Posted on 06/13/2017 9:50:21 AM PDT by Drew68
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is asking congressional leaders to undo federal medical marijuana protections that have been in place since 2014, according to a May letter that became public Monday.
The protections, known as the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, prohibit the Justice Department from using federal funds to prevent certain states "from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana."
In his letter, first obtained by Tom Angell of Massroots.com and verified independently by The Washington Post, Sessions argued that the amendment would "inhibit [the Justice Department's] authority to enforce the Controlled Substances Act." He continues:
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. 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.
Sessions's citing of a "historic drug epidemic" to justify a crackdown on medical marijuana is at odds with what researchers know about current drug use and abuse in the United States. The epidemic Sessions refers to involves deadly opiate drugs, not marijuana. A growing body of research (acknowledged by the National Institute on Drug Abuse) has shown that opiate deaths and overdoses actually decrease in states with medical marijuana laws on the books.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
President Trump was elected to drain the swamp; a detour to incarcerate potheads is wrongheaded and counterproductive. Moreover it gives the rats a very clear path to electoral victory in 2018 and 2020. Plainly put a majority of liberals and many conservatives and libertarians oppose the war on (some) drugs on both moral and practical grounds. While this isn’t quite the third rail of politics nationwide, it is in some areas.
This is a loser issue and the Trump administration shouldn’t touch it with a 10 foot pole. The problem right now is opioids, not pot.
Unfortunately he doesn’t seem to understand the damaging effects of prohibition politics. Nor the negative effects of stupid anti MJ laws on otherwise peaceful citizens.
AG Sessions is great on many things, but seems to have a blind spot here.
LOL
What he’s probably doing is applying the same standards to the American people that he would apply to his own family members.
As all good leaders would do.
Do you support banning cigarettes?
As all good leaders would do.
In this Land of the Free, government officials have no authority to treat adult citizens like their family members.
If you want government to be your daddy, try North Korea.
I agree.
1) a desire to control the lives of others
I find in you a desire to control the lives of others.
No because it doesn’t kill the intellectual passion and normal work productivity of American citizens.
How much easier would it be for enemy nations to defeat an America full of potheads?
This desire, in one form or another, is present in every single member of society.
In a nutshell:
If a person uses marijuana for medical reasons, it seems legitimate.
But if they use it for recreational purposes while pretending to use it for medical reasons, it’s wrong.
Your comment implies a false choice between the socialist’s desire for totalitarianism on one side and absolute anarchy on the other.
This desire, in one form or another, is present in every single member of society.
Speak for yourself.
And even among those who do, some, such as minimal-government conservatives, keep it in check - others, such as nanny-statists, indulge it shamelessly.
Yeah, I got a medical MJ “reccommendation” in LA. It was bull... go sit with some crappy doctor and tell her what’s wrong until you figure out something that qualifies, and then she gives you the script. Just crabby enough about it that it feels like she didn’t just hand it to you.
No, you have incorrectly inferred that - I stand for government that protects the rights of individuals, and nothing more.
You’re demonstrating a very strong desire to control me.
I’d say the best system of government has been exclusively the product of western culture.
Wrong again, snowflake - I'm demonstrating a desire to respond to your errors with truth.
There you go again.
Id say the best system of government has been exclusively the product of western culture.
Yes, the governmental principle I support is a product of western culture.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.