{"id":47483,"date":"2021-05-04T08:14:55","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T16:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2021\/05\/04\/biden-ag-stresses-that-marijuana-use-in-legal-states-is-not-a-justice-department-priority\/"},"modified":"2021-05-04T13:45:19","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T21:45:19","slug":"biden-ag-stresses-that-marijuana-use-in-legal-states-is-not-a-justice-department-priority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2021\/05\/04\/biden-ag-stresses-that-marijuana-use-in-legal-states-is-not-a-justice-department-priority\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden AG Stresses That Marijuana Use In Legal States Is Not A Justice Department Priority"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday reaffirmed that he does not feel the Department of Justice should be using its limited resources to go after people using marijuana in compliance with state law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During a House Appropriations subcommittee meeting, Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA) asked the official about what steps his agency could take to stop transnational organizations from illicitly cultivating cannabis and stealing natural resources for their grow operations.<\/p>\n

Garland said that he\u2019s \u201cnot precisely familiar with the specifics\u201d of that issue, but it is \u201ccertainly within our jurisdiction and within our scope of concern\u201d to go after marijuana growing operations that violate state law. But while curtailing large-scale illicit traffickers is something the department will pursue, the attorney general said people using cannabis in legal states is not a worthwhile endeavor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe department\u2019s view on marijuana use is that enforcement against use is not a good use of our resources,\u201d Garland said. \u201cAnd I understand that\u2019s not what you\u2019re talking about. You\u2019re talking about growing and manufacturing at a large scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably not a good use of our resources where it is regulated by the state\u2014and again, I take it that that\u2019s not what you\u2019re asking about, so to the extent you\u2019re asking for examples about transnational operations of large amounts coming from Mexico or transnational operators who are coming into the United States to do the growing, these are certainly within our jurisdiction and within our scope of concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Later in the hearing<\/a>, Garcia returned to the subject of large-scale illicit marijuana cultivation and asked for the attorney general\u2019s commitment to send a delegation of federal officials to California to see the problem firsthand. The congressman noted that the illegal growers and crime associated with those enterprises are \u201calso bad for the legal cannabis industry as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s meeting of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies wasn\u2019t focused on marijuana; rather, it generally concerned the annual budget request for the Justice Department. Drug enforcement did come up on several occasions.<\/p>\n

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has been targeting illicit growers, including in states that have legalized cannabis, through a marijuana eradication program. A recently released report<\/a> shows that the agency seized more illegal plants (mostly in California) in 2020 than the prior year, but the seizures are significantly lower than they were a decade ago.<\/p>\n

In any case, the attorney general\u2019s broader remarks on Justice Department cannabis priorities is consistent with what he said throughout his confirmation process earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not think it the best use of the Department\u2019s limited resources to pursue prosecutions of those who are complying with the laws in states that have legalized and are effectively regulating marijuana,\u201d he previously said. \u201cI do think we need to be sure, for example, that there are no end runs around the state laws by criminal enterprises, and that access is prohibited to minors.\u201d<\/p>\n

That view aligns with policies put into place under President Barack Obama\u2019s administration\u2014known as the Cole memorandum\u2014and then rescinded by President Donald Trump\u2019s first attorney general<\/a>, Jeff Sessions.<\/p>\n

\u201cCriminalizing the use of marijuana has contributed to mass incarceration and racial disparities in our criminal justice system,\u201d Garland said in written testimony<\/a>, \u201cand has made it difficult for millions of Americans to find employment due to criminal records for nonviolent offenses.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear if the Department of Justice will issue a new cannabis prosecution guidance memo under Garland\u2014an issue he was not pressed on at Tuesday\u2019s hearing.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s second attorney general, William Barr, maintained that Congress should take steps to\u00a0resolve the state-federal marijuana policy conflict<\/a>. But he did not make any definitive statements about the need to shift gears administratively, nor did he dedicate time while in office to recognize the racial disparities of cannabis enforcement.<\/p>\n

Barr did allegedly direct the Justice Department\u2019s Antitrust Division to\u00a0carry out investigations into 10 marijuana mergers out of personal animus for the industry<\/a>. A whistleblower who testified before a key House committee claimed the investigations were unnecessary and wasted departmental resources. But the assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division later argued that the investigations were actually \u201cconsistent with protecting consumers\u2019 access to cannabis products<\/a>, not with animosity toward the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kansas Lawmakers Approve Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill In Committee<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The post Biden AG Stresses That Marijuana Use In Legal States Is Not A Justice Department Priority<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Biden AG Stresses That Marijuana Use In Legal States Is Not A Justice Department Priority<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday reaffirmed that he does not feel the Department of Justice should be using its limited resources to go after people using marijuana in compliance with state law. During a House Appropriations subcommittee meeting, Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA) asked the official about what steps hisContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47483"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47483"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47484,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47483\/revisions\/47484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}