Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) is among Democratic members of Congress asking the Trump administration to call off Atty. General Jeff Sessions’ quixotic war on cannabis and stick to his campaign promise to leave marijuana laws up to individual states.
Initiated by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Representative Jared Polis n(D-CO), a strongly-worded letter signed by 54 democratic Congress members was sent the President last week, urging him to put a stop to Sessions’ continued roll-backs of state-focused Obama-administration cannabis policies.
“As a candidate, you stated: ‘I really believe we should leave [marijuana] up to the states’ and that ‘it’s got to be a state decision.’ We trust that you still hold this belief, and we request that you urge the Attorney General to reinstate the Cole Memorandum,” said the letter, signed by Congressional members who have legalized medical or recreational marijuana in their states.
Earlier this month, the Attorney General rescinded the Cole Memorandum that stated the Department of Justice would let the states decide and administer all marijuana associated laws, leaving the DOJ focusing solely on the sales of drugs to adolescents and other drug-related crimes.
“These new policies have helped eliminate the black market sale of marijuana and allowed law enforcement to focus on real threats to public health and safety,” wrote the legislators. “This action by the Department of Justice has the potential to unravel efforts to build sensible drug policies that encourage economic development as we finally move away from antiquated practices that have hurt disadvantaged communities,” continued the letter.
Lawmakers added: “The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution constrains the role federal government has in intrastate policy. Rescinding the Cole Memo upends the careful balance struck between the federal and state governments on marijuana enforcement.”
Jeff Sessions remains strong on his personal beliefs that marijuana is a dangerous drug and that there is a lack of research to prove its medical benefits.
Here’s a list of who signed:
Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Brain Schatz (D-HI) Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Cory Booker (D- NJ), Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representatives Jared Polis (D-CO), Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Hank Johnson (D-GA.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Donald Breyer (R-VA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Scott Peters (D-CA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Carlos Curbelo (D-FL), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Niki Tsongas (D-MA), Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), J. Luis Correa (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Adam Smith (D-WA), Jerry McNerney (D-CA), Mark Takano (D-CA), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Denny Heck (D-WA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) also signed the letter at the initiative of Warren and Polis.
