Attorney General Jeff Sessions is an angry man. He hates the idea of legalized marijuana and would prefer everyone in America suffered collective amnesia and forgot that medical cannabis is a thing for 85 percent of the countrys citizens.
But it appears he realizes that even with the DEA at his command, he cant do anything about itand oh, does this make him so mad.
A series of fits of pique, the impotent outbursts of a frustrated man, would be the best way to explain Sessionss recent emissions on the subject of marijuana. On Wednesday, speaking to law enforcement officials in Richmond, Virginia, Sessions added to his pile of recent gems by contradicting what his own DEA said two years ago and insisting, without a shred of evidence, that marijuana and heroin are virtual equal evils.
In a Richmond speech today, heres what Sessions had to say about marijuana and opioids: https://t.co/WilvZToJqFpic.twitter.com/psFiIdSRmd
Mike Riggs (@MikeRiggs) March 15, 2017
Heres Sessionss full remarks, via the Washington Post:
I reject the idea that America will be a better place if marijuana is sold in every corner store. And I am astonished to hear people suggest that we can solve our heroin crisis by legalizing marijuana so people can trade one life-wrecking dependency for another thats only slightly less awful. Our nation needs to say clearly once again that using drugs will destroy your life.
As the Post pointed out, this contradicts what DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg said two years ago when he copped to the obvious and said cannabis is less harmful than heroin.
In a country where opiate overdoses kill 13,000 people a year and marijuana overdoses kill no one, Rosenbergs is hardly a bold statement.
Yet Sessions has clung for dear life onto the antiquated notion, last taken seriously sometime in the Nixon administration by people who hadnt left the house in decades, that cannabis is wholly harmful. A few weeks ago, Sessions posited that legalized marijuana is creating violence in the Midwest. Thats less crazy than what he said Wednesday, but only marginally.
Maybe Sessions read the tragic story of Becky, the happy, popular girl who snorted a marijuana at a party and died instantly.
Wil Wheaton (@wilw) March 15, 2017
Whats up with Jeff Sessions?
We have a theory. Hes acting out because he has realized hes powerless to do anything about legalized marijuana and has reached the step where he is forced to admit it to himself. Because, within minutes of the above declaration, Sessions said that he wont be able to use the Justice Department to shut down Americas burgeoning marijuana movementand that the hands-off approach taken by Barack Obamas Justice Department is valid.
As Tom Angell of Massroots first reported:
The Cole Memorandum set up some policies under President Obamas Department of Justice about how cases should be selected in those states and what would be appropriate for federal prosecution, much of which I think is valid, Sessions said in a question-and-answer session with reporters on Wednesday following a speech in Richmond, Virginia.
Sessions added that he may have some different ideas myself in addition to that but indicated that the federal government would not be able to enforce its remaining marijuana prohibition laws across the board in states with legalization.
Essentially were not able to go into a state and pick up the work that the police and sheriffs have been doing for decades, he said.
Hes lost! He admitted to it. Richmond has fallen, General Lee has surrendered to Grant at Appomattox. The war is over yet heres Jeff, still in uniform, still barking orders, as if the first shots of Bull Run hadnt been fired before we were all born.
At this stage, its worthwhile for everyone to take a step back and askwhy? Why does Sessions persist on this tired old line of thinking, which is scientifically unsound to start with, but also politically damaging?
Jeff Sessions could be taking a page from his bosss book of artsy dealmaking, and using his bully pulpit to spout off about the things that irk him. Sessions may also be venting ahead of a string of meetings where peoplepolice officers, even; important ones!will be telling him things that he doesnt want to hear.
Such as, legal marijuana hasnt caused crime, has created tax revenue cops can share and is not in fact sold on every corner in any city in any place in America. On Thursday or Friday, Sessions is scheduled to have face-to-face time with Chicago police Chief Eddie Johnson and other big-city chiefs of police, the Sun-Times reported.
And if marijuana comes up, theyll be forced to admit the obviousweed isnt causing them ...
