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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: 2, Disagree) by DannyB on Thursday January 04 2018, @10:45PM (3 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 04 2018, @10:45PM (#618036) Journal

    I never dreamed, in my worst nightmares that I would say this, but . . .

    I would be GLAD to have George W Bush back at this point.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
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  • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday January 04 2018, @10:53PM (2 children)

    by bob_super (1357) on Thursday January 04 2018, @10:53PM (#618041)

    I wouldn't.
    Trump is an idiot, but he hasn't started 2 wars yet. He's working on the deficit and trouncing US international standing, like W.
    But Trump wasn't handed a US at peak power and turned it into a declining empire. A self-centered ignorant fool, not a crazy destructive maniac ...

    Looks good for the R side, doesn't it? Comparing the last two presidents from each side...

    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04 2018, @11:40PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04 2018, @11:40PM (#618073)

      By work on the deficit - you mean making a massive increase in the deficit right?

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Thursday January 04 2018, @11:45PM

        by bob_super (1357) on Thursday January 04 2018, @11:45PM (#618078)

        Obviously, as a parallel to W turning budget surpluses and shrinking debt (bipartisan-voted, Clinton-signed) into deficits, even before he started his two unbudgeted wars...

        The same people who were hollering at Obama's Keynesian stimulus in the midst of the Great Recession just voted a $1,500,000,000,000.00 extra-deficit tax plan.