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Oregonians have always grown and sold a lot of cannabis. But since the legalization of cannabis, officials from the state and federal government have been working hard to regulate the industry. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown recently received a letter from Attorney General Jeff Sessions criticizing the regulation of Oregon’s recreational cannabis market. The letter also claimed that Oregon’s program may not be in compliance with federal regulations from the Cole Memo, which was set in place by the Obama administration in 2013 and allows individual states to regulate their own cannabis industry without interference from the Department of Justice. Colorado and Washington officials received similar letters from Sessions, expressing his concerns about the states’ recreational and medical programs’ compliance with federal law, as well as how effectively their systems were being regulated.

“The federal government needs to get out of the way of states that proactively and effectively regulate cannabis, which never should have been illegal in the first place.”

Kate Brown responded to Jeff Sessions with a letter that not only defended Oregon’s compliance with federal cannabis regulations, but also accusing Sessions of using outdated and incorrect evidence in his letter. He had referred to a police study that revealed how much cannabis was sold through Oregon’s black market. The study was done long before legalization, and even the facilitators of the study, the Oregon State Police, discredited the information as incomplete and inconclusive. Kate Brown and other Oregon lawmakers have worked diligently to regulate legal cannabis, and they have been pioneers in recreational cannabis legislation. Sessions’ letter to the governor seemed foretelling of things to come, and revealed the attitude of the Department of Justice toward legalization and cannabis in general.

Other Oregon politicians and lawmakers support Kate Brown in her efforts to defend the state-run and regulated cannabis industry and prefer the federal government take more of a hands-off approach when it comes to states with voter approved recreational cannabis. Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer has a long history of support for legislation that updates cannabis policy to create a better working legal system.

Blumenauer spoke with CULTURE about the current clash between state and federal government, “A majority of Americans agree—the prohibition of cannabis has failed and regulation is the only effective way to ensure that it is consumed safely and responsibly. Oregon’s regulatory program is Cole Memo compliant, and most importantly, the state continues to work to improve its system to better track and regulate all medical and adult use cannabis from seed to sale,” Blumenauer said. “The federal government needs to get out of the way of states that proactively and effectively regulate cannabis, which never should have been illegal in the first place.”

Blumenauer strongly supports cannabis legalization, and he recognizes the discrepancies created with conflicting state and federal cannabis law. The same year the Cole Memo was released, Blumenauer co-authored a report entitled, “The Path Forward: Rethinking Federal Marijuana Policy.” He has also shared his support of having cannabis removed from the Controlled Substances Act. Blumenauer is one of many Oregon officials who support Kate Brown’s stance on federal cannabis reform, and he wants to see a recreational cannabis system free of federal control.

Oregon officials continue to defend the state’s freedom to control cannabis policy at the state level, without interference from Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice.

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