Share
Expect Feds to Address Recreational Marijuana State Laws
Since the current Administation nominated Jeff Sessions for Attorney General, the question has not been 'if' but 'when' he would take action to enforce Federal laws contradicted by legalized recreational marijuana use laws in seven states and Washington DC.
Advocates of liberal marijuana laws have eyed the arrival of Attorney General Jeff Sessions with unease. The former Republican senator from Alabama has a long track record of speaking out against marijuana use.
While States' rights are routinely utilized by conservatives as justification for what Steve Bannon ominously labels "dismantling the administrative state," it should be no surprise that matters such as marijuana usage rise to their level of needing "big government" to set the rules.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday that he expects states to be subject to “greater enforcement” of federal laws against marijuana use, a move that could undercut the growing number of jurisdictions moving to legalize the drug for recreational purposes..... Spicer said that state’s allowance of marijuana for recreational purposes “ is something the Department of Justice, I think, will be further looking into.”
Expect much more to come on this as Sessions settles into a role that only became official two weeks ago. Remember this: it won't require legislation to be passed or an executive order; simply an Attorney General declaring existing Federal laws now being enforced. When that will happen is the question at this point, and then we will see how various states respond.
“The vast majority of Americans agree that the federal government has no business interfering in state marijuana laws,” said Mason Tvert, the [Marijuana Policy Project] communications director. “This administration is claiming that it values states’ rights, so we hope they will respect the rights of states to determine their own marijuana policies.”