Politics
Jeff Sessions Is (Again) Challenged On His Marijuana Stance
Attorney General Jeff Sessions repeated his anti-marijuana mantra in an interview with an Indiana radio host on Thursday, stating that cannabis remains illegal under federal law and there’s nothing he can do about it.
On the show today, @usagsessions talks to me about immigration, the law and asylum claims. And marijuana. Tune in at 11amET @93wibc
— Tony Katz (@tonykatz) June 14, 2018
Asked whether pursuing marijuana cases is, or should be, a priority for the Justice Department, Sessions said “we’ve never prosecuted small marijuana cases—and that’s not changing—but it does remain in violation of the laws of the United States and I’m not able to change that.”
Though the vast majority of federal drug cases concern trafficking, a recent report from the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) did find that 1,301 drug cases “involved a conviction for the simple possession of a drug.” The report did not specify whether cannabis possession violations were among those cases, however.
Sessions went on to concede that “you could perhaps extract certain things from marijuana and use it as medicine.” But while he thinks “it’s possible” and “perfectly legitimate,” the attorney general said “it’s not, I think, as proven as some people say.”
Recreational marijuana use is another story, Sessions said.
“But just to advocate and suggest in any way that regular, normal smoking of marijuana is healthy and is anything but dangerous, I think, is a mistake. The people need to know this is not a healthy substance. It can do permanent damage, particularly to young people’s brains—and I just think that people need to study it very carefully before they participate in using marijuana.”
“It’s just not a healthy thing,” he said.
The remarks from the attorney general don’t come as a particular surprise given his consistent track record of opposing cannabis reform and marijuana use. But even as the top cop at the Justice Department maintains his prohibitionist stance, there’s movement at the congressional level to change federal marijuana laws—including a bipartisan bill to amend the Controlled Substances Act, protecting legal states from federal interference and freeing up banks to work with legal cannabis businesses.
That bill, the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Entrusting States (STATES) Act, earned a tentative endorsement from President Donald Trump, who told one of the co-sponsors, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), that he supported the effort. Trump reiterated his support during an impromptu press conference last week, telling reporters that he “probably will end up supporting [the bill].”
In a separate interview with Colorado Public Radio last week, Sessions lamented that he was excluded from White House discussions on marijuana.
Jeff Sessions Laments He Was Left Out Of White House Marijuana Talks
Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore.
