U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions wants Congress to scrap federal medical marijuanaprotections implemented in 2014, according to a letter made public Monday.
The protections prohibit the Justice Department from using federal funds to block certain states from “from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana,” the Washington Post reported.
In his letter written in May, Sessions said the protections prevent the Justice Department’s “authority to enforce the Controlled Substances Act.”
“I believe it would be unwise for Congress to restrict the discretion of the Department to fund particular prosecutions, particularly in the midst of an historic drug epidemic and potentially long-term uptick in violent crime. The Department must be in a position to use all laws available to combat the transnational drug organizations and dangerous drug traffickers who threaten American lives,” according to Sessions.
However, his mention of a “historic drug epidemic” to justify an offensive against medical marijuana doesn’t mesh with what’s known about current drug use and abuse in the country, according to the Post.
credit:medicinenet.com
