Colorado pols react swiftly to denounce Sessions' anti-marijuana move
Pueblo County commissioner warns justice department to leave legal pot alone
“Reports that the Justice Department will rescind their current policy on legal marijuana enforcement are extremely alarming,” Gardner said in a statement.
“Before I voted to confirm Attorney General Sessions, he assured me that marijuana would not be a priority for this Administration. Today’s action directly contradicts what I was told, and I am prepared to take all steps necessary, including holding DOJ nominees, until the Attorney General lives up to the commitment he made to me prior to his confirmation.”
“And I agree,” Gardner said.
U.S. Congressman Scott Tipton, R-Colo., also was displeased with Sessions’ alleged betrayal.
“The announcement by the Department of Justice is a drastic departure from the Attorney General’s previous commitment to Senator Cory Gardner during the confirmation process that he would uphold the Obama Administration’s treatment of marijuana enforcement and President Trump’s comments that he would leave it to the states,” Tipton said.
“Furthermore it creates even greater confusion and uncertainty by leaving enforcement decisions up to federal prosecutors. The Department of Justice should provide guidance on enforcement of marijuana for states that have voted to legalize it. The people of Colorado voted to legalize marijuana in the state, and I am committed to defending the will of Coloradans.”
Pueblo County Commissioner Sal Pace said early Thursday that any move by the U.S. Department of Justice to reverse cannabis legalization enacted by citizens across the country will be opposed vigorously by a bipartisan national coalition of local elected officials.
After The Pueblo Chieftain asked Pace his reaction to this new issue early Thursday, Pace released a statement to the media.
“A reversal of the sovereign voice of the American public is an assault on the intellect of Americans, an assault on the fundamental tenants of democracy, and an attack on the constitutional guarantee of states’ rights,” Pace said.
“That is why I am bringing together local elected officials across the country to demand that Congress act immediately to protect the voice of their constituents and allow states to determine their own fate.”
Pace said the American public has spoken loud and clear that states — not some appointed official — should have the right to determine their own fate on cannabis.
Pace said the same 165,000 residents who elected him also voted for President Donald Trump and voted in favor of the legalization of marijuana.
“The citizens from this Trump-backing county do not want this economic engine shut down, sending thousands of people to the unemployment line and costing our county government millions in tax revenues,” Pace said.
Pueblo has more than 100 legal marijuana cultivations, and has been called the Napa Valley of the industry in Colorado.
“Roughly $6 million of Pueblo County’s $88 million general fund is supported by cannabis tax revenues,” Pace said.
Pace was instrumental in creating the world’s first cannabis-funded college scholarship program for every high school graduate and for helping to create the Institute of Cannabis Research at Colorado State University-Pueblo.
State Sen. Leroy Garcia, D-Pueblo, called the move one of the biggest travesties of the Trump Administration and said it doesn’t respect the will of Colorado voters or Pueblo County.
“Not recognizing the states have their own authority in this administration isn’t concentrating on the opioid crisis we are losing people every day to opioids at a rate that is alarming,” he said. “We are going to choose to go after marijuana? I think there is a greater priority.”
Garcia said he had hoped that Sessions would hold to his commitment to Gardner.
Paula McPheeters and Erin Hergert, founding members of Pueblo for Positive Impact, a local anti-marijuana organization, did not want to comment on the issue Thursday.
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