As more than half of the states in the country recognize the power of cannabis and choose to legalize it in some form, the federal government still blindly claims that it has no medicinal value, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions is reportedly rescinding a policy that keeps federal prosecutors from aggressively enforcing federal law in states where cannabis is legal.
The announcement is expected Thursday, according to two sources cited by a report from the Associated Press. The policy was initially put in place by the Obama Administration in 2013, acknowledging that states should be in charge of what their cannabis policy was, and how they prosecuted offenders who violated it.
Interference from the federal level was always feared in states that legalized cannabis for recreational use, because the plant is still labeled as a Schedule I drug by the federal government—despite an increasing wealth of research that has shown its medicinal value.
The sources told the AP that Sessions’ policy “will let U.S. attorneys across the country decide what kinds of federal resources to devote to marijuana enforcement based on what they see as priorities in their districts.” As has been the case with the War on Drugs since its inception, such a policy could be used by U.S. attorneys to target low-income cannabis users in states such as Colorado and California, while ignoring wealthy cannabis users—even though both groups were using the plant legally in their respective states.
The report noted that this change in policy on cannabis says more about the views of Sessions than it does about the views of President Trump. Sessions has been an outspoken critic of cannabis, claiming that it is violent and as dangerous as heroin. He has also said in the past that he wished the federal government would do more to fight back against states that are legalizing cannabis—now he could be getting his wish.
“We need grown-ups in charge in Washington to say ‘marijuana is not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized, it ought not be minimized, that it is in fact a very real danger,” Sessions said in April 2016.
Now, by pushing for the federal government’s involvement, Sessions is taking a plant and making it dangerous for the people who chose to use it legally. Instead of ignoring the harmless plant and the fact that it has yet to cause a single death, Sessions is acting in the interest of the prison industrial complex and the dangerous consequences that it carries, which often ruin the lives of those who are caught in its grasp.
State's rights be damned!
Not only has legal cannabis not increased violence or poverty, it has actually helped to stimulate the economy in the states where it is legalized. As the AP noted, while cannabis has only been legal for recreational use in California since Jan. 1, it is already expected “to bring in $1 billion annually in tax revenue within several years.”
In Colorado, legalizing cannabis has actually helped to decrease opioid-related deaths, reversing a decade of rising deaths plaguing the state. Cannabis legalization has also helped to fix the state’s crumbling schools, and for the second year in a row, $40 million from taxes on legal cannabis sales went to a program to repair and replace rundown schools in 2017.
While Sessions may never acknowledge it, research on cannabis has proven that its medicinal benefits go far beyond anything manufactured by the pharmaceutical industry.
In 2017 alone, studies were released showing that cannabis has a “significant effect” on killing cancer cells; reduces the need for prescription pain medication, thus curing opioid addiction; can be used as a treatment to help prevent HIV from becoming AIDS; has been found to work as a “miracle” treatment for children with autism; has been shown to significantly reduce seizures from epilepsy in 90 percent of patients; and it can used by Emergency Rooms to treat stroke and cardiac arrest.
As Jeff Sessions continues to wage a war on the plant that is winning the War on Drugs and taking down the pharmaceutical industry, a recent poll reveals that he is also at odds with the 86 percent of Americans who believe cannabis should be legalized in some form.
continue to support your local bud connects! although the legalization of cannabis is a positive step forward, the economic sad reality of it is that the legalization of cannabis takes away lots of money from low-income, historically marginalized communities, and in the hands of (mostly white folk) people that were already doing well to begin with. additionally, the legalization of cannabis does not rescind the prison sentences of thousands of people (mostly black and brown) - which it should. i am all for drug legalization (all drugs - and i don't use), but not at the further expense of making the rich richer and the poor poorer. fuck jeff sessions though and donald trump. =D
Excellent comment. These are my sentiments exactly. Continue to support your local growers. Know where your medicine comes from. Following.
That is a great observation on how it takes the money out of the street level sellers, very well put.
Sadly, when it is illegal, the poor folks who sell it essentially become fuel for the prison industrial complex. In a true free market, in which the state couldn't control the sale of arbitrary substances, these poor people could thrive as they wouldn't have to pay these steep barriers to entry from the state in the form of permits and fees. If they had a better product, they would beat out their rich competition with a substandard one.
I frequently buy produce from a local farmer because his product is far better than the store. Unfortunately, he makes far less than grocers because they can afford all the fees and permits to mass market substandard products.
State revolt in 3...2...1...
We can dream!
It is the pharmaceutical companies more than anybody else lobbying to keep mmj illegal. Just until they can get control, they are working behind the scenes to make commercial mmj as healthy as cigarettes guaranteed. We need to work to decriminalize all forms of cannabis & point a giant 🖕 at the pill pushing jail for profit industries
100% Agreed. I believe this will be the line in the sand.
agreed!
Well, this is not good!
Nooooo! Even if they did we could never go back! No sense shutting the barn doors, the ponies are out. Maybe if we all send Sessions some special brownies he'll change his tune. Thanks for the post.
lol, that jackboot on brownies would probably call the police on himself!
LOL
The Plant that is winning the war on Drugs!! Nice one.
Wonder how many cannabis patents been issue and who owns them, probably not the government/pharmacorp.
He is going to get kicked out of office soon, I can feeeeel it.
....can't wait 'til these fat-cats & big business dinosaurs take their last gasp....so shameful how they continue to hold the people down to line each others' pockets....
The government just needs to leave it alone. Decriminalize it and walk away. But unfortunately we know that isn't going to happen. Eventually the will be extorting the hell out of it in a different way then they do now.
Big Pharma usually wins just like Big Prisons. Isn't corporatism awesome?!
Is this anything like last year when the media was pushing this bs and nothing happened? Pepperidge Farms remembers
screw it more money to the growers! :)
Hi All,
@tftproject this is a great piece!
Okay this sounds horrible. Like the DEA is going to be cracking down the doors tomorrow horrible. And people getting real life saving relief will once again be forced to use pills and less desirable treatments.
Okay, let's breath a deep breath and look at some fine print. In particular the following passage:
The sources told the AP that Sessions’ policy “will let U.S. attorneys across the country decide what kinds of federal resources to devote to marijuana enforcement based on what they see as priorities in their districts.”
What impact if any does this have?
First since the actual person or people who appoint district attorneys varies by jurisdiction. For example, in Connecticut, chief prosecutors are known as "state's attorneys" and are appointed by a panel, the members of which are appointed by the state governor. In New Jersey, chief prosecutors are known as "county prosecutors" and are appointed by the state governor.
So locations where the voting population are pro-cannabis the state may be less inclined to move on these issues. Which is great.
States that are not cannabis friendly, might see movement in the opposite direction. Which sucks and is going to feel like a number of steps in the wrong directions.
We are keeping a positive outlook that things are going to continue towards all states becoming legal.
Also it will be very interesting to see how things play out given the changes in legality in both Canada and Mexico this year.
Cheers!
@massmedicinals
https://steemit.com/science/@godmodefantastic/how-to-waste-usd3-2million