{"id":7981,"date":"2018-01-10T02:37:53","date_gmt":"2018-01-10T02:37:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com?p=2914575&amp;preview_id=2914575"},"modified":"2018-01-10T02:37:53","modified_gmt":"2018-01-10T02:37:53","slug":"colorado-rep-degette-convenes-delegation-to-respond-to-sessions-advance-federal-marijuana-protections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/colorado-rep-degette-convenes-delegation-to-respond-to-sessions-advance-federal-marijuana-protections\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Rep. DeGette convenes delegation to respond to Sessions, advance federal marijuana protections"},"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\/colorado-rep-degette-convenes-delegation-to-respond-to-sessions-advance-federal-marijuana-protections\/\" 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 9, 2018, 6:27 pm \u2022 Updated: Jan 9, 2018, 6:32 pm<span class=\"single-comments-link\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"byline\">By <span class=\"author\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/awallace\/\" rel=\"author\">Alicia Wallace<\/a><\/span><em>, The Cannabist Staff<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Colorado\u2019s congressional delegation convened an emergency meeting Tuesday in Washington, D.C., to shore up protections for state-legal marijuana operations and, in turn, states\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n<p>In the meeting, members <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2018\/01\/05\/colorado-marijuana-federal-protections\/96130\/\">advanced plans for federal marijuana protections<\/a>\u00a0and honed near- and long-term strategies to counter <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2018\/01\/04\/jeff-sessions-rescinding-legalized-marijuana-policy\/95875\/\">U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions\u2019 rescission of the 2013 Cole Memo<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(Sessions\u2019 action) really takes direct aim at states like Colorado that have taken state action and are working responsibly to implement (marijuana legalization),\u201d said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., the senior member of the delegation who convened the meeting.<\/p>\n<p>The attorney general\u2019s marijuana policy shift has brought together delegates with otherwise \u201cwidely divergent philosophies\u201d to take action and plan future moves, she said.<\/p>\n<p>First, they <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2018\/01\/09\/colorado-marijuana-sessions-cole-memo-reinstate\/96395\/\">sent a letter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Four Colorado representatives fired off a letter Tuesday to Sessions, urging him to reinstate the memo. Such a move, they argued, would ensure that the federal government \u201cis not unduly interfering in state policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Next, they planned for the immediate future.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado congressional leaders are spearheading efforts to hitch a budget rider onto the spending bill that will be debated in the next week, DeGette said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2018\/01\/05\/colorado-marijuana-federal-protections\/96130\/\">As previously reported by The Cannabist<\/a>, the spending bill amendment is expected to mirror the McClintock-Polis Amendment provision that prevents Justice Department spending from interfering with state-legal marijuana regulations and businesses.<\/p>\n<p>Then, they began thinking long-term.<\/p>\n<p>DeGette said that members of the Colorado delegation were supportive of her <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/05\/18\/federal-marijuana-bill-protect-state-laws-colorado-rep-diana-degette-mike-coffman\/79759\/\">Respect States\u2019 and Citizens\u2019 Rights Act of 2017<\/a>, which was introduced in last May.<\/p>\n<p>The bill, previously introduced by DeGette and Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., in 2012, 2013 and 2015, would amend the Controlled Substances Act\u2019s preemption clause by inserting the following exception:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201c(b) SPECIAL RULE REGARDING STATE MARIHUANA LAWS.-In the case of any State law that pertains to marihuana, no provision of this title shall be construed as indicating an intent on the part of the Congress to occupy the field in which that provision operates, including criminal penalties, to the exclusion of State law on the same subject matter, nor shall any provision of this title be construed as preempting any such State law.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>This bill goes to the heart of the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to reverse states\u2019 rights, DeGette said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we could pass that bill, that would directly counter what Sessions is trying to do,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>DeGette said she\u2019s building support in the Senate for a yet-to-be-drafted companion bill. Sessions\u2019 actions as well as the Jan. 1 implementation of recreational marijuana sales in California have \u201csharpened the scrutiny\u201d in Congress, she said..<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we can build a bipartisan, bicameral coalition for my legislation, then I think we might really have a shot of getting it through,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Bookmark The Cannabist\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/03\/03\/lists-federal-marijuana-laws-legislation-congressional-cannabis-caucus\/73878\/\">federal marijuana bill tracker<\/a> for the latest on the cannabis bills before the 115th U.S. Congress.<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<div class=\"entry-meta-author\">\n<div class=\"authorimage\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/awallace\/\" rel=\"author\"><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/colorado-rep-degette-convenes-delegation-to-respond-to-sessions-advance-federal-marijuana-protections.jpg\" class=\"authormug\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p class=\"author-desc\">Alicia Wallace joined The Cannabist in July 2016, covering national marijuana policy and business. In her 14 years as a business news reporter, her coverage has spanned topics such as the economy, natural foods, airlines, biotech, retail,&#8230;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- .row --> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Attorney General Jeff Sessions&#8217; rescission of the Cole Memo has brought together Colorado delegates with otherwise &#8220;widely divergent philosophies&#8221; to take action and plan future moves, Rep. Dianna DeGette said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6857,1062,6964,77,5667,9,6855,5019,441,1,3,6963,1525,61,1736],"tags":[6859,3632,6967,2655,5673,6856,5022,3015,6966,4093],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7981"}],"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=7981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7981\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}