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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, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 05 2018, @12:17AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 05 2018, @12:17AM (#618102)

    No doubt true 60 years ago. But today, with just about every progressive issue: marijuana, minimum wage, gay rights, environmental protection, gun control, it's turning out that local control is better.

    States' rights, as the founders envisioned them, not how they were twisted during the Jim Crow and segregation eras, are a really good idea. Probably an essential idea. Giving states' rights a bad name is just one more way that institutionalized racism has damaged the country.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 05 2018, @07:55AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 05 2018, @07:55AM (#618260)

    I guess the flaw in liberal thinking is that rights should be won "for all" rather than saying I've got mine, I'm alright Jack and walking away. There's going to be a time coming where liberals say fuck'em to the backward States and let them go full Kansas and walk away. They want no healthcare and save $8/week? Fuck'em.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 07 2018, @12:38AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 07 2018, @12:38AM (#618944)

    Anything in the constitution/amendments.
    Anything involving interstate commerce or that interferes with the free trade (like confiscating trade goods bound for another state on arbitrary or previously undocumented grounds.)
    Anything involving money (since that is the entire reason for the constitutional convention trumping the Aritcles of Confederation. States rights including independent currencies lead to defrauding individuals providing trade between state boundaries as well as impacting the trust necessary for international trade relations.

    I am sure there are a few other examples, but states rights by and large need to be respected by federal law, except where they interfere with the constitution, or involve jurisdictional issues because a crime crossed state borders. Having said that: The United states has become bloated, with how many federal agencies essentially having overlapping jobs and jurisdictions and claiming domininion over the whole country regardless of if it should qualify as a local, county, state, or federal matter.