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posted by martyb on Thursday January 04 2018, @09:56PM   Printer-friendly
from the up-in-smoke dept.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will reportedly rescind the Cole Memo (DoJ), effectively ending the moratorium on enforcing cannabis prohibition in states where it has been legalized:

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.

Republican Senator Cory Gardner says he will hold up the confirmation process for DoJ nominees:

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) threatened on Thursday to start holding up the confirmation process for White House Justice Department nominees unless Attorney General Jeff Sessions reverses a decision to roll back a policy allowing legalized recreational use of marijuana in some states.

Gardner said in a series of tweets that Sessions had told him before he was confirmed by the Senate that he would not change an Obama-era policy that discouraged federal prosecutors from pursuing marijuana-related offenses in states where the substance had been legalized. Colorado is one of those states.

[...] The Justice Department's reversal of the Cole memo on Thursday came three days after California's new law allowing recreational marijuana use went into effect.

Other politicians have reacted strongly to the news.

Previously: New Attorney General Claims Legal Weed Drives Violent Crime; Statistics be Damned
4/20: The Third Time's Not the Charm
Jeff Sessions Reboots the Drug War
According to Gallup, American Support for Cannabis Legalization is at an All-Time High
Opioid Commission Drops the Ball, Demonizes Cannabis
Recreational Cannabis Goes on Sale in California

Related: Attorney General Nominee Jeff Sessions Backs Crypto Backdoors


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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by Eristone on Thursday January 04 2018, @10:30PM (10 children)

    by Eristone (4775) on Thursday January 04 2018, @10:30PM (#618022)

    Ken White over at Popehat has a qualified opinion [popehat.com] on the subject including the potential impact short term and what to look for over the next bit to see how serious this could become.

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday January 04 2018, @11:02PM (9 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday January 04 2018, @11:02PM (#618048) Journal

    The feds can do plenty of damage by busting up a couple of banks, going after big legal grow-ops (which can be found in the phone book, unlike street dealers), or perhaps going after state govt. employees. And even doing nothing other than rescinding the memo is damaging. Say goodbye to the 40-acre weed resort [curbed.com] and cannabis blockchains [bloomberg.com].

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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04 2018, @11:06PM (8 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04 2018, @11:06PM (#618053)

      Which banks are taking money from marijuana businesses? One of the chief complaints from marijuana businesses is that they have to be cash only as most banks won't accept their money because it's illegally obtained as defined by federal law. Holding money that they know to be drug money would cause all sorts of regulatory problems, the end result being that marijuana businesses tend to be cash businesses.

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Thursday January 04 2018, @11:20PM (7 children)

        by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday January 04 2018, @11:20PM (#618064) Journal

        https://www.thestranger.com/green-guide-spring-2017/2017/04/19/25083313/the-credit-unions-and-small-banks-that-solved-the-cannabis-cash-crisis [thestranger.com]

        Carmella Houston, a spokesperson for Salal Credit Union, said their Seattle offices were inundated with more than 2,000 calls when people first learned that they were accepting cannabis businesses. Houston said they have opened 300 cannabis business accounts since June of 2014 and cannabis checking accounts could form up to 80 percent of the credit union's net worth.

        [...] In February of 2014, just as Colorado and Washington were setting up their regulated weed markets, the US Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released a written guidance saying that they would not charge a bank with federal crimes for accepting weed money if the financial institution made sure that the business was following all state laws and the directives of a previous memo from the Department of Justice. That memo, frequently referred to as the Cole Memo, said the federal government would take a hands-off approach to states with legal weed if those states kept the drugs out of the hands of kids, kept weed within their states, and kept profits from drugs sales away from organized crime.

        Oops!

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        • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Thursday January 04 2018, @11:44PM

          by MostCynical (2589) on Thursday January 04 2018, @11:44PM (#618076) Journal

          so now they delegate law enforcement to the Credit Unions?

          "...if the financial institution made sure that the business was following all state laws and the directives of a previous memo from the Department of Justice."

          Outsourcing at its finest!

          --
          "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
        • (Score: 1) by Sulla on Thursday January 04 2018, @11:50PM (5 children)

          by Sulla (5173) on Thursday January 04 2018, @11:50PM (#618081) Journal

          if those states kept the drugs out of the hands of kids, kept weed within their states, and kept profits from drugs sales away from organized crime.

          I guess this explains the dozen billboards in my county in Oregon that claim that "no additional kids have started smoking pot in Colorado since legalization" but doesn't give a citation.

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          Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
          • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Friday January 05 2018, @12:35AM (4 children)

            by fustakrakich (6150) on Friday January 05 2018, @12:35AM (#618118) Journal

            Well, did you find it to be false? And besides, you don't seem to understand the nature of the billboard. Or maybe you expect everybody to suddenly stop and read the wall of tiny text of disclaimers and links and such. And really, don't you think it's about time we abolish prohibition? It never was based on any kind of science to begin with. Maybe you should demand citations on why prohibition should remain in effect instead of the other way around.

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            La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
            • (Score: 1) by Sulla on Friday January 05 2018, @01:17AM (3 children)

              by Sulla (5173) on Friday January 05 2018, @01:17AM (#618143) Journal

              As I have said elsewhere, I voted for legalization. Prior comment was more of understanding why they are pushing the narritive in a state where pot is already legal.

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              Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
              • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Friday January 05 2018, @03:13PM (2 children)

                by fustakrakich (6150) on Friday January 05 2018, @03:13PM (#618338) Journal

                Maybe they have to cover for all the propaganda (fake news, which Sessions is still telling us) still being pushed against weed over the last couple of centuries. And I was commenting on your call for "citations" on a billboard that you are driving past at 60 mph, when we should be demanding citations from Sessions's (already scientifically debunked) propaganda instead.

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                La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
                • (Score: 1) by Sulla on Friday January 05 2018, @04:13PM (1 child)

                  by Sulla (5173) on Friday January 05 2018, @04:13PM (#618361) Journal

                  Your point would make sense if we were talking about Salem (Oregon's capital, conservative) or Corvallis (conservative) but I am seeing these billboards in Eugene (nothing but hippies). There is no need to counter propaganda in a city that has followed the hippy propaganda as the bible since the 60s.

                  I guess at this point it is pointless to talk about statistics or studies because they are so politicized that any results for either side are bunk. Thus why I voted to let people smoke their pot, it only makes them dumber and less competitive against me when it comes to finding a job.

                  Road in question has a speed limit of 35, heavy traffic, and two of such billboards. Reading them is not difficult. The anti-alcohol billboards often have citations

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                  Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
                  • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Friday January 05 2018, @10:00PM

                    by fustakrakich (6150) on Friday January 05 2018, @10:00PM (#618534) Journal

                    it only makes them dumber and less competitive against me when it comes to finding a job

                    :-) Heh, that comment merely reflects your malformed idealism, which was pretty clear from the start. And you obviously have no idea how many people smoke pot.

                    --
                    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..