POT POLICY: U.S. opens door to prosecution of legal marijuana growers, users
The Trump administration dealt a blow to the legacy of Barack Obama Thursday, rolling back two signature moves by the former president — on pot and offshore drilling.
On the judicial front, Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded an Obama-era policy that paved the way for legalized marijuana to flourish in states. The Obama policy was to discourage federal prosecutors from charging people in states that legalized pot. Sessions said that undermined the rule of law and he will now allow federal prosecutors in those states to decide how aggressively to enforce cannabis laws.
On the energy front, the Trump administration moved to vastly expand offshore drilling in Atlantic waters near Maine, California’s Pacific Ocean and the eastern Gulf of Mexico — areas where drilling had been banned by Obama.
Both moves were widely criticized and set up the potential for conflict between the federal government and state authorities.
Eight states plus the District of Columbia have voted to legalize marijuana within their borders. But under federal law, marijuana remains a Schedule 1 controlled substance, akin to heroin.
Rolling back Obama’s policy of non-interference is likely to sow confusion about whether it is OK to grow, buy or use marijuana in states where the drug is legal.
U.S. attorneys can now decide to pursue prosecutions against state-legal marijuana growers, sellers and even users.
The move is already causing a political headache for the Trump administration given the widespread public support for legalization, the economic clout of the marijuana industry and the supporters legal marijuana businesses have won over in Congress.
Colorado Republican Senator Cory Gardner said the Justice Department “has trampled on the will of the voters.”
The decision was a win for marijuana opponents who had been urging Sessions to take action.
Marijuana advocates condemned Sessions’ move as a return to outdated drug-war policies that unduly affected minorities.
Sessions “wants to maintain a system that has led to tremendous injustice ... and that has wasted federal resources on a huge scale,” said Maria McFarland Sanchez-Moreno, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “If Sessions thinks that makes sense in terms of prosecutorial priorities, he is in a very bizarre ideological state, or a deeply problematic one.”
The marijuana business has also become a sophisticated, multi-million-dollar industry that helps fund some government programs. Three days ago, a new legalization law went into effect in California and sales in that state alone are projected to bring in US$1 billion annually in tax revenue within several years.
Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced Thursday that responsible development of offshore energy resources would boost jobs and economic security while providing billions of dollars to fund conservation along U.S. coastlines.
He said a five-year plan would open 90 per cent of the nation’s offshore reserves to development by private companies, with 47 leases proposed off the nation’s coastlines between 2019 and 2024. Nineteen sales would be off the coast of Alaska, 12 in the Gulf of Mexico, nine in the Atlantic and seven in the Pacific.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, is opposed to offshore drilling near his state, as are three Democratic governors on the West Coast.
A coalition of more than 60 environmental groups denounced the plan, saying in a joint statement that it would impose “severe and unacceptable harm” to America’s oceans, coastal economies, public health and marine life.