WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors won’t take on small-time marijuana cases, despite the Justice Department’s decision to lift an Obama-era policy that discouraged U.S. authorities from cracking down on the pot trade in states where the drug is legal, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Saturday. Federal law enforcement lacks the resources to take on “routine cases” and will continue […]
jeff sessions marijuana
Democrats Call For Committee Hearing On Sessions’ Anti-Marijuana Policy
The letter, signed by 11 Democrats, calls for Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte, a Republican from Virginia, to hold a hearing of the full House Judiciary Committee to discuss the recent move by Sessions, which gives federal prosecutors more leeway to launch marijuana cases in states that have legalized the drug for medical and recreational use. […]
Colorado GOP Senator Calls Out Sessions For Breaking Pledge On Marijuana Policy
Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner on Thursday morning used Twitter to blast Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ reported decision to rescind an Obama-era Justice Department policy that allowed for legalized marijuana to be possible in U.S. states despite pot being federally unlawful. “This reported action directly contradicts what Attorney General Sessions told me prior to his confirmation,” the […]
Sessions Got Hit With The Marijuana Questions During Yesterday’s Hearing – Here’s What He Had To Say
As U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, he fielded pressing question on the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russians – and his past remarks on marijuana. Steve Chabot, a Republican from Ohio, which is in the process of implementing its medical marijuana program, noted that while it remains illegal under federal […]
Jeff Sessions and DOJ Are Gearing up for Marijuana Crackdown
The Trump administration is readying for a crackdown on marijuana users under Attorney General Jeff Sessions. President Trump’s Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety, led by Sessions, is expected to release a report next week that criminal justice reform advocates fear will link marijuana to violent crime and recommend tougher sentences for those caught […]
Jeff Sessions Wants Congress to Let Him Go After Medical Marijuana Providers
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is asking congressional leaders to undo federal medical marijuana protections that have been in place since 2014, according to a May letter that became public Monday. The protections, known as the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, prohibit the Justice Department from using federal funds to prevent certain states “from implementing their own State laws […]
Policy Group of Prosecutors Release Position Paper
The National District Attorney’s Association (NDAA), the organization that “serves as the voice of America’s prosecutors and strives to support their efforts to protect the rights and safety of the people in their communities”, created a policy group of 14 district attorneys on January 20 to advise on law and policy changes. The group just […]
Federal Cannabis Shenanigans
By Matt Walstatter The election of 2016 should have given cannabis proponents great cause to celebrate. Initiatives legalizing recreational cannabis prevailed in four of the five states where they were on the ballot. Medical cannabis triumphed in all four states where it was contested. But this landslide at the state level was overshadowed by the […]
Four Marijuana-State Govs Ask Feds to Leave Them Alone
Four governors of states where voters have legalized marijuana for recreational use are asking the Trump administration to leave in place an Obama-era agreement that gave exemptions to the legal pot industry. In a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the governors asked the Justice Department to maintain a 2013 […]
AG Sessions Continues Verbal Tirade Against Marijuana Use Wednesday
Attorney General Jeff Sessions continued to make eyebrow-raising statements about marijuana on Wednesday, though he did not utter a line in a prepared speech that marijuana use is “only slightly less awful” than heroin addiction. Justice Department spokespeople did not immediately respond to an inquiry about why Sessions dropped the line, which had attracted widespread […]
Cannabis Industry Watches as Sessions Confirmation Hearing Begins Today
The marijuana industry will be listening intently to the confirmation hearings for Jeff Sessions for attorney general on Tuesday morning. While many people are focused on Sessions past positions on civil rights, the cannabis companies are very concerned that this marijuana critic could put the brakes on the legalization of marijuana. Even though Sessions comes […]
