Attorney General Jeff Sessions is cracking down on states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use.
Sessions order allows federal prosecutors to prosecute marijuana cases even if state voters have legalized it.
Some Republicans cheered the decision while others questioned why Sessions wasn’t using his resources to go after Hillary, the Clinton Foundation, and other issues. Many Trump supporters are already upset with Sessions after he recused himself from the Russia investigation, paving the way for Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Colorado Republican Senator Cory Gardner says Sessions told him he would respect the will of voters in states like Colorado, and Gardner says he will hold up DOJ nominees until Sessions lives up to his word.
According to The AP:
“Attorney General Jeff Sessions has rescinded an Obama-era policy that paved the way for legalized marijuana to flourish in states across the country, creating new confusion about enforcement and use just three days after a new legalization law went into effect in California.
President Donald Trump’s top law enforcement official announced the change Thursday. Instead of the previous lenient-federal-enforcement policy, Sessions’ new stance will instead let federal prosecutors where marijuana is legal decide how aggressively to enforce longstanding federal law prohibiting it.
Sessions’ plan drew immediate strong objection from Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, one of eight states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use.
Gardner said in a tweet that the Justice Department “has trampled on the will of the voters” in Colorado and other states. He said the action would contradict what Sessions had told him before the attorney general was confirmed and that he was prepared “to take all steps necessary” to fight the step including holding up the confirmation of Justice Department nominees.”
