- Four Democratic governors have written the Trump administration seeking a continuation of federal latitude on marijuana policy
- The states have legalized recreational pot use, and are seeking to maintain a policy that avoids strict enforcement of federal anti-drug laws
- Governors of Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska all signed
- Changes would 'divert existing marijuana product into the black market' and endanger the states
- Governors are lobbying to keep the status quo
- Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a critical view of marijuana use
Four
Democratic governors from states that allow for recreational pot use
have written the Trump administration asking for the government to
maintain its current policies regarding their status.
The
governors, who represent Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, want
the feds to maintain an Obama administration policy reached in 2013 to
avoid strict enforcement of federal drug laws.
The
states, which adopted the relaxation for recreational use, want to be
able to continue their state policies without facing a federal crackdown
by continuing the application of the 2013 Cole Memo issued by the
Justice Department.
'Overhauling the Cole Memo is sure to produce unintended and harmful consequences,” the governors wrote, The Hill newspaper reported.
“Changes
that hurt the regulated market would divert existing marijuana product
into the black market and increase dangerous activity in both our states
and our neighboring states,' they wrote.
Four governors from states that have
legalized recreational pot use have written Attorney General Jeff
Sessions seeking consultation if the government makes any changes to
enforcement of marijuana laws.
On Election Day in Florida, a medical marijuana initiative got 2 million votes than Trump did, Politico reported.
White
House press secretary Sean Spicer promised in February there would be
'greater enforcement' of marijuana laws, while stressing differences
between recreational and medicinal use.
'The
president understands the pain and suffering that many people go
through who are facing, especially terminal diseases, and the comfort
that some of these drugs, including medical marijuana, can bring to
them,” Spicer said.
The governors wrote to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Sessions
famously said of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1980s when he was a U.S.
attorney that he thought they 'were OK until I found out they smoked
pot.'
He said last year that 'good people don't smoke marijuana,' calling it 'not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized.'
Marijuana continues to be a Schedule 1 drug, which the DEA categorizes along with Heroin and LSD.
The
2013 Justice Department memo by James Cole states that, 'In
jurisdictions that have enacted laws legalizing marijuana in some form
... conduct in compliance with those laws and regulations is less likely
to threaten the federal priorities,' basically stating a lack of
priority for enforcement of marijuana cases.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper told The
Hill last month, 'I took an oath to support the constitution of
Colorado. I want to make sure that we have a discussion about it. I’ll
come back, we’ll try to set a meeting up.'
The
letter states: 'As governors of states that have legalized marijuana in
some form, we ask the Trump Administration to engage with us before
embarking on any changes to regulatory and enforcement systems. The
balance struck by the 2013 Department of Justice Cole Memorandum (Cole
Memo) has been indispensable – providing the necessary framework for
state regulatory programs centered on public safety and health
protections.
'Twenty-eight states,
representing more than 60 percent of Americans, have authorized some
form of marijuana-related conduct,' they wrote.
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