Former Republican AG Says Jeff Sessions's War On Marijuana Is A Waste Of Time
Source: Newsweek Magazine
FORMER REPUBLICAN ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS JEFF SESSIONS'S WAR ON MARIJUANA IS A WASTE OF TIME
BY MELINA DELKIC ON 11/22/17 AT 10:24 AM
Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s apparent plans to prosecute medical marijuana distributors in states that have legalized it are a waste of time, according to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who said the U.S. had bigger priorities to focus on.
“With respect to everything else going on in the U.S., this is pretty low priority," Gonzales, a Republican who led the Justice Department under President George W. Bush, told Newsweek. “To prosecute an act that is otherwise lawful under state law, one could make the argument [that] as a matter of policy, we’ve got other priorities we ought to be spending our resources on.”
Gonzales was talking about the tensions between state law and federal law when it comes to medical marijuana. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized pot for medical purposes and others are in the process of doing so, but it’s still illegal on the federal level under the Controlled Substances Act. Because the Justice Department’s resources are limited, however, Gonzales said the agency needs to prioritize bigger problems.
Attorneys general don’t, however, work alone on setting agendas. “What people often fail to understand or appreciate, is that the attorney general works for the president,” he said. “While the attorney general has a great deal of say about law enforcement policy, so does the White House. When Jeff Sessions makes something, he responds to the White House.”
Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/former-ag-sessions-war-weed-waste-time-719514
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