AG Sessions: Violence Surrounds Weed Sales

Susan Walsh/AP

How to make a beautiful mess? Ask Academy.

How to make it ugly? Ask AG Sessions. He has finally spoken on marijuana issues, and you will not like it.

According to AP, Jeff Sessions said on Monday that the Justice Department would try to adopt ‘responsible policies’ regarding marijuana. He also noted that he believes ‘violence surrounds sales and use of the drug in the U.S.’

Sessions noted that the department was reviewing an Obama administration memo, which allowed flexibility in passing states’ marijuana laws. The comments reverberated remarks of Sean Spicer, White House press secretary, who suggested ‘greater enforcement’ regarding recreational marijuana policy. Sessions did not express his full stance but said that he does not think America would be a better place with ‘more people smoking pot.’

In his words,

...states, they can pass the laws they choose. 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.

Today, recreational use is legal in eight states and the District of Columbia. As we pointed out before, the DOJ has several options to fight current policies, including individual cases and lawsuits on the grounds that the Controlled Substances Act pre-empts the states’ legislation.

There is no evidence of the correlation between legalization of marijuana and violent crime rates. It is law enforcement officials who claim that drug traffickers have taken advantages of lax marijuana laws and now use them for illegal shipping of the drug across states’ borders. Sessions noted that he met with Nebraska attorney who meant that Colorado is not keeping marijuana within its borders. His lawsuit was dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court. The neighboring states, however, continue to attack legal cannabis states for not protecting the borders from drug smuggling.

Legalization advocates claim that officials exaggerated problems. However, it is still a possibility that DOJ would start their crusade against recreational cannabis. The Rohrabacher-Farr Act expires in April, and it means that medical patients may lose their legal protections.

We will follow the story and keep you updated.