Page 22
Martin Luther King Jr.
2018 special edition
January 10, 2018
Marijuana
Directive
Denounced
New policy
may not have
much impact
New federal guidelines on
prosecuting marijuana crimes
probably won’t lead to a crack-
down on personal and medical
uses of the drug in states where
it is legal like Oregon, but
the new policy by U.S. Attor-
ney General Jeff Sessions got
strong denouncements from
state and local officials when it
was announced last week.
Sessions
reversed
an
Obama-era directive of non-in-
terference with states that have
legalized marijuana. Instead he
will now leave it up the discre-
tion of local federal prosecu-
tors on how they try cases in
their jurisdictions, encouraging
them to focus on shared public
safety objectives.
Ellen Rosenblum, Oregon’s
Attorney General, said she
would do everything within
her legal authority to protect
Oregon’s marijuana industry
within its “carefully considered
state regulatory requirements.”
She said the industry has cre-
ated over 19,000 jobs through-
out the state, adding over $1
million in revenue to schools,
to public safety, and to drug
and alcohol treatment in Ore-
gon in the last year and a half.
Billy J. Williams, the U.S.
Attorney for Oregon, respond-
ed to the new guidelines by
saying he will continue work-
ing with federal, state, local
and tribal law enforcement in
Oregon to stem the overpro-
duction of marijuana on the
black market and “the diver-
sion of marijuana out of state,
dismantling criminal organi-
zations and thwarting violent
crimes in our communities.”
That statement appears to
recognize that under Oregon
Law there’s not sufficient local
support to enforce federal pro-
hibitions against personal and
medical use of the drug.