Last week Donald Trump’s Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, sent a cold chill down the spine of the legal recreational marijuana industry by saying “‘You are going to see greater enforcement’ of federal marijuana laws in states that have legalized the drug for recreational use.” Because the federal government still treats marijuana as a Schedule 1 narcotic, the Department Of Justice can bring the wrath of the United States Justice system on those in states where the thriving, $5.4 billion marijuana industry is *technically* legal in states like Colorado and Oregon.
Yesterday, at a meeting of the National Association of Attorneys Generals, Attorney General Jeff Sessions hinted at a crack down from the Department of Justice. via Time:
Speaking at the National Association of Attorneys General’s annual winter meeting on Tuesday, Sessions said that the agency might enforce laws in eight states and Washington, D.C., that have legalized recreational marijuana.
“States, they can pass the laws they choose,” he said. “I would just say, it does remain a violation of federal law to distribute marijuana throughout any place in the United States, whether a state legalizes it or not.”
Sessions, who has long opposed marijuana legalization, reiterated that view in response to a question on drug policy.
“I’m not sure we’re going to be a better, healthier nation if we’re going to have marijuana being sold at every corner grocery store,” he said.
The Attorney General’s comments about a federal crackdown on legal marijuana comes on the heels of comments about legal marijuana driving “more violence.” via HuffPo:
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday restated his opposition to marijuana use and offered an ominous warning about state-level marijuana legalization efforts, suggesting that such policies would open states to “violence,” as well as potential repercussions from the federal government.
“I don’t think America is going to be a better place when people of all ages, and particularly young people, are smoking pot,” Sessions said to reporters Monday at the Department of Justice. “I believe it’s an unhealthy practice, and current levels of THC in marijuana are very high compared to what they were a few years ago, and we’re seeing real violence around that.”
Sessions said he had a meeting on Monday with the attorney general of Nebraska, who is very concerned about marijuana flowing in from Colorado, which legalized weed in 2012. “Experts are telling me there’s more violence around marijuana than one would think and there’s big money involved,” he said.
That claim of violence spiking because of legal marijuana, meanwhile, isn’t true at all. via Think Progress:
Denver saw a 2.2 percent drop in violent crime rates in the year after the first legal recreational cannabis sales in Colorado. Overall property crime dropped by 8.9 percent in the same period there, according to figures from the Drug Policy Alliance. In Washington, violent crime rates dropped by 10 percent from 2011 to 2014. Voters legalized recreational marijuana there in 2012.
Meanwhile…
BREAKING Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinds Obama era guidance directing the Justice Dept to reduce its use of private prisons.
— Carrie Johnson (@johnson_carrie) February 23, 2017
Meanwhile…
"You can have my multi-colored skull bong when you pry it from my cold, dead hands." – @BillMaher #RealTime pic.twitter.com/QWdY6bO6Ei
— Real Time with Bill Maher (@RealTimers) February 27, 2017