Trump Appoints Anti-Marijuana Senator Jeff Sessions for Attorney General

[Crohnie]

Donald Trump just appointed Senator Jeff Sessions (R) to be Attorney General. Sessions is VERY anti-marijuana. This is seriously bad news for the legalization movement. Trump could not have picked anyone much worse as far as MJ is concerned.

"Good people don't smoke marijuana."

Senator Jeff Sessions (R)

 

[grokit]

 

[Tranquility]

Absent a change to the law, the DOJ is still prohibited from spending money prosecuting those who follow state medical marijuana law. In the 9th circuit, it is clear:
https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2016/08/16/15-10117.pdf

We focus, as we must, on the statutory text. Section 542 provides that “[n]one of the funds made available in this Act 24 UNITED STATES V. MCINTOSH to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to [Medical Marijuana States3 ] to prevent any of them from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medicalmarijuana.” Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, Pub. L. No. 114-113, § 542, 129 Stat. 2242, 2332–33 (2015). Unfortunately, the rider is not a model of clarity.

...
We therefore conclude that, at a minimum, § 542 prohibits DOJ from spending funds from relevant appropriations acts for the prosecution of individuals who engaged in conduct permitted by the State Medical Marijuana Laws and who fully complied with such laws
​

Obviously, that doesn't provide succor for the states that have legalized it. I think the march of time will handle that. We will not be getting much help from the federal government on this. As to how much harm? Trump seems to be able to read tea leaves. With more and more supporting harm reduction on pot, it doesn't make sense to spend a lot of political (and, actual) capital on the issue.

​

 

[grokit]

Trump lost the popular vote; the only possible mandate from this election was in favor of cannabis.

By selecting Sessions, Trump made abundantly clear that his election-night speech about unity and healing was a pack of lies. This is a provocation. This is the president-elect of the United States jabbing a stumpy thumb into the eyes of civil rights activists, voting rights activists and minority voters writ large. You don’t pick Sessions as your top law enforcement official to “heal” the country; you do it to start trouble.

 

[BabyFacedFinster]

No, no. That can't be.

Trump said "Don't be afraid"

 

[MyCollie]

I'll pass on this sesh....

 

[jay87]

Donald Trump Presidency...
Cabinet filled with racists, anti-semites, and anti-marijuana AG...
Republican controlled Congress...
Hijacked Supreme Court Justice...

 

[Deleted Member 1643]

Sessions is quoted as joking he thought the Ku Klux Klan "was OK until I found out they smoked pot."

Sessions' appointment requires Congressional confirmation. He was already denied a federal judgeship - by a Republican Congress under Reagan. Even in TrumpAmeriKKKa, he'll have a hard time getting confirmed, at least this early in the regime. Hopefully, the new king will throw him under the bus, having duly tried to reward him for his fealty.

Gotta say - Americans, and the rest of the world, have far, far worse things to worry about after this election.

 

[BabyFacedFinster]

Maybe it's one of the reasons why we love cannabis so much, because we constantly have to fight for it.

If one day it became totally legal, perhaps we might take it for granted.

and so the fight continues, and we will again meet the challenge.


"Good people don't smoke marijuana" - Senator Jeff Sessions

...and you sir are no good people

 

[jim-bob]

Maybe it's one of the reasons why we love cannabis so much, because we constantly have to fight for it.

If one day it becomes totally legal on every level perhaps we might take it for granted.

I'm willing to take that risk.

 

[little maggie]

I doubt it matters who he appoints. Dealing with marijuana is not a high priority and it would be a battle to overrule the states that have approved it.

 

[Vape Donkey 650]

Absent a change to the law, the DOJ is still prohibited from spending money prosecuting those who follow state medical marijuana law. In the 9th circuit, it is clear:

What does this matter if we just elected an ignorant, authoritarian fascist dictator-in-the-making, who will have the complete support of a spineless, servile legislature behind him, and at least 1 new appointment to a the most supreme-est of courts?

The accumulated power of the US executive branch, all of the justice dept, surveillance and intel capabilities, and the awesome power of the US military will all be wielded by this man-child, and him alone.

Electoral victories for cannabis are a farcical distraction from what's going on, folks!

We're all, very, very, seriously, fucked!

Fleeing to canada, mexico, europe, africa, or antarctica won't save you either.

Trump lost the popular vote; the only possible mandate from this election was in favor of cannabis.

Mandate? What's a mandate? He probably thinks "a mandate" is something "the gays" do together

 

[BabyFacedFinster]

Nothing at the federal level will change until these dinosaur politicians are put out to pasture and are replaced by the millennial generation.

It will take time, unfortunately lots of time.

 

[MinnBobber]

Trump lost the popular vote; the only possible mandate from this election was in favor of cannabis.

..................................................................
I did not want a vote for Trump or a vote for Hillary to be "misconstrued"-----a sign that either of them was a reasonable and decent choice for Prez.
So, my vote was crystal clear---- a vote for the "Legal Marijuana Party" here in MN. That's a pretty clear message on what I felt was critical. Did other states have a similar choice on your ballots?

IMO, legal cannabis is so important on many levels, most critical for:

- public health as cannabis is effective for "curing" many diseases but more importantly as a "health supplement", to prevent many maladies. Just as folks take calcium for a calcium deficiency, those whose endocannabinoid systems aren't fully stocked---need cannabis supplement.
Access to mj should be a basic human right and those that perpetuate the war on cannabis (knowing what we know about it today) should be charged as war criminals.

- public safety and the current "canna-prison" system where incarcerating millions for mj possession destroys their lives and their families and kids lives and whole communities and costs billions

- nature's most perfect and safest medicine needs to be available for all ( even if big pharma and alcohol and cig and prison industries are scared to death of losing market share)

 

[Tranquility]

What does this matter if we just elected an ignorant, authoritarian fascist dictator-in-the-making, who will have the complete support of a spineless, servile legislature behind him, and at least 1 new appointment to a the most supreme-est of courts?

The accumulated power of the US executive branch, all of the justice dept, surveillance and intel capabilities, and the awesome power of the US military will all be wielded by this man-child, and him alone.

Electoral victories for cannabis are a farcical distraction from what's going on, folks!

We're all, very, very, seriously, fucked!

Fleeing to canada, mexico, europe, africa, or antarctica won't save you either.



Mandate? What's a mandate? He probably thinks "a mandate" is something "the gays" do together

The problem of the imperial presidency is well known. One of the overriding complaints of the Obama administration are the number and effect of executive orders and other bureaucratic manipulations that seem to change the nature of the statutes they address. Sometimes, for nothing more than what appears to be political advantage. Rather than complaining Trump has that potential, why don't we work on trying to reduce it in all presidents? The Republicans have always at least claimed to dislike the executive overreach so they should go along with reform and the Democrats should love to craft reform that could limit Trump; what's not to like?

The terror over Trump gets to the fragility of some progressive initiatives and the power of one man to break or support them. That's the problem when we become a country no longer ruled by law but by men. Certainly, the power of the government to intrude into our lives has reached levels talked about in science fiction novels long ago. Most of those were dystopian. That is why Constitutional process is imperative. The Founding Fathers knew what men's hearts hold. They tried to devise a system to check such impulse. If it cannot now, then it is WE who have failed by allowing nonsense when those in power doing the nonsense were doing it for something we liked.

I get the fact a side won that seems antithetical to many progressive beliefs and that causes hurt. That hurt sometimes brings out the pejoratives. It hurts worse that they won real good too. I think we will find it is the Congress that is the more socially conservative of the branches that results. Trump has interacted with those on all sides of the political spectrum through his life in both a personal and professional way. He has expressed more liberal and progressive positions, at least in his past, than any Republican president in history. Is the Trump administration going to be a buddy to the left? No. But I don't think it will be hard to bring him to the middle or more left position he probably already believes on many issues--even with Congressional Republicans trying to pull him right.

As to the final joke, Trump seems to have lived his life in a way that fully accepts and interacts with all sorts of people. I have never heard an accusation that deserved more than a cursory inspection he has discriminated against anyone because he is gay. The socially conservative Republicans are already staking out the political fight on marriage rights as Trump has said the issue has been decided. He opened up his courses when others discriminated against those who were gay. He may be many things; a lot of them bad. To accuse him of being anti-gay or not knowledgeable about issues important to Americans who are gay seems more propaganda than reality.

 

[Deleted Member 1643]

- public safety and the current "canna-prison" system where incarcerating millions for mj possession destroys their lives and their families and kids lives and whole communities and costs billions

Jeff Sessions as Attorney General: An Insult to Justice

Excellent editorial by The New York Times discusses above point in addition to race.

 

[jim-bob]

 

[CarolKing]

Trump is setting up his cabinet then he's going out on tour. Remember he was going to set everybody up to run the country then he would be making America great again? Mike Pence will have a huge roll as VP president it looks like.

Trump has shown us over the last week what his mindset is. Especially putting such hardcore assholes up as his advisers. I thought he wanted to work with people? It doesn't look like it too me.

I'm worried for/about legal cannabis. It sounds like they might be OK with medical. Trump is like a bull in a China's shop right now.

Im anxious to see what his tour looks like. Maybe a little like his preelection speeches? Like how he's in the process of draining the swamp. I would think cannabis would be low on the list of priorities right now compared to a world war.

Hamilton Cast (the play) addressed Mike Pence last night.

'Hamilton' Had Some Unscripted Lines for Pence. Trump Wasn't Happy. - The New York Times
The New York Times › 2016/11/19 › mi...
19 mins ago - On Friday night, Mike Pence attended the Broadway musical in New York. ... The president- elect tweeted that the “Hamilton” cast had “harassed” Mr. Pence by making the statement and had been ...

 

[BabyFacedFinster]

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
C. S. Lewis

 

[ReggieB]

he's draining the swamp, just pulling bodies straight out of it and letting them dry on the lawn before they can sit on the WH furniture.

 

[unsorted]

Hamilton Cast (the play) addressed Mike Pence last night.

'Hamilton' Had Some Unscripted Lines for Pence. Trump Wasn't Happy. - The New York Times
The New York Times › 2016/11/19 › mi...
19 mins ago - On Friday night, Mike Pence attended the Broadway musical in New York. ... The president- elect tweeted that the “Hamilton” cast had “harassed” Mr. Pence by making the statement and had been ...

Watching the video, I do not perceive any "harassment" going on.

ha·rass·ment
həˈrasmənt,ˈherəsmənt/
noun

1. aggressive pressure or intimidation.

 

[jay87]

Trump is setting up his cabinet then he's going out on tour. Remember he was going to set everybody up to run the country then he would be making America great again? Mike Pence will have a huge roll as VP president it looks like.

Trump has shown us over the last week what his mindset is. Especially putting such hardcore assholes up as his advisers. I thought he wanted to work with people? It doesn't look like it too me.

I'm worried for about legal cannabis. It sounds like they might be OK with medical. Trump is like a bull in a China's shop right now.

Im anxious to see what his tour looks like. Maybe a little like his preelection speeches? Like how he's in the process of draining the swamp. I would think cannabis would be low on the list of priorities right now compared to a world war.

Hamilton Cast (the play) addressed Mike Pence last night.

'Hamilton' Had Some Unscripted Lines for Pence. Trump Wasn't Happy. - The New York Times
The New York Times › 2016/11/19 › mi...
19 mins ago - On Friday night, Mike Pence attended the Broadway musical in New York. ... The president- elect tweeted that the “Hamilton” cast had “harassed” Mr. Pence by making the statement and had been ...

Donald Trump then responded that Mike Pence deserved a "Safe Space"

Watching the video, I do not perceive any "harassment" going on.

ha·rass·ment
həˈrasmənt,ˈherəsmənt/
noun

1. aggressive pressure or intimidation.

I also read that the cast of the show spoke directly to Mike Pence at the end of the show, saying that they wanted him to respect their rights and the rights of all people.

Mike Pence walked out and didn't listen to them...

He must've felt that people were "harassing" him because they want to keep their rights and freedoms.

 

[thisperson]

If you read the article, it was reported that Mike Pence waited in the hall and listened to the comments and then left smiling.

At least that's what was reported.

The tweet from the person who made the statements to Pence seem to support that story as well, in his tweet response to Donald Trump.

Edit: Honestly, I think Drumpf is just overreacting. I saw nothing wrong with the statements made by the cast. By the sound of it some had considered not performing and they held off from making a statement during the play.

What is election season the only time someone is allowed to speak openly. lol.

 

[grokit]

One of the overriding complaints of the Obama administration are the number and effect of executive orders and other bureaucratic manipulations

How about a little perspective with that:

President, Total Orders, Order Number Range
George H. W. Bush, 166 (332), 12668 - 12833
William J. Clinton, 364, 12834 - 13197
George W. Bush, 291, 13198 - 13488
Barack Obama, 235, 13489 - 13723 ...
(ghwb was on track for 332 orders if he would've had a second term)

 

[Tranquility]

How about a little perspective with that:

President, Total Orders, Order Number Range
George H. W. Bush, 166 (332), 12668 - 12833
William J. Clinton, 364, 12834 - 13197
George W. Bush, 291, 13198 - 13488
Barack Obama, 235, 13489 - 13723 ...
(ghwb was on track for 332 orders if he would've had a second term)

http://regdata.org/measuring-content-executive-orders/

As John Hudak of the Brookings Institution pointed out, “not all executive orders are created equal. Some are quite forceful, making dramatic changes to policy. Others are more routine, housekeeping issues. To say that one president issued more executive orders than another, tells us little about the scope of those orders or the impact they have on policy.”
​

Other tallys might show a different result.

Edit:
Also, we have the terminology issue of Obama preferring to use the "presidential memorandum" instead. Since I don't understand how either rises to the force of law I will leave it to you to find the difference.