Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

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


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday January 04 2018, @10:38PM (2 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 04 2018, @10:38PM (#618030) Journal

    leaving the President and his minions to dictate our lives with the stroke of an individual's pen.

    You must mean stroke of an individual's crayon.

    Of course, when the shoe is on the other foot, then executive orders are a good thing. Just sayin'. And I'm no fan of Trump.

    Congress cannot take up their responsibilities because they are too busy with fundraising from wealthy donors.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +1  
       Insightful=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   3  
  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday January 05 2018, @02:41AM (1 child)

    by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Friday January 05 2018, @02:41AM (#618177) Journal

    Of course, when the shoe is on the other foot, then executive orders are a good thing. Just sayin'.

    Absolutely not. There actually are some of us out here who believe in things like separation of powers and in Constitutional limitations, regardless of who is in office. For example, I actually think we need more gun regulation, but I also believe the Second Amendment was likely intended to prohibit some of the kinds of regulation I think should happen. So, I believe we need a Constitutional amendment to do what I think would be good. (And no, please let's not get into an off-topic debate on guns -- I'm just trying to make a point as an example.)

    Executive orders, from my perspective, should only ever be made as clarifications of regulation under existing law (i.e., the idea of Executive as implementing law given to it by the Legislature), generally under implementation decisions explicitly left to the Executive by Congress, not as effectively creating new law.

    History taught the Founders of the problems that arose when too much power is concentrated in the Executive... or in the government in general. Those who have studied things like the gradual decline of the Roman Republic and its ultimate transformation into a dictatorial empire can easily see parallels to what has happened, particularly in the past 75 years or so. We're on a bad path: one that the Founders tried desperately to try to prevent in the way they set up the system.

    It doesn't matter which party you belong to... people should be concerned about this.

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday January 05 2018, @02:07PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 05 2018, @02:07PM (#618317) Journal

      Yes.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.