Senate Judiciary Advances Marijuana Prohibitionist Jeff Sessions

Washington, DC – Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the confirmation of Jeff Sessions to be the next US Attorney General on a party line vote of 11 to 9.

Sessions has a storied history of supporting marijuana prohibition, as NORML has well documented. This includes previously declaring that “good people do not smoke marijuana” and supporting legislation that would have allowed defendants to receive the death penalty if they had received multiple convictions for marijuana distribution.

“If the Senate approves Jeff Sessions as Attorney General they will be elevating a true believer in outdated reefer madness rhetoric to the highest law enforcement post in the land,” said Erik Altieri, Executive Director of NORML, “Until we have explicit confirmation from the Trump Administration or Senator Sessions himself that the federal government will not interfere with state marijuana laws, we are urging Senators to stand up for the will of the voters and the 60% of the country that supports legalization and ‘just say no’ to Sessions for Attorney General.”

“On a range of issues, Sen. Sessions would represent a return the bygone era of state repression against individuals rights. For marijuana in particular, in a day and age of legal dispensaries, it is troubling to see that a man who called for the execution of marijuana distributors become the nation’s top law enforcement officer. It is imperative that Congress move forward on protections for states that have reformed their approach to marijuana to protect them from a rogue Justice Department,” said Justin Strekal, Political Director for NORML.

SOURCE: NORML