Sessions announces crackdown on legal pot
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department sent a shiver of uncertainty through the legal marijuana industry Thursday by rescinding Obama administration policies not to interfere with state laws allowing people to use pot for medical and recreational uses.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions characterized the dramatic policy shift as a “return to the rule of law” in a memo outlining the change. But federal officials could not answer whether people selling or using marijuana — in states where it’s considered legal — would now be more at risk of prosecution.
Senior Justice officials said the previous administration’s position, mainly drafted by former deputy attorney general James Cole, had provided a “de facto safe haven” for the weed industry.
“This (Sessions) memo has no defacto safe haven in it,” said the officials, who briefed reporters under condition of anonymity because the memo had not yet been circulated to U.S. attorneys.
Sessions has long signaled his disagreement with the previous administration’s stance on pot. But the spare, one-page document did not contain any new guidelines for how the policy change would be enforced. It indicated only that guidance issued by the previous administration — which did not challenge state laws as long as marijuana sales did not conflict with federal policies — was unnecessary.
“This memorandum is intended solely as a guide to the exercise of investigative and prosecutorial discretion,” Sessions said in the memo.
The Obama policy did not change marijuana’s federal classification as an illegal drug. But it effectively discouraged the pursuit of non-violent marijuana users who have no links to criminal gangs or cartel operations.
Later Thursday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said President Trump supported the action. “The president strongly believes that we should enforce federal law,” which recognizes marijuana as illegal, she said. Yet the comment contrasts to what Trump said on the campaign trail: that marijuana legalization should be left up to the states.
Colorado’s Republican Sen. Cory Gardner tweeted that it “directly contradicts” what Sessions told him.
“I am prepared to take all steps necessary, including holding DOJ nominees, until the attorney general lives up to the commitment he made to me prior to his confirmation,” Gardner said.