Some people are expressing concern that notoriously anti-marijuana United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions will go on a marijuana prohibition enforcement rampage if a US law restraint on Department of Justice spending for prosecuting individuals complying with state medical marijuana laws lapses. But, over at Reason, Jacob Sullum presents four reasons why the lapsing of the restraint will likely lead to little or no change in regard to US government enforcement of marijuana laws in states that have legalized medical or recreational marijuana.
Read Sullum’s Monday article here.
Sullum’s reasoning is generally in line with the reasoning I presented in a March 17 article “Jeff Sessions is Less of a Threat to Marijuana Legalization than You May Think.” In the article, I concluded that it appeared the then-newly-appointed Sessions would “remain a vocal war on marijuana advocate and, at the same time, in his job as attorney general, follow a moderated path regarding enforcement of US marijuana laws.”
While the fear of a Sessions marijuana prohibition enforcement rampage seems exaggerated, Congress can eliminate any risk by adopting clear and permanent protections in US law for people complying with states’ legalization. Even better, how about the US government give up entirely its war on marijuana? The US government’s marijuana prohibition is increasingly become the odd man out given that more and more states are either ending their prohibition on medical and recreational marijuana or enacting decriminalization and that a growing majority of Americans support full legalization.
Reprinted with permission from the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.