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Jeff Sessions Reverses Obama Policy; Tells Feds to Aggressively Enforce Laws against Marijuana
Smart Dissent reported back in February 2017 and July 2017 what has now occurred in early January 2018. 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.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions gave U.S. attorneys the green light Thursday to aggressively enforce federal laws against marijuana — even in states where pot is legal. In doing so, Sessions reversed an Obama administration policy that shielded legalized marijuana from federal intervention and enabled the pot industry to flourish.
The previous Justice Department policy, which was laid out in a 2013 memo from the deputy attorney general at the time, James Cole, said federal prosecutions would focus on cases of peddling pot to minors, selling marijuana across state borders or growing pot on federal land, or when it involved gangs or organized crime.
Sessions’ action....threatened the future of the young industry, created confusion in states where the drug is legal and outraged both marijuana advocates and some members of Congress, including Sessions’ fellow Republicans.
Many states have legalized marijuana in some capacity.
The move by the nation's top law enforcement official comes the same week that California began selling recreational marijuana. It is also legal in Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. There are also thriving medical marijuana programs in 28 states.
Many conservatives are wary of what they see as federal intrusion in areas they believe must be left to the states.
An interesting response from a Republican representative in Colorado.
....the Sessions memo drew immediate condemnation from Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, a Republican whose state legalized pot in 2014. He threatened to retaliate by holding up confirmation of Sessions' picks for top DOJ positions.
National polls disagree with this move by Sessions. The silver lining is that this is another reason for more people to vote these people out.
The head of the Drug Policy Alliance said Sessions is defying the 64 percent of the American people who support marijuana legalization.
Sessions has just shown "how out of touch he is with scientists and taxpayers" and that siccing federal prosecutors on pot offenders will just needlessly jam the jails with more prisoners, said Jasmine Taylor of Human Rights Watch.
“This will no doubt spike arrests and fuel mass incarceration, largely for people of color, but this administration has been clear from their campaign promises of harsh policies that trample rights that this day would eventually come to pass," Taylor said. "The war on drugs, whether it went away or just slowed down, is now back.”
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