United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified in front of a House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, November 14, for more than four hours, answering questions about alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, Planned Parenthood and his department’s investigation of black extremist groups. Sessions’s comments in response to those queries all created headlines, but there was one more hot-button issue he couldn’t avoid: pot.
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In a new interview with Rolling Stone magazine, outgoing President Barack Obama makes his most explicit comments about marijuana decriminalization to date.
He argues that cannabis should be treated as a public-health issue along the lines of cigarettes and alcohol — and pointedly notes that most of those who voted for President-elect Donald Trump agree with him.
The days of jackbooted feds raiding legit medical marijuana operations are mostly a thing of the past under the omnibus federal spending bill signed by President Obama this week. An amendment slipped into the bill denies funding for federal anti-pot raids of legit marijuana businesses in states where cannabis has been legalized for medical or recreational purposes. That would include nearly 32 states and the District of Columbia.
The addition to the $1.1 trillion spending bill, hammered out by the House and approved by the Senate last week, was written in part by a Southern California congressman.
| A DEA raid in Denver. |
Back in January, Marijuana Policy Project spokesman and Amendment 64 advocate Mason Tvert applauded comments by President Barack Obama in which he suggested that marijuana is not as risky as alcohol “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer.”
Nonetheless, the new National Drug Control Strategy document for 2014 (see it below) reflects little or no softening of the feds’ approach to pot. And that leaves Tvert feeling frustrated.
| Obama and his stoner buddies in high school. |
Our president has admitted to puffing plenty of Jah herb back in the day, something we can’t fault him for (Hawaii is the perfect setting for getting blazed). But these days the man seems to pass on pot — at least when asked in public.
Last night, the POTUS had dinner in Denver with several local families. After a good dinner, nothing beats a good puff, which is exactly why we assume Instagram user Matt Anton offered up a puff to the prez. Even better? Obama’s reaction. Check out the clip below.
President Barack Obama would arrest you for trying to purchase three-quarters of a ton of marijuana, but when his administration does exactly that it’s business as usual.
According to a Drug Enforcement Administration, the amount of marijuana being grown by the federal government at the University of Mississippi will increase this year to 1,430 pounds of pot.
Congressman Raul Grijalva, a southern Arizona Democrat, has joined 17 other congressmen in asking that President Obama to help reclassify marijuana in the federal drug “scheduling.”
Marijuana is a Schedule I substance at the federal level, which the Justice Department describes as the “most dangerous” drugs that have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” alongside LSD and heroin.
The Schedule I drugs generally are associated with higher penalties. For example, trafficking between 50 and 99 kilograms of pot calls for a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. A first-time offender caught with any amount of a Schedule III drug — which includes certain prescription painkillers, ketamine, and anabolic steroids, among other things — is supposed to serve a maximum of 10 years.
Although Obama himself can’t just reorganize the drug scheduling himself, the 18 lawmakers — mostly Democrats — have asked Obama to instruct Attorney General Eric Holder to use his authority to reclassify marijuana.
Our buds over at the Phoenix New Times have more on this groundbreaking development
| Michelle Leonhart. |
Last week, Denver-based Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Mason Tvert called President Obama’s comments suggesting that marijuana may be less harmful than alcohol “refreshing.” But his group, a major backer of Colorado’s Amendment 64, is considerably less impressed by statements attributed to Drug Enforcement Administration chief Michele Leonhart, who’s widely perceived as an obstacle to progressive pot policy — so much so that the MPP has launched a petition calling for the President to fire her.
Details, videos and more over at Westword.com
| Jared Polis. |
Earlier this week, we posted about President Barack Obama’s latest marijuana comments: He told the New Yorker that pot isn’t more dangerous than alcohol, and considers it to be less risky “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer.”
With that new take, Boulder, Colorado Democrat Representative Jared Polis has written a letter to the President and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid inviting them to tour a Colorado dispensary and grow. Read the entire letter over at The Latest Word.
In the latest issue of the New Yorker, President Barack Obama says marijuana isn’t more dangerous than alcohol and is actually less so in at least one significant way.
Obama, who admits to smoking pot during his younger years but has spoken critically about the substance, hasn’t turned into a cheerleader for weed.
But Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Mason Tvert is still upbeat about the President’s statements and hopes they signal more progressive cannabis policies on the part of his administration. Denver Westword has more.