What is a Cannabis Sanctuary State?

California measure to make it a cannabis “sanctuary state”

What is a Cannabis Sanctuary State? from CannabisNet on Vimeo.

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has nothing on California, which accounts for a huge chunk of the legal cannabis market in North America.

Early January, Sessions announced that he was rescinding the Cole Memo, an Obama-era policy that protects cannabis businesses from federal prosecution. This announcement sent fear across many in the cannabis industry, but those in the know understand that there’s nothing to be afraid of, especially if you’re operating in California. According to the Sacramento Bee, Californians are working together in an effort to battle Sessions’ federal actions against legal cannabis.

Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, is reviving a proposal that could make California a “sanctuary state” for cannabis. According to Jones-Sawyer, Sessions’ announcement to allow federal prosecutors to go after cannabis growers and sellers right at a time when the state had just legalized recreational use is a sign that there is a need to protect the state from “outdated federal war on drugs.”

“The impacts of this ill-conceived and poorly executed war are still being felt by communities of color across the state,” he says in a statement. “The last time California supported the federal government’s efforts, families were torn apart and critical state resources were used to incarcerate more black and brown people than ever before in the history of our state.”

Jones-Sawyer says he would work with Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature so that his 2017 proposal called Assembly Bill 1578 could speed up this year after experiencing delays in the Senate last June. The bill prevents state and local agencies from cooperating with federal drug enforcement agencies who are prosecuting cannabusinesses without a federal court order.

Other California lawmakers are working quickly to prevent any anti-cannabis moves from the Trump administration. State Attorney General Xavier Becerra asked for information from California attorneys, since the Sessions announcement indicated that US attorneys will be able to aggressively target cannabis growers and sellers. “I’m hoping to sit down with them,” Becerra revealed in an interview. “We’ve reached out to the Department of Justice and to the US attorneys in the state of California to find out what they can tell us about what they plan to do to implement the new policy issued by Attorney General Sessions.”

Currently, California is home to 4 US attorneys although Brian Stretch, attorney for the Northern District of California, declared his resignation this week. Stretch was appointed by the Obama administration in 2016, but now his vacancy allows Sessions to determine who his successor will be.

Despite the fact that there is an increasingly growing support from the public for cannabis legalization, and that California voters passed Prop 64 which legalized recreational use in 2016, cannabis remains an illegal substance in the eyes of federal law.

“We’re ready to protect the state’s laws when it comes to marijuana,” said Becerra. “We’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that California’s laws are obeyed.”

No matter what Trump says about cannabis, Becerra says that California’s regulations that allow residents to legally consume and sell cannabis won’t change. Becerra also said that he’s cooperating with other state attorneys general, as well as the governor’s office and the Legislature to plan out the next move. “Whether it’s growing or selling or using, my best advice is to know the law in the state of California and know what you are required to do and not do,” he says.

Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon is in talks with Eric Holder, former Obama administration attorney general, to discuss other possible ways they can protect the voter’s decisions.

New US Attorney For Eastern California On The Limelight

McGregor Scott, the new US attorney for the Eastern District of California, now shares the same powers that he did back when he was serving a previous term. Scott stepped down in 2009, many years before Obama’s administration created the Cole Memo. Now, he’s back in office as an appointee of Donald Trump.

Eastern Californians are familiar with Scott, and not in a good way. During his previous term, he ran after businesses in a move that sent tremors across the medical cannabis industry. Back when he was an appointee of President George W. Bush, Scott prosecuted many in California’s medical cannabis industry including one that placed him in the national spotlight for a case involving 2 young men, Luke Scarmazzo and Richard Montes. According to Scott, the cannabis dispensary the two were running was illegally operated, but President Obama granted Montes clemency last year.

California’s NORML, a cannabis advocacy group, called out the Eastern District during Scott’s first tenure, saying: “The Eastern District is particularly notorious for harsh sentences against medical marijuana defendants,” says a release.

Here’s hoping that California lawmakers have Lady Luck with them as they continue fighting an uphill battle to protect the state’s market and patients, and hoping that history won’t repeat itself.

What is a Marijuana Sanctuary State?