AP NewsBreak: US to end policy that let legal pot flourish

[DonViejo]

Source: Associated Press




By SADIE GURMAN
5 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Jeff Sessions is going after legalized marijuana. Sessions is rescinding a policy that had let legalized marijuana flourish without federal intervention across the country.

That’s according to two people with direct knowledge of the decision. They were not allowed to publicly discuss it before an announcement expected Thursday and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The move will leave it to U.S. attorneys where pot is legal to decide whether to aggressively enforce federal marijuana law. The move likely will add to confusion about whether it’s OK to grow, buy or use marijuana in states where it’s legal, since long-standing federal law prohibits it.

The decision comes days after California began selling recreational marijuana. Sessions compares marijuana to heroin and blames it for spikes in violence.

Read more: https://apnews.com/19f6bfec15a74733b40eaf0ff9162bfa?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP

[janterry]

1. LOL They're doing everything they can to endear

themselves to the younger voters.

Bye bye republicans!!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

10. And they're equally endearing to us "seasoned" voters

We've been hoping to successfully legalize this for half a century.

Party on. But, not the Grand Old Party.

[progree]

16. And lots of older voters too who are concerned about medical marijuana being available

as an option for chronic pain that is hell of a lot safer than opiods.

[questionseverything]

58. one of the best surprising benefits of co legalizing pot was

a 75% drop in opiate overdose deaths

couple that with the tax revenue, the decrease in cost associated with punishing non violent users ,taking resources from criminals and putting it in tax coffers

the list goes on and on

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. Sessions suffers from Reefer Madness. Pot OBSessions.

He no longer works for Keebler, so munchies are not an economic driving force for him.

[2naSalit]

3. I am now convinced that

these f'kers will keep pushing until we turn them out by physical force. I am certain they want a civil war.

[riversedge]

56. Well if they want physical force--we will not give it to them. we must keep

any protests non violent.

[SamKnause]

4. Evil Fucker!!!!

They want the 99% in jail !!!!!!!

Fuckers.

[yallerdawg]

5. Recreational pot use laws came under Obama, didn't they?

What else can we look forward to being rescinded - now that we know 'the standard?'

[Bengus81]

21. Yep..as USUAL to Trump it's always about Obama laws.....

That fuck would make oxygen illegal if Obama had something to do with it.

[Igel]

32. Wasn't 'law'.

It was more 'prosecutorial discretion.'

What people like to call "the law of the land" when they like a law didn't change. The law just wasn't enforced or upheld.

[PoliticAverse]

6. The point there is no "legal pot", it being illegal at the federal level. n/t

[UCmeNdc]

7. This Trump administration has got to go.

They have their priorities are all mixed up.

[YOHABLO]

8. He does this the day after California legalizes pot for recreational use. Very interesting.

[GusBob]

9. Stupid fuckers are gonna fail again.

[bakpakr]

11. Nice Way

To shoot yourselves in the foot!!!

[samnsara]

12. sooooooooooooo prostitution is still legal in parts of nevada?

[AllyCat]

40. Good point! Is there a federal law against prostitution?

That would be the only flaw in that argument. Just curious. Anyone know?

[john657]

49. No, there is not.

Rural counties in Nevada rely heavily on the legal brothels for their tax revenue, there are only 2 counties in Nevada that have outlawed legal prostitution, Clark County, which encompasses Las Vegas and Washoe County, which encompasses Reno.

[john657]

51. Yes.

There is no Federal law against prostitution, although I'm quite sure the Trumpers would love to make it a Federal law if they could.

[JDC]

13. Not a care in the world about the voice of the people

Wonder how many times the Elf has advocated for "State's rights" when it served his purpose and his masters?

[tecelote]

48. That's right. It's not about what he "thinks". It's about what we, as citizens, want.

He works for us.

[still_one]

14. F**K THEM!!! They are for states rights as long as it involves discrimination, bigotry, racism, and

sexism, but let it involve decisions of personal choice, and they want to be moral policeman

I am going to beat a dead horse. Any person who said there was no difference between republicans and Democrats, who refused to vote for the Democratic nominee in 2016, and has NO regrets for doing so, and would do the same thing again, can go to hell, and that includes Jill Stein, Susan Sarandon, etc.

[billh58]

20. This!

The Orange Anus Mouth and his followers are anti-American traitors, and on an intellectual level with pond scum.

[SammyWinstonJack]

36. Exactly.

[AllyCat]

61. And about 3/4 of the people I met at Jackpine Radicals

Same philosophy there that we needed to blow it all to bits to get change. I call it Rapture Philosophy.

[still_one]

62. I cal it stupidity

[ck4829]

15. War on (some people who use some) drugs continues...

[Blues Heron]

17. Tenth Ammendment

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”

[Igel]

31. We tend to be really selective where we use states' rights.

Mostly we're against them; except when we're for us, um, them. Sort of depends how you read "them", doesn't it?

[RobinA]

65. That's Why It's Called

"politics" and not "philosophy."

[Mike Niendorff]

69. US Constitution, Article VI -- Supremacy Clause

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

see also : Article I, Section 8 -- Commerce Clause

The Congress shall have power ...

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;

The modern scope of the Commerce Clause has been established for approaching a century, and it is broad. Literally, anything that "touches on" interstate commerce falls under federal authority. This Constitutional issue was a major struggle under FDR -- and before anyone decides to roll it back in the name of drug war overreaches, please understand that literally ALL federal labor law (along with pretty much the entire New Deal), rests directly on this Constitutional foundation. Take that away, and we're back to the days of child labor. Not metaphorically, LITERALLY.

Beware of the fight they are setting up here.


MDN

[duforsure]

18. This will only further destroy any chances of the Republicans

Holding onto either the House or the Senate. They are lost , and the polls show overwhelmingly for it, and he does this? Sessions could be in for a fight too with states over this issue also. Congress could intercede and make it legal, but too many GOP will be too scared to do anything, again. They're using it as another wedge issue . This could be their defining moment against themselves being in control for a long time. Even polls of Republicans are skyrocketing up in favor of its legalization. Now they need to get trump's statement on it, but it means nothing as he's probably behind it, but will blame Sessions for it when its protested against. Again the opposite of what trump said .

[Bengus81]

19. Why not "legalized alcohol" too Sessions??

It's that somehow better than weed and should stay legal? Talk about you and Trump shooting yourselves in the foot,and ASS.

[MrsCoffee]

22. Little Keebler is never gonna get that Genie back in the lamp.

But he will do whatever the Jowly Orange Tyrant tells him.

They will look like even bigger fools flailing on this.

[Bengus81]

23. Hope the first arrested by Trumps weed cops are Republican voters......

But then again,I guess Trump figures THEIR party wouldn't stoop sooooo low as to smoke weed. Nah....only the finest wine,Crown Royal,Champagne etc............

[Liberalagogo]

24. Why isn't Jeffy in jail yet?

n/t

[potone]

25. This will be a disaster.

It is also heartless. Many, many people use cannabis for medical purposes, regardless of whether or not it is prescribed for them or they have a medical marijuana card. And the highest rate of use is among boomers. This will doom the Republicans at the ballot box, unless they win by election fraud.

[C Moon]

44. They tested a little fraud in Virginia, and it worked.

[Corgigal]

26. These guys are functioning

like they really are the government of the consent. We have no evidence to support that.

We need to kick them all to the curb now, they are costing this country too much money. Going after "others", pot smokers and stuff other states and cities have determined they can live with.
Sessions is dirty, he shouldnt enforce any laws for America because he's not qualified. His RICO to be boss, has no right to change a damn thing.

Fight states, let's put light on the cockroaches.

[bluestarone]

27. sounds like a good time for a Dem in congress to

introduce a bill to protect states rights on this matter, and get repubs on record where they stand. (Then come on 2018 -20120)

[Bengus81]

30. Their not that smart........

They could have rolled out their own version of the tax bill and showed people how it would do meaningful middle class tax cut,let you deduct all your SALT taxes and one that would truly spur an economy. Then let Republicans spend their time shooting down a Dem middle class tax cut

[yardwork]

43. The Democrats aren't allowed to put a tax bill up for consideration.

Please read up on how Congress works. The party that holds the majority (currently the Republicans for both House and Senate) control all the committees. They control not just whether a bill is voted on, but whether it is even discussed in committee.

Too many people don't understand how Congress works, and then they whine that the Democrats aren't doing enough and then they don't vote or they vote third party, perpetuating Republican control.

Vote Democrats in charge of Congress and things like this tax law won't happen.

[rurallib]

47. They can put out a proposal for the public to see

I believe the progressive caucus does this every year.
IIRC they usually have what the poster talked about in his post.
But the mainstream Dems usually ignore it and corporate media usually ignore it totally.

It is really sad because the progressive caucus budget is often one of the few sane documents to come out of Washington every year:

https://cpc-grijalva.house.gov/the-peoples-budget-a-roadmap-for-the-resistance-fy-2018/

[notdarkyet]

28. Guess hes run out of illegal immigrants and cant get the private prisons filled.

He needs people for his band of vicious enforcement thugs to keep busy rounding up. There are millions of pot smokers. What an easy target. We need to lock sessions up before he puts half this country in jail.

[CanonRay]

29. He was always a big mouthpiece for states' rights

guess only when it suits him.

[Zambero]

33. Train has left the station

Lest anyone forget, the pretense of moral authority on the part of conservative religiosity is now dead and gone.

[briv1016]

34. Donald's trying to set up Sessions to take the heat from the public backlash.

That way he can fire him for something other than the Russia investigation. His replacement will fire Mueller.

Remember when he fired Comey for be "to hard" on Hillary?

[duforsure]

60. Thought about that too.

[BlueIdaho]

35. How to lose an election in three easy steps...

1. Kill Obamacare
2. Give out tax cuts for the rich.
3. Start a pot war with the states.

[SammyWinstonJack]

37. Brilliant.

[HopeAgain]

53. I agree, active policing of Marijuana as a CS

is political suicide. I think this is no more than a symbolic gesture.

[duforsure]

59. Makes you wonder ,

How much stocks people in the Republican party hold in private prisons? Hmmmm

[RobinA]

66. Don't Get Your Hopes Up

They WON the last one in defiance of all that's holy, they can win the next one just as resoundingly.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

38. Federalism! NT

[lark]

39. My repug neighbors who are pot heads don't care about this.

They continue to toke up in their shed daily so no skin off their noses, regardless if it's legal or not. They are Repugs because they hate brown people, Muslims and immigrants and believe the lies they hear on Faux Snooze are real.

[C Moon]

41. White supremecy approval by the GOP has caused the uptick in violence, you dunder head.

[heaven05]

42. the guy

is a pitiful anachronism...from the 'Reefer Madness' era. This really shows how far we have digressed, politically, socially, racially..sessions is a huge fan of the KKK and women will be next on losing ALL their equal rights as adjudicated by this trump led POS and his DOjustice???????

[TygrBright]

45. Oh, yeah... THAT'S gonna win them more 2018 votes... n/t

[northoftheborder]

46. If the Dotard doesn't sink the Republican party....

THESE policies will do it FOR SURE!!!!!!!!

[apnu]

50. Oh look, the GOP is being anti-business again. (nt)

[RKP5637]

52. GOP wants to fill up the corporate jails. Punishment for stupid reasons is big business in USA! n/t

[Vilis Veritas]

54. perhaps this is deflection? just saying...nt

[Irish_Dem]

55. Reminds me of Prohibition. And we know how well that worked out. nt

[duforsure]

57. Congress will react to this

They know the majority , even now in their Republican party, are in favor of legalization.

[RobinA]

63. So How Would This Work?

Federal Marshalls will go knocking on doors when someone catches a whiff of smoke on the street? The FBI busting up pot shops? Do US Attorneys really want to go to this level? Maybe, and that's a big maybe, in some places initially. But I agree, this train has left the station. It's like gay marriage. It took forever, it got started slowly moving incrementally, there were setbacks, it seemed like it would be a couple decade slog across the nation (as a Pennsylvanian, I for one, thought it would take WAY longer in this hillbilly state) , and then BOOM - tidal wave.

[cannabis_flower]

64. Just say NO to Jeff Sessions

Just say NO to @jeffsessions!

Urge your representatives to support The Ending Federal #Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2017! norml.org/action-cen… #JeffSessions

https://mobile.twitter.com/NORML/status/948970903877988352?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

[Calista241]

67. The only positive to this

Is that Trump still hasn’t appointed US District Attorneys that will support his change in policy. So those posts are filled with career lawyers and Obama holdovers.

[MountCleaners]

68. That will piss off some Trump supporters...

those dolts who call themselves "libertarians" but who voted Trump.