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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: 3, Interesting) by NewNic on Friday January 05 2018, @12:18AM (4 children)

    by NewNic (6420) on Friday January 05 2018, @12:18AM (#618104) Journal

    Uh, what?

    The oath of office talks about supporting and defending the constitution and since the body that is tasked with interpreting the constitution (the Supreme Court) has affirmed the principle of prosecutorial discretion, they are not required to enforce these laws in order to be in compliance with their oath of office.

    --
    lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
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  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday January 05 2018, @12:42AM (3 children)

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Friday January 05 2018, @12:42AM (#618123) Homepage Journal

    Yes, that would in fact be the bullshit loophole in question. SCOTUS making bad rulings is nothing new.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 2) by NewNic on Friday January 05 2018, @12:58AM (2 children)

      by NewNic (6420) on Friday January 05 2018, @12:58AM (#618133) Journal

      SCOTUS making bad rulings is nothing new.

      I can certainly agree with you on that (but perhaps we might not agree on which rulings were bad: I would start with Wickard v. Filburn and the rulings which rely upon it).

      But, that is the law of the land and the present office holders all made their oaths with the knowledge that prosecutorial discretion was the law of the land.

      Question: why does it take a constitutional amendment to ban alcohol, but only a law passed by Congress to ban drugs?

      --
      lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
      • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday January 05 2018, @01:56AM

        by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Friday January 05 2018, @01:56AM (#618157) Homepage Journal

        It didn't. There are many, many ways to make something illegal under current (bad) case law. The commerce clause alone could have been exploited to illegalize anything they wanted.

        Before you go supporting Obama and deriding Trump on this, I'd like you to put five minutes in thinking of the worst possible abuses of selective law enforcement by those in power. If we allow this kind of shit to go on, I guarantee they will come to pass.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 3, Informative) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday January 05 2018, @02:58AM

        by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Friday January 05 2018, @02:58AM (#618182) Journal

        Question: why does it take a constitutional amendment to ban alcohol, but only a law passed by Congress to ban drugs?

        I just posted this elsewhere above, but since you asked, here's the answer [stackexchange.com]. As to why marijuana was specifically targeted under this new legal regime, I've reviewed some of the here [soylentnews.org]. (I assume you likely know part of the answer and were asking this somewhat rhetorically, but many likely don't know the whole history.)