{"id":7972,"date":"2018-01-05T23:32:15","date_gmt":"2018-01-05T23:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com?p=2910984&amp;preview_id=2910984"},"modified":"2018-01-05T23:32:15","modified_gmt":"2018-01-05T23:32:15","slug":"jeff-sessions-just-injected-marijuana-into-the-2020-presidential-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/jeff-sessions-just-injected-marijuana-into-the-2020-presidential-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Sessions just injected marijuana into the 2020 presidential race"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/jeff-sessions-just-injected-marijuana-into-the-2020-presidential-race\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"large-10 large-centered small-12 columns\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta-date\">Published: Jan 5, 2018, 10:49 am \u2022 Updated: Jan 5, 2018, 10:50 am<span class=\"single-comments-link\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"byline\">By <strong>David Weigel<\/strong>, <em> The Washington Post<\/em><\/p>\n<p>WASHINGTON \u2013 Moments after Attorney General Jeff Sessions made it easier for federal marijuana laws to be enforced in states where possession and use of the substance is legal, the drumbeat began. One by one, Democrats from likely to dark horse candidates for their party\u2019s 2020 presidential nomination denounced Sessions\u2019 move.<\/p>\n<p>By the end of the day, there was unanimous support among these ambitious Democrats in supporting the states\u2019 rights to legalize marijuana without federal interference \u2013 the stance of the Obama administration. It\u2019s a telling sign of just how popular the issue is with the party\u2019s base.<\/p>\n<p>The first statement Thursday came from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., a co-sponsor of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/06\/15\/federal-medical-marijuana-bill-states-veterans\/81662\/\">a bill that, among multiple reforms, would change federal policy concerning medical marijuana use<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cParents should be able to give their sick kids the medicine they need without having to fear that they will be prosecuted,\u201d<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2018\/01\/04\/sessions-marijuana-cole-memo-politicians\/95890\/\"> said Gillibrand<\/a>. \u201cVeterans should be able to come home from combat and use the medicine they need without having to fear they will be prosecuted. This is about public health, and it\u2019s about reforming our broken criminal justice system that throws too many minorities in prison for completely nonviolent offenses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., another co-sponsor of the CARERS Act, but <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/08\/01\/senator-cory-booker-marijuana-justice-act\/84997\/\">who favors legalizing marijuana outright<\/a>, said in a statement and a floor speech that Sessions was \u201cdetermined to revive the failed War on Drugs,\u201d and needed to be stopped. (New Jersey may legalize marijuana use this year, after a new Democratic governor is sworn in next week.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHistory has shown that our deeply broken drug laws disproportionately harm low-income communities and communities of color and cost us billions annually in enforcement, incarceration, and wasted human potential, without making us any safer,\u201d said Booker. \u201cThis unjust, backwards decision is wrong for America, and will prove to be on the wrong side of history.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2018\/01\/04\/sessions-marijuana-cole-memo-politicians\/95890\/\">\u201cThis is outrageous\u201d: Politicians react to news that A.G. Sessions is rescinding the Cole Memo<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rep. John Delaney, D-Md., who launched a 2020 bid for the presidency last year, said in a statement to The Post that he also disagreed with Sessions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Cole Memo provided clear guidance to an otherwise conflicting situation,\u201d said Delaney, using the shorthand for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2014\/02\/14\/cole-memo-federal-law-enforcement-guidelines-on-marijuana-enforcement\/4733\/\">the Obama-era guidance that allowed states like Colorado and Oregon to maintain legal marijuana markets<\/a>. \u201cRevoking the Cole Memo will restore that confusion and undermines the will of the voters in several states.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was an even easier call for Democrats whose states have legalized marijuana already. Both <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/01\/03\/elizabeth-warren-marijuana-banking\/70517\/\">Sen. Elizabeth Warren<\/a>, D-Mass., and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2016\/10\/21\/massachusetts-marijuana-senate-president-voting\/65811\/\">Rep. Seth Moulton<\/a>, D-Mass., who\u2019ve received some attention as potential candidates, swung hard against the decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStates like Massachusetts have put a lot of work into implementing common sense marijuana regulations,\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2018\/01\/04\/massachusetts-marijuana-federal-sessions\/96011\/\">said Warren.<\/a> \u201cThis reckless action by the DOJ disrupts the ability of states to enforce their own drug policies and puts our public health and safety at risk. Congress needs to take immediate action to protect state marijuana laws and the patients that rely on them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the opposite of what we should be doing,\u201d said Moulton. \u201cLet\u2019s not kid ourselves \u2013 people will be using marijuana regardless of what Attorney General Sessions says. We have an obligation to regulate it and make it as safe as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Kamala D. Harris, D-Calif., a former state attorney general, attacked Sessions for misdirecting the DOJ\u2019s resources.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstead of wasting money on failed policies like the \u2018War on Drugs,\u2019 the Department of Justice should be directing federal resources toward working with local law enforcement to clamp down on transnational criminal organizations and the trafficking of guns and human beings,\u201d said Harris.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn a weird way, I think the Sessions move might actually help us by accelerating efforts to change federal marijuana laws,\u201d the chair of the advocacy group Marijuana Majority. \u201cWhereas until now we\u2019ve sort of been operating in a gray area, I think it\u2019s now clear that a permanent resolution is needed. That is reflected in the fact that so many lawmakers from across the political spectrum are pushing back hard right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Video: Here\u2019s a look back at the range of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/11\/14\/sessions-marijuana-judiciary-committee\/92351\/\">comments Jeff Sessions has made<\/a> about marijuana during his time as a senator and now as attorney general. (Joyce Koh\/The Washington Post)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- .row --> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Democrats from likely to dark horse candidates for their party&#8217;s 2020 presidential nomination denounced Sessions&#8217; move to reduce state marijuana protections. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6811,117,7468,7469,6964,7470,6813,77,5667,9,6833,6855,5019,441,1,3,173,61,1736],"tags":[6816,2695,7471,7472,6967,7473,6818,2655,5673,6835,6856,5022,3015,2751],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7972"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7972\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}