Californias Cannabis Crowd Isnt Afraid of the Big Bad Attorney General

Lots of people, obviously, are unhappy with Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ reversal of Obama-era guidelines de-prioritizing federal enforcement of marijuana laws in states that have legalized pot for recreational or medicinal use. Thursday’s announcement drew a swift rebuke from criminal justice reformers and members of Congress concerned about a potential federal crackdown on the burgeoning multibillion-dollar industry.

So does Sessions’ move signal the beginning of the end for legal weed? Mark Kleiman, an expert on federal drug laws at New York University, doesn’t think so. “All he really said was if a US attorney wants to make one of these cases, I’m withdrawing the guidance telling him not to do so.”

Whether or not pot entrepreneurs may actually face prosecution depends largely on whether the Drug Enforcement Administration chooses to investigate them for violating federal law, Kleiman says—something the agency may not be inclined to do. DEA resources are “spread thin” fighting the opioid epidemic, and Sessions has reportedly said he doesn’t intend to shift DOJ resources away from fighting violent crime to go after legal pot shops.

Whether any prosecutions materialize will also depend on whether the handful of US attorneys in the six states that operate recreational marijuana programs choose to pursue them, Kleiman says; Colorado’s US attorney has already said he won’t change his hands-off approach. “Does it benefit your political career to start prosecuting state-legal businesses?” Kleiman says. “That’s putting aside the question of, in the midst of an opioid epidemic, does anybody have time for one of these cases? The answer is no.”

The DOJ’s hands may be tied, in part, by the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, which has been attached to congressional budget legislation since 2014 and prohibits the department from going after legal medical marijuana programs. (Sessions has asked congressional leaders not to renew the amendment when Congress votes on the next spending bill.) Small-time illegal dealers don’t have too much to fear, either, because the feds seldom prosecute minor cases, says Jolene Forman, a staff attorney at the Drug Policy Alliance. Presumably, neither do recreational users.

Article at:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/01/the-cannabis-crowd-isnt-afraid-of-the-big-bad-attorney-general/