Sessions will end policy that allowed legalized marijuana to prosper

The Hill ^ | 1/4/2018 | Reid Wilson

[Elderberry]

Attorney General Jeff Sessions will roll back an Obama-era policy that gave states leeway to allow marijuana for recreational purposes.

Two sources with knowledge of the decision confirmed to The Hill that Sessions will rescind the so-called Cole memo, which ordered U.S. attorneys in states where marijuana has been legalized to deprioritize prosecution of marijuana-related cases.

The Associated Press first reported the decision.

Sessions, a vocal critic of marijuana legalization, has hinted for months that he would move to crack down on the growing cannabis market.

Sessions, since taking over as head of the Justice Department, has appeared to show a harder line on marijuana. In May, the attorney general sent a letter to congressional leaders requesting they get rid of an amendment in the department’s budget that blocks the Justice Department from using federal money to prevent states "from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana."

Opponents of legal marijuana on Thursday celebrated the long-awaited action.

[SunStar]

You mean you want, like Soros, to eliminate the entire Controlled Substances Act?

No, I want it enforced by the Federal government, such as the judicial branch striking down the state laws legalizing marijuana as incompatible with federal law, and/or the executive branch shutting down marijuana operations in Colorado, California and others.

And/or, the legislative branch should simply remove marijuana from the schedule of controlled substances and leave it up to the States to decide.

Right now, States are openly defying federal laws and the federal government is looking the other way. And the federal government is not being responsive to the wishes of the States.

State and Federal laws being in direct conflict to me is a big problem. Laws should be easy to understand, fair and enforced as written, or they should be abolished.

[bert]

Trump’s action is precisely that.

There will be a lawsuit taken to SCOTUS that will render a decision determining control of marijuana. the Feds? The States?

[SunStar]

Trump’s action is precisely that.

There will be a lawsuit taken to SCOTUS that will render a decision determining control of marijuana. the Feds? The States?

I agree completely. I am libertarian on this issue, but I don't like the States passing laws that are in conflict with federal laws, and the executive branch writes a memo to allow it. It should be enforced, congress should act, and/or the judiciary should decide. But the selective enforcement of laws (such as the Obama admin's memo/waiver) is a very slippery slope and also erodes the people's ability to control their own destiny.

[moehoward]

“This is just one guy’s obsession with reversing the 60’s, and he isn’t focused on the Big, Big thing: IMMIGRATION.”

There might be an immigration component, the offending states tend to be sanctuaries as well. I’m betting the feds are more interested in wetting their beaks than conducting actual raids like Obama/Holder did.