."

Shelby's office did not immediately return a request for comment.

Asset forfeiture—a practice that allows police to seize property suspected of being connected to criminal activity, even when the owner is not charged with a crime—has come under criticism in recent years from lawmakers and advocacy groups across the political spectrum.

Police groups and prosecutors, as well as law-and-order conservatives like Sessions, argue it is an essential tool to disrupt organized crime by cutting off illicit proceeds. Civil liberties advocates say it leaves far too few protections for property owners and creates perverse profit incentives for law enforcement.

A Reason investigation earlier this year showed asset forfeiture in Chicago primarily hit the city's poor, minority neighborhoods. An investigation by the Nevada Policy Research Institute in Las Vegas had similar findings.

 

[Baron23]

Ah, they giving it to ole' Jeffe yet again...its a beautiful sight.


In the midst of Congressional grilling, Sessions takes heat on marijuana attitude
Sessions was asked to defend statements he has made in the past, including 'Good people don't smoke marijuana'


As U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, he fielded pressing question on the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russians – and his past remarks on marijuana.

Steve Chabot, a Republican from Ohio, which is in the process of implementing its medical marijuana program, noted that while it remains illegal under federal law, many states have legalized marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes. Given that disparity, Chabot asked Sessions to clarify, “What is your department’s policy on that, relative to enforcing the law?”

Sessions did not add any new nuance to the status quo, responding, “Our policy is the same really, fundamentally, as the Holder-Lynch policy, which is that the federal law remains in effect and a state can legalize marijuana for its law enforcement purposes, but it still remains illegal with regard to federal purposes.”

Moments later, Stephen Cohen, a Democrat from Tennessee followed up on Sessions’ response. Referring to the Rohrbacher-Farr amendment, Cohen outlined how former attorney generals Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch abided by federal enforcement limits imposed by congressional budget appropriation in states that had passed medical marijuana laws. He asked, “Will you abide by congressional appropriations and limitations on marijuana when it would conflict with state laws?”

“I believe we are bound by that,” replied Sessions, who has asked Congress to not renew the amendment.

Cohen also pushed back on a quote from Sessions earlier this year regarding the relationship between marijuana and heroin. In March, Sessions said in a speech to law enforcement, “I’ve heard people say we could solve our heroin problem with marijuana. How stupid is that? Give me a break!”

In the prepared notes for that speech, Sessions had written, “I am astonished to hear people suggest that we can solve our heroin crisis by legalizing marijuana — so people can trade one life-wrecking dependency for another that’s only slightly less awful.”

On Tuesday, Cohen pressed Sessions on this claim. “Marijuana is not as dangerous as heroin — do you agree with that?”

“I think that’s correct,” replied Sessions.

“Well thank you sir,” responded Cohen, who went on to advise Sessions that when it comes to enforcement the attorney general should “look at the limitations you’ve got… Put your enforcement on crack, on cocaine, on meth, on opioids, and on heroin. Marijuana is the least bothersome of all.”

Cohen quoted a recent study and advised, “In states where they’ve got medical marijuana they have 25% less opioid use. It gives people a way to relieve pain without using opioids… So I would hope you’d take a look at that.”

Sessions responded: “We will take a look at it. We will be looking at some rigorous analysis of the marijuana usage and how it plays out. I am not as optimistic as you.”

Cohen wrapped his line of cannabis questioning with a reference to another Sessions quote that has been an ongoing source of concern to marijuana legalization advocates.

“You said one time that ‘Good people don’t smoke marijuana,'” he said. “Which of these people would you say are not good people?” Cohen listed Republicans John Kasich, George Pataki, Rick Santorum, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, George Bush, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, implying all of those listed have at some point said they used marijuana.

“Which of those are not good people?” he asked.

Sessions responded: “Let me tell you how that came about. The question was what do you do about drug use, the epidemic we’re seeing in the country, and how you reverse it. Part of that is a cultural thing. I explained how when I became United States Attorney in 1981, and drugs were being used widely, over a period of years, it became unfashionable, unpopular, and… it was seen as such that good people didn’t use marijuana. That was the context of that statement.”

 

[Baron23]

The Haymaker: Sending Sessions Back to the Senate Could Boost Legalization

The Haymaker’ is Leafly Deputy Editor Bruce Barcott’s weekly column on cannabis politics and culture.

The hot-and-cold bromance between President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions marks its one-year anniversary this week—the President nommed Jefferson Beauregard for the job exactly one year ago this Friday—but the odds of it surviving another month are starting to look slim indeed.

Roy Moore becomes more toxic by the hour. Giving Sessions his old Senate seat back could solve a lot of problems for Republicans.
Earlier today, the New York Times’ Sheryl Gay Stolberg floated a potential exit strategy that looks more viable than anything we’ve seen to date. It’s essentially a baseball trade: Sessions for Roy Moore and an interim attorney general to be named later.

Moore, of course, is the Alabama Republican candidate for US Senate who becomes more politically toxic by the hour. The latest polls have him actually behind a Democrat in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate in nearly three decades.

After initially waffling, Senate Republicans and party elders are now pitching themselves off the burning Moore bandwagon, calling on the controversial judge to step down before more damage is done. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell moved from the “if true” stance to a full-on condemnation of Moore: “I believe the women, yes,” McConnell said. In the White House and on Capitol Hill, the talk among Republican leaders has moved from saving Moore’s candidacy to saving the seat.

https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/the-roll-up-8-lets-gamble-with-potcoin-in-las-vegas
Quoting Stolberg:

One idea now being discussed under this scenario, brought up by two different White House officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, would be for Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama to immediately appoint Attorney General Jeff Sessions to what had been his seat when it becomes vacant again. Mr. Sessions remains highly popular among Alabama Republicans, but his relationship with President Trump has waned since he recused himself from the investigation of the role that Russia played in last year’s campaign.​

Does that even work within Alabama’s rules of succession? Who knows. Everybody’s just spitballing at this point. But it’s worth nothing that so, so, so many problems could be solved with this move.

• Trump finally jettisons Sessions, who’s been in The Donald’s doghouse for months, due to his refusal to halt, delay, or otherwise interfere with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
• For Sessions, the move allows him to get out from under his boss’s torment while saving face and coming out as the good guy. He takes one for the party and remains politically relevant and employed.
• For Republicans, it solves the ever-deepening problem of Roy Moore, removing an embarrassing seat-loser and replacing him with Sessions, whose statewide popularity would assumedly carry him to an easy write-in victory against Democrat Doug Jones.
• For Roy Moore…well, Roy Moore has issues that won’t be solved by this move. But that’s on him.

And what would such a move mean for cannabis legalization? I think it would effectively carry legalization across the finish line. By the time a post-Sessions Justice Department regains its bearings under a new leader, California will have opened its recreational cannabis system. The world’s single largest legal cannabis market will be a fait accompli.

Sessions has had nearly a year to knock legalization off its rails. And he's done nothing.
Look at it this way. Jeff Sessions was nominated about two weeks after California voted to legalize adult-use cannabis. He and President Trump have had nearly a full year to knock that process off the rails—something Sessions has made clear is his fondest desire. It’s a rare month that passes without Sessions making some public comment about the ridiculous, outlandish nature of marijuana laws in the 29 medical and eight adult-use states. And yet he has done nothing—not one thing—about it. As his fellow Alabamians might put it, ol’ JB is all bark and no bite.

Who Follows Sessions?
Probably Rod Rosenstein, the current deputy attorney general. He’d serve as the interim AG, possibly for the remainder of Trump’s term. It’s possible that Trump could name someone like Chris Christie to the job, but that would require Senate confirmation, and Senate Democrats might insist upon the new AG’s recusal from the Russia investigation. That’s the card up Rosenstein’s sleeve, in Trump’s eyes: Unlike Sessions, he hasn’t recused himself from Mueller’s investigation.

Rod Rosenstein could be more of a Dick Cheney-style operator: pulling levers behind the scenes, getting stuff done.
The risk for cannabis legalization is that Rosenstein could prove to be all bite and no bark. Sessions likes to holler but he doesn’t seem to be all that great at getting things done when it comes to cannabis.

Rosenstein, by contrast, could be an operator more in the Dick Cheney mode—moving gears and pulling levers ten hours a day, instead of spending his time yakking with the likes of Hugh Hewitt. We don’t know exactly where Rosenstein stands on state-legal cannabis. It’s a fair bet that he’s less exercised by the issue than Sessions, but he may also choose to use cannabis to make a statement about the supremacy of federal law over state legalization.

Time is on Our Side
Whatever the outcome, it’s a game of musical chairs that could further delay any federal action against state-legal cannabis.

And in some ways that’s the best we can hope for at this point. Because with every passing day, the state of California’s legal cannabis infrastructure grows and gains strength. Up north, Canada’s federal government and its provinces work diligently to build a well-regulated legal cannabis industry.

By this time next year, we may not be celebrating the anniversary of the Trump-Sessions relationship. But we will be enjoying the benefits of legal cannabis in two of the world’s largest markets, and that progress will be nearly impossible to reverse.

 

[Baron23]

IMO, the only reason ole' Jeffe is being so reasonable about MJ is that he's up to his ass in alligators on other subjects and just ain't go no bandwidth for MJ. But I don't believe for a NY second that this zebra has changed its stripes.

Sessions: Obama marijuana policy remains in effect

Obama-era guidance that allows states to legalize marijuana without federal interference remains in effect, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Tuesday during a congressional hearing. He also conceded that cannabis is not as dangerous as heroin and that a current budget rider prevents the Department of Justice from prosecuting people who are in compliance with state medical marijuana laws.

"Our policy is the same, really, fundamentally as the Holder-Lynch policy, which is that the federal law remains in effect and a state can legalize marijuana for its law enforcement purposes but it still remains illegal with regard to federal purposes," Sessions said, referring to his predecessors as attorney general during the Obama administration.

Sessions made the comments in response to a question from Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) during a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing.

Later, Sessions said, "I think that's correct," when Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) argued that cannabis isn't as dangerous as heroin. Under current federal law, both are classified under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, a category that's supposed to be reserved for drugs with a high potential for abuse and no medical value.

As attorney general, Sessions has the power to reschedule cannabis.

Also during Cohen's line of questioning, the attorney general said, "I believe we are bound by" a federal budget rider that bars the federal government from spending money to interfere with state medical cannabis laws. A federal court ruled last year, over Justice Department objections, that the rider specifically bars prosecution of patients and providers who are acting in accordance with those laws.

Earlier this year, Sessions, sent a letter to congressional leadership asking that they not continue the annual rider into the next fiscal year.

Sessions, a longtime vocal opponent of marijuana legalization, has previously said that the separate Obama policy on state marijuana laws remains in effect while the Department of Justice reviews potential changes, but has not before so clearly tied the Trump administration approach to that of his predecessors.

Under the so-called “Cole Memo,” named after the former Eric Holder deputy who authored it in 2013, the federal government set out certain criteria that, if followed, would allow states to implement their own laws mostly without intervention. Those criteria concern areas like youth use, impaired driving and interstate trafficking.

On the campaign trail, then-candidate Donald Trump repeatedly pledged to respect state marijuana laws.

But in April, Sessions directed a Justice Department task force to review the Obama administration memo and make recommendations for possible changes.

 

[Baron23]

Passage of the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment in the budget is absolutely vital and critical. Let your representatives know your views on this, I did and received a reply (form letter, I'm sure) from one of my Senators that he fully supports passing this amendment. Its the only thing keep Sessions and Sabet out of our knickers.


How Jeff Sessions Plans to End Medical Marijuana Before the Year Is Over
By Melina Delkic On 11/24/17 at 7:50 AM

Tears streamed down Claudia Jendron's face this year as her doctor patted her hand and told her, after eight years of failed pain treatments for her spinal fusion-gone-wrong, "This is going to work, Claudia." She was talking about medical marijuana.

For “eight years of hell,” Jendron tried opioids, epidural shots and acupuncture in the hopes that she’d be able to sit down or go to her grandchildren’s birthday parties without having to leave and lie down. None of it worked. At one point, she considered checking into an assisted living facility to receive morphine before she tried medical marijuana.

Then, early this year, the 66-year-old upstate New Yorker got a prescription for medical marijuana to help what she called “excruciating pain." To Jendron’s surprise, her doctor was right about the weed. Two days after starting a tincture (a liquid cannabis extract dropped under the tongue), her crushing pain subsided to something manageable.

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“I can lean over and hug my grandkids without screaming anymore,” she said. “I went to a commitment ceremony in the park the other day, and I lasted all day long without any pain...It’s just, it’s amazing.”

New York is one of 29 states (plus the District of Columbia) that have legalized medical marijuana––a trend that 94 percent of Americans support, according to an August Quinnipiac poll. But on December 8, all of that could begin to change.

Congress has until that day to decide whether to include the Rohrabacher-Farr Act (also known as Rohrabacher-Blumenauer) in a bill that will fund the government through the next fiscal year. Right now, that law, made up of just 85 words, blocks the Department of Justice from using any money to prosecute medical marijuana in states where it's legal.

The text of the Rohrabacher-Farr (also known as Rohrabacher-Blumenauer) Act, which blocked the U.S. Department of Justice from spending any money to prosecute medical marijuana in states where it's legal. H.R. 2029 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016

In May, Attorney General Jeff Sessions pushed back against the bill when he sent a strongly worded letter to Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress, asking them to oppose protections for legal weed and allow him to prosecute medical marijuana.

“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 in his letter.

The bill's 2014 passage, with 170 Democrats and 49 Republicans in favor, was the first time Congress passed legislation that protected medical marijuana users and businesses. It meant that an attorney general could no longer send Drug Enforcement Administration agents (or use other government resources) to bust medical marijuana in states where it was legal.

It was in line with the Obama administration's 2013 "Cole Memo," in which Deputy Attorney General James Cole said the Justice Department would refrain from prosecuting medical marijuana businesses and users in states where it was legal, and that it would prioritize more serious marijuana offenses, like drug cartels and sales to minors. The policy marked a change for the Obama administration, where medical marijuana busts were once rampant.

With his letter, Sessions pushed Congress to end these protections. In a statement on Friday, Sessions announced that the Justice Department would halt the practice of guidance memos, and review Obama administration guidance memos on legal pot to see if they went too far.

Sessions is known for being one of the nation's toughest critics of legal pot. He once said the KKK was "OK until I found out they smoked pot."

More recently, he said at a speech in March in Richmond, "I am astonished to hear people suggest that we can solve our heroin crisis by legalizing marijuana—so people can trade one life-wrecking dependency for another that’s only slightly less awful.”

In the early decades of his career, denouncing marijuana was an unprovocative viewpoint. In the days of DARE and abstinence-only drug education, marijuana was the bogeyman at the gateway to much more dangerous drugs. But despite new research praising medical pot and the skyrocketing approval ratings for the drug, Sessions has only budged ever so slightly in that view.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions testifies before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on oversight of the Justice Department on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 14, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

He nodded last week and said, "I think that's correct" when Representative Steve Cohen, a Tennessee Democrat, said cannabis was not as dangerous as heroin. Sessions said he'd consider thorough analyses of medical marijuana, but that he was not optimistic.

"He’s old fashioned and very conservative," said Philip Heymann, a Harvard Law School professor and former Justice Department official for the Kennedy, Johnson, Carter and Clinton administrations.. "Literally seven years ago, maybe eight years ago, marijuana was thought to be a very dangerous drug. Why would he focus on this issue? Because he’s seven years out of date."

Even the attorney general who set the precedent for federal prosecution of legalized marijuana says Sessions would be remiss to put many resources, amid all of the country’s larger problems, into prosecuting medical marijuana.

“To prosecute an act that is otherwise lawful under state law, one could make the argument [that] as a matter of policy, we’ve got other priorities we ought to be spending our resources on,” Alberto Gonzales, the attorney general for President George W. Bush, told Newsweek. “With respect to everything else going on in the U.S., this is pretty low priority.”

In theory, without Rohrabacher-Farr in his way, Sessions could send DEA agents into a medical marijuana dispensary or producer in any state to bust it. Experts say, if he did this, he'd likely prosecute a distributor or a producer with other violations, like tax or licensing mistakes, in addition to its violation of the CSA.

"They can scream all they like that they haven’t violated state laws, but they violated federal law," said Heymann.

Ilya Shapiro, a constitutional studies fellow at conservative think tank CATO institute and the editor of its Supreme Court Review, said law enforcement would likely first prosecute those in gross violation of federal laws before the average pot smoker––"the same way police go after rapists and murderers before they go after jaywalkers."

The Justice Department declined requests for comment on its medical marijuana agenda or on the aftermath of a Rohrabacher-Farr expiration. Representatives Sam Farr (D-Calif.) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) introduced and passed the bill in 2014, after years of failed attempts, as part of the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2015. It has been renewed twice since then, until House Republican leadership blocked a vote on it in September.

Under the bill, none of the funds appropriated by Congress to the D.O.J. can be used “to prevent [states] from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana." Congress has to vote on it every year.

Nicholas Vita, the CEO of Columbia Care, a medical marijuana healthcare company with dispensaries across the country, said Sessions "clearly has a bias." His company owns five dispensaries in New York –– including the one in Rochester, where Jendron gets her weed. But, Vita said, “The toothpaste can’t be put back in the tube." With such high support across the country, a full reversal seems extremely unlikely.

Inside Columbia Care, a medical marijuana dispensary in Manhattan. Newsweek/Melina Delkic

Columbia Care’s Manhattan dispensary looks more like the lobby of a luxury hotel than a place to get weed, but with much more security. Its marijuana is mostly stored in a thick and ominous-looking steel safe, an extra-cautious precaution to make sure the dispensary complies with DEA standards. It comes in three, carefully measured formats –– capsules, a tincture (liquid cannabis extract) that patients take with a dropper, and a vape pen.

A pharmacist at the Manhattan branch of Columbia Care, a medical marijuana dispensary chain, holds a vape pen. Newsweek/Melina Delkic

Vita said public perception on dispensaries like Columbia’s has changed rapidly.

“Five years ago, no one even talked to us,” Vita said. “I couldn’t even tell my mom and dad what I do for a living.” Today, he says leading research institutions reach out to him to partner on studies.

Despite the turnaround, strong dissenting voices remain.

Kevin Sabet, president of the nonprofit Smart Approaches to Marijuana, an anti-marijuana legalization group led by former Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), said legal weed was not as harmless as the recent hype has made it out to be. "A lot of people are being peddled this by an industry that wants to make money, like any other industry," he said. "I have a really hard time with the very small handful of studies out. They’re just not something that the scientific community agrees upon."

Studies are indeed limited, because marijuana is a Schedule I drug, making it hard to get DEA funding for that research. A recent study in Colorado found a reversal of opioid deaths following recreational legalization. Two August studies found, however, that evidence of its efficacy in chronic pain or PTSD treatment was lacking. While far from a consensus, its patients seem hopeful.

For patients like Jendron, the proof is in lived experience.

Chronic pain "manipulates your life," she said. "I'm smiling because I don't hurt anymore."

 

[OldOyler]

I read that article.

I think we can be cool - at least to the amount we already were.

It's a regurgitation of the issue that still looms until the RF amendment, or a suitable replacement, is passed.

But they keep re-running these, I personally think to get hits on the news website. Because people are afraid.

Notice we know all of his later general opinions on cannabis. They are really just re-quoting his statements from earlier in the year and making them sound like he renewed those statements or something.

I agree with baron, call your Representatives and Senators if you support medical cannabis.

Then chillax. The Man has been chasing anyone who won't take Big Pharma's poison for a long time, their latest is oops sorry we let Big Pharma addict everyone through the "Schedule system" and get filthy rich, just pay them AGAIN for opiate replacement therapy now like methadone and Subutex. But not that filthy weed...



Peace everyone.

 

[Baron23]

I read that article.

I think we can be cool - at least to the amount we already were.

It's a regurgitation of the issue that still looms until the RF amendment, or a suitable replacement, is passed.

But they keep re-running these, I personally think to get hits on the news website. Because people are afraid.

Notice we know all of his later general opinions on cannabis. They are really just re-quoting his statements from earlier in the year and making them sound like he renewed those statements or something.

I agree with baron, call your Representatives and Senators if you support medical cannabis.

Then chillax. The Man has been chasing anyone who won't take Big Pharma's poison for a long time, their latest is oops sorry we let Big Pharma addict everyone through the "Schedule system" and get filthy rich, just pay them AGAIN for opiate replacement therapy now like methadone and Subutex. But not that filthy weed...



Peace everyone.

While this article may be run primarily as click bait, I don't agree that its not timely and relevant. Not about Sessions' views...that's old news. But regarding the RF amendnment....the appropriations with RF in it expires at the end of Dec and the asshat chairman of the rules committee in the lower house refused to allow RF to be debated on the floor for next year's bill. If RF doesn't make it into the Senate bill, and remain in the appropriations after reconciliation, then Sessions will have his handcuffs removed and it will only take one RICO charge filing in a legal state to freeze the industry in fear. To me, this is THE most important near term subject for MJ activists.

Congress sent a three-month government funding extension to President Trump’s desk last week to avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1. That means Congress will have to finalize government spending for 2018 in December.​

 

[OldOyler]

@Baron23 I totally agree.



Peace!

 

[Baron23]

"It’s my view that the use of marijuana is detrimental and we should not give encouragement in any way to it."

“But I don’t want to suggest in any way that this Department believes that marijuana is harmless and people should not avoid it.”

What our shithead AG doesn't get is that the people of this country, the ones who pay his salary under democracy, don't give a flying fuck what his or his department's view is. A majority of the country's population lives in states that have legalized MJ to some extent, the majority of the states in our Federalist union have legalized MJ to some extent, and a very large majority of the population of our country supports both medical and full rec legalization.

So fuck off, El Jeffe....if Trump really wants to do the country a benefit, he should get rid of Sessions, the arrogant and self-righteous dinosaur that he is.

Trump Administration Considering Marijuana Policy Changes, Sessions Says

U.S. Department of Justice officials met to discuss potential changes to federal marijuana enforcement policy this week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced.

“We’re working on that very hard right now,” he said on Wednesday. “We had meetings yesterday and talked about it at some length. It’s my view that the use of marijuana is detrimental and we should not give encouragement in any way to it. And it represents a federal violation which is in the law and is subject to being enforced, and our priorities will have to be focused on all the things and challenges that we face.”

Sessions was responding to questions from reporters at a press conference about new initiatives to combat opioid trafficking.

“We’ve got fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and prescription drugs and marijuana and other drugs. So we’ll be working our way through to a rational policy,” he said. “But I don’t want to suggest in any way that this Department believes that marijuana is harmless and people should not avoid it.”

The comments come just two weeks after Sessions testified before the House Judiciary Committee that the Trump administration was continuing, at least for now, an Obama-era policy of generally respecting the right of states to set their own cannabis laws without federal interference.

“Our policy is the same, really, fundamentally as the Holder-Lynch policy, which is that the federal law remains in effect and a state can legalize marijuana for its law enforcement purposes but it still remains illegal with regard to federal purposes,” Sessions said at the time, referring to his attorney general predecessors during the Obama administration.

Sessions, a longtime vocal opponent of marijuana legalization, previously said that the Obama policy on state marijuana laws remains in effect while the Department of Justice reviews potential changes.

Under the so-called “Cole Memo,” named after the former Eric Holder deputy who authored it in 2013, the federal government set out certain criteria that, if followed, would allow states to implement their own laws mostly without intervention. Those criteria concern areas like youth use, impaired driving and interstate trafficking.

On the campaign trail, then-candidate Donald Trump repeatedly pledged to respect state marijuana laws.

But in April, Sessions directed a Justice Department task force to review the Obama administration memo and make recommendations for possible changes.

However, that panel did not provide Sessions with any ammunition to support a crackdown on states, according to the Associated Press, which reviewed excerpts of the task force’s report to the attorney general.

Last week, Bush administration Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said it would be a mistake for Sessions to interfere with state marijuana laws.

 

[Baron23]

I adore anyone who gives Sessions shit. Just love it.

Dem Lawmaker to Sessions, a Crackdown on Marijuana is “S.T.U.P.I.D.”

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) took to Twitter Thursday and put the Attorney General (AG) on blast. Less than pleased over a recent threat from Jeff Sessions to crack down on state-sanctioned marijuana, Lieu fired up his Twitter account and baptized the AG’s antiquated idea as a “S.T.U.P.I.D. waste of federal resources.”

An ardent supporter of states’ rights when ideologically convenient, Sessions got Rep. Lieu’s attention Wednesday during a press conference when the AG announced the Department of Justice (DOJ) was looking to alter policies adopted by Eric Holder and the Obama administration.

The policy highest on the AG’s hit list to extinguish is the one that unchained states from federal marijuana prohibition and allowed them to determine their own laws.

Branded an idea that’s “beyond dumb” by Congressmen Lieu, the California Representative questioned the AG’s fiscal responsibility and empathy for the sick via the social network.

During Wednesday’s press conference, Sessions informed reporters, “It’s my view that the use of marijuana is detrimental, and we should not give encouragement in any way to it, and it represents a federal violation, which is in the law and is subject to being enforced.”

Concealed by the relentless chaos and confusion of the Tump administration, and fighting the tide of public opinion, one fact remains: the Attorney General of the United States is less of a Republican who supports states’ rights and more of an ideologue who belongs back in the bad old days of the Nixon era.

Ever the helpful Representative, Congressman Lieu later took to Twitter and suggested a few crimes the DOJ would be better off focusing on.

 

[OldOyler]

 

[Baron23]

View attachment 1588

Too funny.....way too funny.

 

[Baron23]

Giving ole' Jeff a crock of shite has become a national pastime and is almost too easy....but I can't think of a more deserving fascist.

Editorial
Back off, Jeff Sessions. California and other states should be able to legalize and regulate pot on their own

California voters decided last year that the sale of recreational marijuana should be made legal, beginning on Jan. 1, 2018. But Proposition 64 left many of the details to local governments and state regulators. So the last several months have been a race against the calendar, as officials have sought to develop rules governing where, when and how businesses may grow, transport and sell marijuana to adults.

Last month, the state unveiled 276 pages of regulations for the new recreational pot marketplace. Among other things, the rules set hefty licensing fees, regulate how much THC will be allowed in edibles and other cannabis products, and require marijuana businesses to track their product from seed to sale.

While the state set many of the industry rules, cities and counties were left to decide whether they want to allow marijuana businesses to set up shop in their jurisdictions. San Diego passed its permitting rules in September. Sacramento, San Jose and San Francisco passed laws in recent weeks allowing recreational cannabis sales, and the Los Angeles City Council this week approved regulations for what will likely be the nation’s largest market for marijuana.

The federal government should not make it even more difficult for states to fulfill the will of the voters.
None of it has been easy. Even though voters in California overwhelmingly supported Proposition 64, the process of actually legalizing the growing and selling of marijuana for recreational use has been a painstaking balancing of interests and concerns.

Cities want to give permits to enough marijuana businesses to meet demand, eliminate the black market and raise significant tax revenue, but they don’t want to inundate or overwhelm communities with pot shops. Some cities, such as L.A., want to help people who were disproportionately affected by the war on drugs profit from legalization, but they also want to make sure they don’t allow people who committed violent or serious felonies in the business.

By and large, state and local officials are treating marijuana legalization with gravity and care, trying to get the details right. And yet, despite all their hard work, there is a dark cloud hanging over California: Jeff Sessions, the U.S. attorney general.

The problem is this: Despite the passage of Proposition 64, marijuana remains illegal under federal law. The federal government designates cannabis as a “Schedule 1” drug, meaning that it is as addictive as heroin and has no medical value whatsoever, which defies common sense. Federal prohibition has not stopped eight states, including Colorado, Washington, Oregon and now California, from legalizing recreational marijuana markets.

The conflict with federal law has been a complicating factor for a long time, going back to the early days of medical marijuana. But under the Obama administration and in the early days of the Trump administration, the state and the feds managed to work together. Now, however, mixed messages from the Trump administration and recent statements from Sessions, a vocal opponent of legalization, are making it harder for California to launch its regulated marijuana marketplace with confidence.

Late last month, Sessions told reporters that his office was looking “very hard” at recreational marijuana. “It’s my view that the use of marijuana is detrimental, and we should not give encouragement in any way to it, and it represents a federal violation, which is in the law and is subject to being enforced,” he said, adding that the department was working toward a “rational policy.”

There’s no telling what Sessions views as a rational policy or whether he intends to reverse the Obama administration’s hands-off approach. A few weeks earlier, Sessions told Congress that the Department of Justice was still following a 2013 memo on marijuana. That policy stated that the federal government generally would not interfere with states that allowed the commercial sale of marijuana as long as there are were strict regulations in place, including rules to prevent sales to minors and to block criminal enterprises from participating.


Pragmatists argue that marijuana legalization would be awfully difficult to stop at this point. Repeated polls show that a majority of Americans support it. Any attempt to enforce prohibition at this point would create a major market upheaval at the very least, if not a voter rebellion. And yet this is an administration that frequently ignores broad public opinion to cater to the most extreme points of view. (Consider its positions on DACA and on climate change to name two.)

Sessions’ comments suggest he is loath to do anything that appears to condone marijuana. Even if he doesn’t declare open war on marijuana in California, his anti-marijuana position may stymie state and local efforts to license and regulate the industry.

For instance, pot shops typically can't open bank accounts or accept credit cards because financial services companies fear being penalized by federal regulators for handling money from drug sales. Given Sessions’ stand, that’s hardly an unreasonable fear. Come Jan. 1, California will be awash in cash, inviting crime and making it harder to regulate sales and collect taxes.

That’s hardly a “rational policy.” California is doing the hard work to bring marijuana businesses out of the shadows and into a regulated, controlled marketplace. The federal government should not make it even more difficult for states to fulfill the will of the voters.

 

[Baron23]

"“I do believe and I’m afraid that the public is not properly educated on some of the issues related to marijuana.”

And with that he demonstrates his own lack of education on the subject coupled with his apparent view that in the face of such ignorance, we should just listen to him and do what HE thinks we should...for our own good. Fuck him, fascist, patronizing bastard.


Here’s Jeff Sessions’ Latest Attack On Marijuana
Jeff Sessions’ latest attack on marijuana was deeply ironic. Here’s what he said.


Jeff Sessions’ latest attack on marijuana is nothing new. His statements did not reflect anything that anti-cannabis politicians haven’t already said a thousand times before. But his latest attempt at maligning the plant was unintentionally funny. Here’s what he said.


What He Said
In a dialogue with interns from the Department of Justice, United States Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions spouted his usual anti-cannabis rhetoric. An intern asked him about his seemingly inverted positions on gun control and cannabis. She brought up his unwavering pro-gun and anti-cannabis views, even though all evidence points to the conclusion that guns have killed more people than ganja. Keep in mind, of course, that cannabis has not caused anyone’s death.

Sessions stressed that he firmly supports the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment gives American citizens the right to bear arms:

A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

On the subject of cannabis, Sessions said that last year, drugs caused more car accidents than alcohol. He did not cite the source of this statement, nor did he specify the types of drugs allegedly causing these accidents.

“Marijuana is not a healthy substance in my opinion,” he said. “The American Medical Association is crystal clear on that.”

In an additional newly released video of a drug policy roundtable, Sessions said that cannabis is a “big issue” in our country.

“I’m of the general view that this is not a healthy substance,” he repeated. “I do believe and I’m afraid that the public is not properly educated on some of the issues related to marijuana.”


He went on to say that fixing that problem would open the door to better policy.

The Irony

The thing about Jeff Sessions’ latest attack on marijuana is that his arguments are unintentionally hilarious.

He expressed concern that Americans have little knowledge about cannabis. That the public has not received a proper education regarding it. And then he suggests that more education on the matter is necessary to improve marijuana policy.


The grand irony in Sessions’ comments is that they are absolutely right. But for the exact opposite reason of the point that he’s trying to make. Many people have been inundated with misinformation and outright lies about cannabis. And improved education and research on the herb could lead to better policies.

But only if the federal government was actually receptive to the results of the studies. There are plenty of studies already that conclude that cannabis has myriad health benefits and virtually no ill-effects when used properly. But despite this, cannabis remains a Schedule I narcotic.

Final Hit: Here’s Jeff Sessions’ Latest Attack On Marijuana
While we enjoy the irony of Jeff Sessions’ latest attack on marijuana, it’s imperative to remember that his line of thinking has very serious ramifications. Because of politicians and authorities like Sessions, cannabis remains federally illegal. A solid education about the plant would absolutely benefit the country. But that education needs to be truthful and up-to-date.

To continue getting your “proper education” on cannabis, check in with us for the latest information. We’ll give it to you straight.