Trump A.G. Selection Signals Hazy Future for Cannabis

“(I)t couldn’t be much worse for the marijuana law reform movement and our recent legalization victories,” said Erik Altieri, Executive Director of NORML — an advocacy group that supports legalization of the drug — in a post on the group’s website.

Sessions has not kept his strong feelings against marijuana use a secret. “Good people don’t smoke marijuana,” Sessions said during a Senate hearing in April. “We need grown ups in Washington to say marijuana is not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized, it ought not to be minimized, that it is in fact a very real danger.”

I'd like to say I'm surprised that Trump is appointing Neo-cons with stone age ideas on drug policy and states rights, but I'd be completely lying. I left out the quote about Sessions saying he "thought the KKK were ok until I found out they smoked pot" because a lot of people on the right see implied racism being used to denigrate Trump and the people he's surrounding himself with, but it's all there in the link.

As someone who works in the legal cannabis industry in Washington it frightens me that all of the good that's been accomplished since legalization will be undone by a man with such regressive ideas. I know what Trump has said about cannabis, that he'd leave it up to states to decide, but how can anyone trust that? Flip flops aren't just something Trump wears while eating a Taco bowl by his enormous swimming pool. It's what his path to power is based on.

I fear for all the kids with seizures who can live a normal life now because of the regulation of cannabis. Not to mention the people that would be thrown in a cage for having a plant in their pocket if Sessions had his way as A.G.

If you live in an area with medical or recreational, smoke 'em if you got 'em. It may not last much longer under a Trump admin.

ktla.com...

a reply to: underwerks

The quickest way to get the whole country to turn on you............. lol

Side note- I live in Seattle, and its wonderful for the... nature.. yea, nature...

a reply to: underwerks

Time will tell if this new administration of "smaller government" and "states' rights" means what it says. But, I think easing up on Marijuana laws will put a wrench in their intended expansion of private prisons. They can always look forward to criminalizing protest and free speech to fill those prisons I guess.

Washington senator to introduce bill that would criminalize protests

a reply to: underwerks

“Good people don’t smoke marijuana,”

Right. They just go home and have a few drinks to unwind, but no one thinks twice about that or the real danger of becoming addicted to alcohol.

“We need grown ups in Washington to say marijuana is not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized, it ought not to be minimized, that it is in fact a very real danger.”

We need grown ups in Washington to realize it's no danger and has benefits over the usual "pill mill" way of treating pain.

The Attorney General does not make the laws.
He just follows the laws.
Your anger is misdirected.

We need someone who follows the laws, unlike Holder and Lynch.
They interpreted the laws to meet their own agendas, so I can see how people are confused about what an AG is supposed to do.
Sessions will follow whatever laws are in place.

originally posted by: BlueAjah
The Attorney General does not make the laws.
He just follows the laws.
Your anger is misdirected.

We need someone who follows the laws, unlike Holder and Lynch.
The interpreted the laws to meet their own agendas, so I can see how people are confused about what an AG is supposed to do.
Sessions will follow whatever laws are in place.

The laws that are in place say it's federally illegal, and should be shut down everywhere. That's my concern.

originally posted by: DAVID64
a reply to: underwerks

“Good people don’t smoke marijuana,”

Right. They just go home and have a few drinks to unwind, but no one thinks twice about that or the real danger of becoming addicted to alcohol.

“We need grown ups in Washington to say marijuana is not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized, it ought not to be minimized, that it is in fact a very real danger.”

We need grown ups in Washington to realize it's no danger and has benefits over the usual "pill mill" way of treating pain.

I'd be happy if we just had people in Washington who wouldn't grab their ankles every time the Pharmaceutical Industry throws bags of money at them. I think that's wishing for too much though.

a reply to: underwerks

Sessions has shown that he believes in the sovereignty of states, and in the Constitution.

If others decide that the federal law needs to be changed, then the AG will be required to follow the law.
His personal opinions mean nothing.

originally posted by: underwerks

“(I)t couldn’t be much worse for the marijuana law reform movement and our recent legalization victories,” said Erik Altieri, Executive Director of NORML — an advocacy group that supports legalization of the drug — in a post on the group’s website.

Sessions has not kept his strong feelings against marijuana use a secret. “Good people don’t smoke marijuana,” Sessions said during a Senate hearing in April. “We need grown ups in Washington to say marijuana is not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized, it ought not to be minimized, that it is in fact a very real danger.”

I'd like to say I'm surprised that Trump is appointing Neo-cons with stone age ideas on drug policy and states rights, but I'd be completely lying. I left out the quote about Sessions saying he "thought the KKK were ok until I found out they smoked pot" because a lot of people on the right see implied racism being used to denigrate Trump and the people he's surrounding himself with, but it's all there in the link.

As someone who works in the legal cannabis industry in Washington it frightens me that all of the good that's been accomplished since legalization will be undone by a man with such regressive ideas. I know what Trump has said about cannabis, that he'd leave it up to states to decide, but how can anyone trust that? Flip flops aren't just something Trump wears while eating a Taco bowl by his enormous swimming pool. It's what his path to power is based on.

I fear for all the kids with seizures who can live a normal life now because of the regulation of cannabis. Not to mention the people that would be thrown in a cage for having a plant in their pocket if Sessions had his way as A.G.

If you live in an area with medical or recreational, smoke 'em if you got 'em. It may not last much longer under a Trump admin.

ktla.com...

Seriously, people, what is up with conservatives (except some libertarians) and the marijuana propaganda. After virtually all addiction medicine researchers have already demonstrated the marijuana is one of the least harmful and addictive substances, compared to let's say alcohol or prescription opiates, and that those drugs are associated with far more crime, you guys have no excuse. The evidence is legion for legalization, or at least complete decriminalization. Go read a book folks.

originally posted by: BlueAjah
a reply to: underwerks

Sessions has shown that he believes in the sovereignty of states, and in the Constitution.

If others decide that the federal law needs to be changed, then the AG will be required to follow the law.
His personal opinions mean nothing.

None of that equates to him being tolerant of Cannabis legalization or normalization. His own statements say he isn't. There's 100 different ways it could be flipped into a "health" issue and not about state rights to make it easier for people in the right to swallow. I'd be naive to think his own personal views have no bearing on how he interprets the laws already in place.

As a health care professional, nothing annoys me more than the drug war. They arrest people left and right for pot, or coke, yet every damn day I get addicts bringing in prescriptions for opana, adderall, and other narcotics that are made by big pharma. I am to the point of what the hell is the difference?? Let people do what they want and put what they want in their bodies, and let them live with the consequences. That is true freedom.

a reply to: BlueAjah

Sessions has never shown he cares about states rights. He has tried to stop marijuana legalization.

Of coarse he decides how to enforce the law. Not only that he has done nothing for illegal immigration problems. It's all lip service .

Everyone knows the immediate impact is consumer prices going up. So they play make believe with a few busses of illegal immigration round ups.

a reply to: underwerks

The Attorney General must enforce the laws.
He does not make the laws.
So once more - how Sessions personally feels has nothing to do with his job as Attorney General.

If you want marijuana legalized, this does not go through the Attorney General.

We should not want an Attorney General who picks and chooses what laws to enforce.
That has been a major problem the last 8 years.

So, if you are saying that you want an Attorney General who refuses to enforce certain laws that he does not agree with, then you are asking for corruption, and it won't stop at marijuana laws.
Next thing you know we will have people endangering national security by setting up their own email servers for classified information, or setting up faux charity foundations to launder money from foreign governments who want to influence our government.

During the e-mail dumps by Wikileaks, one of the e-mails related to keeping the banks happy by keeping Marijuana illegal. I did wonder why the banks would have a vested interest in this particular weed, but then you realise that they are heavily invested in the BIG Pharma.

My guess is that the current rhetoric being spouted is because of BIG Pharma's lobbyists. You can't patent something that is found in the natural world, therefore they will be doing their upmost to cease other states from allowing medical and recreational use of this natural plant.

originally posted by: BlueAjah
a reply to: underwerks

The Attorney General must enforce the laws.
He does not make the laws.
So once more - how Sessions personally feels has nothing to do with his job as Attorney General.

If you want marijuana legalized, this does not go through the Attorney General.

We should not want an Attorney General who picks and chooses what laws to enforce.
That has been a major problem the last 8 years.

So, if you are saying that you want an Attorney General who refuses to enforce certain laws that he does not agree with, then you are asking for corruption, and it won't stop at marijuana laws.
Next thing you know we will have people endangering national security by setting up their own email servers for classified information, or setting up faux charity foundations to launder money from foreign governments who want to influence our government.

The slippery slope argument doesn't hold water here. EVERY A.G. chooses what to enforce based on his or hers interpretation of the laws. Why you think it would be different under Trump is a mystery to me.

Dear government
Let adults drink what they want and smoke what they want in their home or private businesses designed for such stuff.

Slap a warning label on stuff if you want to be helpful

Kind regards
Liberty and freedom.

originally posted by: Cobaltic1978
During the e-mail dumps by Wikileaks, one of the e-mails related to keeping the banks happy by keeping Marijuana illegal. I did wonder why the banks would have a vested interest in this particular weed, but then you realise that they are heavily invested in the BIG Pharma.

My guess is that the current rhetoric being spouted is because of BIG Pharma's lobbyists. You can't patent something that is found in the natural world, therefore they will be doing their upmost to cease other states from allowing medical and recreational use of this natural plant.

You're completely right. It's already proven that in states where cannabis is legal opiate prescriptions drop significantly. The pharmaceutical industry is losing money fast in Washington and Colorado, and they fear what this would mean nationwide.
time.com...

originally posted by: SaturnFX
Dear government
Let adults drink what they want and smoke what they want in their home or private businesses designed for such stuff.

Slap a warning label on stuff if you want to be helpful

Kind regards
Liberty and freedom.

It'd be nice, but then the do-gooders would come around upset about second-hand smoke.

Remember, kids, second-hand smoke is evil ... unless it comes from marijuana, and then it cures everything and makes you awesome!

originally posted by: BlueAjah
a reply to: underwerks
We should not want an Attorney General who picks and chooses what laws to enforce.
That has been a major problem the last 8 years.

Finally we get a AG who can enforce all the laws and not pick and choose. about time, because the onion ring crime is out of control!

21 USC §333 & 21 CFR §102.39 make it a crime to sell onion rings resembling normal onion rings, but made from diced onion, without saying so

and don't get me started on this one:

7 USC §1011(f) & 36 CFR §261.4(b) make it a crime to say something so annoying to someone that it makes them hit you in a national forest.

Matter of fact, there are tons of federal laws not being clamped down on! luckily all the laws will come slamming down on the population like a awesome authoritarian dystopian dream.
All for the nation, and the nation is all. Conform

21 USC §461 & 9 CFR §381.171(d) make it a crime to sell "Turkey Ham" as "Ham Turkey" or with the words "Turkey" and "Ham" in different fonts

Trump-Pence. ready to tackle the big issues

His asinine comment that "people who smoke marijuana are not good people" is a blatant lie based on his own bought and paid for scripted opinion. At this point in history I can safely say that most of us know at least one person who uses cannabis and is healthier and happier for it on top of being a genuinely decent person. Most consumers of cannabis that I know are some of the most decent and genuinely sincere people I know. Far better than those that will steal from their own families or fail at their adult duties because they are strung out on opiates.