President-elect Donald Trump nominated Sen. Jeff Session (R-Ala.) to the post of Attorney General in a move that has many in the cannabis industry questioning the industry’s position with the federal government.
The Friday announcement prompted near immediate responses from national cannabis organizations.
Sessions, a well-known prohibitionist who is on record saying “good people don’t smoke marijuana” at an April 2016 Senate drug hearing, is being touted as an enemy to cannabis legalization by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Erik Altieri, the group’s executive director, said in a Friday statement that the pick “couldn’t be much worse for the marijuana law reform movement.”
According to Altieri, “[with] the authority the position of Attorney General provides, Sessions could immediately get to work attempting to block the implementation of the recent ballot initiatives, start dismantling a legal industry in Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and Alaska, and begin conducting massive raids on existing medical and recreational retail stores.”
During the same April hearing, Sessions also claimed Lady Gaga was addicted to cannabis and that the President should take a tough stance on cannabis.
“You can't have the President of the United States of America talking about marijuana … you are sending a message to young people that there is no danger in this process,” Sessions said. “It is false that marijuana use doesn't lead people to more drug use. It is already causing a disturbance in the States that have made it legal.”
Claims of marijuana being a gateway drug have long been debunked, as studies claiming otherwise show a correlation between cannabis and harder drug use, not a causal relationship. In fact, alcohol is more likely to be a gateway than cannabis.
The National Cannabis Industry Association, which has a strong lobbying presence in the District of Columbia, tempered their judgments of Sessions by pointing out the senator’s track record on state sovereignty.
“Voters in 28 states have chosen programs that shift cannabis from the criminal market to highly regulated, tax-paying businesses,” the group said in a statement Friday. “Senator Sessions has long advocated for state sovereignty, and we look forward to working with him to ensure that states' rights and voter choices on cannabis are respected.”
The appointment still needs to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a three-fifths margin, meaning 60 senators need to approve the President-elect’s choice for head of the country’s Justice Department. If approved, Sessions would become one of the most powerful figures in President-elect Trump’s cabinet.
