XPost: alt.drugs.psychedelics, alt.drugs.pot, rec.drugs.cannabis
From: bliss@mouse-potato.com

Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1005 -- 1/11/18
Phillip S. Smith, Editor,psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1005

A Publication of StoptheDrugWar.org
David Borden, Executive Director,borden@drcnet.org
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"

Table of Contents:

1. AMERICA DECLARES WAR ON JEFF SESSIONS' THREATENED WAR ON MARIJUANA [FEATURE] The attorney general may have done us a favor by heightening the contradictions
of federal marijuana prohibition. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/06/america_declares_war_jeff

2. VERMONT LEGISLATURE APPROVES NONCOMMERCIAL MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION BILL
The measure would allow the possession and cultivation of small amounts of marijuana, but not legal stores. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/10/vermont_legislature_approves

3. ALERT: TRUMP IS PROMOTING SAVAGE HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN COUNTRIES' DRUG WARS Words from the US president make a global impact, and some of Trump's words about the drug war have been among the worst. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/10/alert_trump_promoting_savage

4. ALERT: SAVE MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION
Jeff Sessions is trying to turn back marijuana legalization and even medical marijuana. Don't let him do it. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/10/alert_save_marijuana

5. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
An effort to undo racial inequities faces a challenge in Ohio, Oklahomans will go to the polls to vote for medical marijuana in June, three members of the Kettle Falls Five win a major court victory, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/10/medical_marijuana_update

6. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
A state prison guard, a small town cop, and an Arkansas prosecutor's investigator all go down. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/10/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

7. CHRONICLE AM: SESSIONS OPENS DOOR TO RENEWED FEDERAL WAR ON MARIJUANA, MORE... (1/4/18)
It took him a year, but Attorney General Sessions has now torn up the Cole memo, opening the way for a renewed federal war on marijuana. Vermont legislators are advancing a legalization bill anyway, New York's governor calls
for criminal justice reforms,
and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/04/chronicle_am_sessions_opens_door

8. CHRONICLE AM: AG'S POT MOVE SPARKS OUTRAGE, VT HOUSE VOTES TO LEGALIZE, MORE... (1/5/18)
The attorney general's war on marijuana proves unpopular, marijuana proves popular (again), Vermont moves forward on a legalization bill, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/05/chronicle_am_ags_pot_move_sparks

9. CHRONICLE AM: TRUMP TOUTS "VERY HARSH" DRUG POLICIES, CA MARIJUANA "SANCTUARY STATE" BILL, MORE... (1/8/17)
A California lawmaker revives his marijuana sanctuary state bill, President Trump lauds "very harsh" drug policies, Mexico's prohibition-related violence continues, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/08/chronicle_am_trump_touts_very

10. CHRONICLE AM: NH HOUSE PASSES MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION, CO SAFE INJECTION SITE SOUGHT, MORE... (1/9/18)
Attorney General Sessions' announcement last week of a possible renewed war on marijuana continues to reverberate, the New Hampshire House passes a bill to legalize possession and cultivation, but not sales; Colorado lawmakers want a safe injection site
as part of their response to the opioid crisis, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/09/chronicle_am_nh_house_passes

11. CHRONICLE AM: VT LAWMAKERS APPROVE MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION, US PRISONER NUMBERS DROP AGAIN, MORE... (1/10/18)
Vermont is just a governor's signature away from becoming the first state to legalize weed at the statehouse, Maine stakeholders reach agreement on a legalization implementation bill, the US prisoner population declines for the third straight year, and
more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/10/chronicle_am_vt_lawmakers

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================

1. AMERICA DECLARES WAR ON JEFF SESSIONS' THREATENED WAR ON MARIJUANA [FEATURE] https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/jan/06/america_declares_war_jeff

This article was produced in collaboration with AlterNet and first appeared here (https://www.alternet.org/drugs/america-declares-war-jeff-sessions-threatened-war-weed).

With his announcement that he is freeing federal prosecutors to go after marijuana operations in states where it is legal, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has excited strong bipartisan opposition -- splitting the Republicans,
providing a potential opening
for Democrats in the 2018 elections, and energizing supporters of just ending marijuana prohibition once and for all.

On Thursday, after a year of dilly-dallying, the fervently anti-marijuana Sessions declared that he was rescinding Obama-era guidance to federal prosecutors which basically told them to keep their hands off marijuana operations that were acting in
compliance with state laws. The move not only puts Sessions at odds with public
opinion, it also puts the lie to President Trump's campaign position that marijuana policy was best left to the states (http://www.politifact.com/california/statements/2017/ feb/28/gavin-newsom/true-campaign-trump-said-states-should-decide-lega/).

With legalization of marijuana enjoying consistent majority support in opinion polls -- a Pew poll released Friday put support at 61% (http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/05/americans-support-marijuana-legalization/) -- the blowback has been
immediate, fierce, and across the board. Feeling particularly vulnerable, legal
pot state Republicans howled especially loudly.

Republican Howls

"I am obligated to the people of Colorado to take all steps necessary to protect the state of Colorado and their rights," said Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/05/us/politics/trump-marijuana-policy-bipartisan-fire.html), taking
to the Senate floor to announce his amazement and dismay at the move. He threatened to block all Justice Department nominees until Sessions relents.

Gardner, who has been a staunch Trump supporter, said that both Trump and Sessions had assured him before he voted to confirm Sessions as attorney general that going after legal marijuana in the states was not a priority. He wasn't happy with the
turnabout.

Neither was another Republican legal pot state senator, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. In a statement released Thursday afternoon, she said she had repeatedly
urged Sessions to leave legal weed alone. His move Thursday was "regrettable and divisive," she said.

Maine is about to become a legal marijuana state -- if the Sessions move doesn't throw a wrench in the works (http://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/04/u-s-to-end-obama-era-policy-that-lets-legal-marijuana-flourish/) -- leaving Republican Sen. Susan Collins,
who supported Sessions' nomination, walking a tight-rope.

While Collins acknowledges the medical uses of marijuana, according to her spokesperson, Christopher Knight, "there is considerable scientific and medical
evidence of the detrimental impact that marijuana can have on the brain development of otherwise
healthy teenagers," Knight said, according the the Press Herald (http://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/04/u-s-to-end-obama-era-policy-that-lets-legal-marijuana-flourish/). "Congress and the Department of Justice should review the Controlled Substances Act,
which generally prohibits growing, distributing or using marijuana, in light of
current medical evidence as well as actions taken by states."

Marijuana should be "a states' rights issue," said Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) (http://www.newsweek.com/republicans-still-believe-states-rights-marijuana-policy-772611), who doesn't represent a legal marijuana state, but has long been a proponent of drug law
reform. "The federal government has better things to focus on."

Another leading Trump ally, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), doesn't represent a legal pot state, but he does represent a medical marijuana state. He's not happy, either, calling the move "heartless and cold." (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/05/us/politics/trump- marijuana-policy-bipartisan-fire.html) Sessions' move "shows his desire to pursue an antiquated, disproven dogma instead of the will of the American people. He should focus his energies on prosecuting criminals, not patients."

And that's from friends of the administration. The Democrats, unsurprisingly, are even harsher.

Democratic Growls

Congressional Democrats were quick to pounce on what they correctly perceived as an opening to attack Trump and Sessions on an issue where the public is not on their side. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), whose state just began the legal sale of
recreational marijuana this week, led the way.

"Attorney General Jeff Sessions' decision bulldozes over the will of the American people and insults the democratic process under which majorities of voters in California and in states across the nation supported decriminalization at the ballot box,"
Pelosi said (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/05/us/politics/trump-marijuana-policy-bipartisan-fire.html). "Yet again, Republicans expose their utter hypocrisy in paying lip service to states' rights while trampling over laws they personally dislike."

Pelosi and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said they would attempt to block Sessions by extending a current ban on Justice Department funding to go after medical marijuana in states where it is legal. But that would not protect the legalization states.

Other legalization state Democrats were also quick to go on the offensive and happy to throw the "states' rights" issue in the face of Republicans.

"It is absurd that Attorney General Sessions has broken Trump's campaign promise and is now waging war on legal marijuana and states' rights," said Rep.
Jared Polis (D-CO) (https://polis.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398515), cochair of
the Congressional Cannabis Caucus. "The growing Colorado economy is in jeopardy
with the news that the Attorney General will now go after states that have decided to regulate marijuana. The Trump Administration needs to back off, and allow marijuana to
be treated like alcohol under the law. At stake is a growing industry that has created 23,000 jobs and generated $200 million in tax revenue in Colorado. I'm calling on President Trump to overrule Attorney General Sessions and protect consumers, our
economy, the will of the voters, and states' rights."

"Trump promised to let states set their own marijuana policies," charged Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) (https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/jeff-sessions-marijuana-reversal-brings-swift-bipartisan-condemnation-w514983). "Now he's breaking that promise so
Jeff Sessions can pursue his extremist anti-marijuana crusade." Wyden is demanding that any budget negotiations must include protection for legal marijuana states. "Any budget deal," Wyden said, "must... prevent the federal government from intruding in
state-legal, voter-supported decisions."

That's just a representative sample of statements from congressional Democrats,
who see the Sessions move as an enormous political gift. California House Republicans, for example, were already facing an uphill battle this year, thanks to Trump's
unpopularity in the state. With a Republican administration messing with legal marijuana in the Golden State, they could go extinct in November (https://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/14-california-republicans-at-risk-of-losing-their-house-seats-due-to-trumps-
unpopularity-wall-street-journal/).

State Officials Stand Up to Washington

It isn't just politicians in Washington who are taking umbrage with Sessions. Across the legal marijuana states, elected officials are standing up to stick up for the will of the voters.

"As we have told the Department of Justice ever since I-502 was passed in 2012,
we will vigorously defend our state's laws against undue federal infringement,"
said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) (https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/washington-state-
vows-to-defend-cannabi). "In Washington state we have put a system in place that adheres to what we pledged to the people of Washington and the federal government. We are going to keep doing that and overseeing the well-regulated market that Washington
voters approved."

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, a former US attorney herself, said Seattle police wouldn't cooperate in any crackdown: "Federal law enforcement will find no partner with Seattle to enforce the rollback of these provisions," she said. "Let's be clear: Our
Seattle Police Department will not participate in any enforcement action related to legal businesses or small personal possession of marijuana by adults," she said in a statement. "Federal law enforcement will find no partner
with Seattle to enforce the
rollback of these provisions."

Calling Sessions' move "deeply concerning and disruptive," Oregon Gov. Kathleen
Brown (D) told the feds to back right off (http://www.oregon.gov/newsroom/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=2499). "States are
the laboratories of democracy, where progressive
policies are developed and implemented for the benefit of their people," she said. "Voters in Oregon were clear when they chose for Oregon to legalize the sale of marijuana and the federal government should not stand in the way of the
will of Oregonians.
My staff and state agencies are working to evaluate reports of the Attorney General's decision and will fight to continue Oregon's commitment to a safe and
prosperous recreational marijuana market."

Similar notes were heard from California.


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