New Federal Task Force Created to Review Cannabis Policies

A new task force focused on crime reduction has been created by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and will review how the Department of Justice (DOJ) enforces cannabis laws. According to the memo released by Sessions on April 5, The Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety says that they will “review existing policies in the areas of charging, sentencing, and marijuana to ensure consistency with the department’s overall strategy on reducing violent crime and with administration goals and priorities.”

Although White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told the public in February that there will be greater enforcement of the federal laws with regard to states with recreational cannabis, this new task force doesn’t seem as aggressive as Spicer would have us anticipate.

The task force will review a number of other issues as well, including amending charging and sentencing policies, reviewing asset forfeiture guidance, reducing human trafficking and illegal immigration, and combatting hate crimes.

“Task Force subcommittees will also undertake a review of existing policies in the areas of charging, sentencing, and marijuana to ensure consistency with the Department’s overall strategy on reducing violent crime, and with the Administrations goals and priorities,” the memo said. “Another subcommittee will explore our use of asset forfeiture and make recommendations on any improvements needed to legal authorities, policies, and training to most effectively attack the financial infrastructure of criminal organizations.”

Though cannabis is illegal under federal law, the DOJ under President Obama’s administration enacted guidelines that limited federal enforcement of cannabis laws in states that had opted to legalize medical or recreational use.

Additionally, the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment, sponsored by Democrat Sam Farr and Republican Dana Rohrabacher, has prohibited the federal government and federal employees from interfering with businesses and people who are operating within their states’ medical or recreational cannabis laws. It essentially disallows the federal government from enacting stricter drug laws than what a state permits.

The Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment was originally passed in 2014 and has to be renewed every year. It was temporarily renewed on December 8, 2016, but it only until April 2017, when it will come back for full renewal or dismissal. “I don’t believe we should be expending very limited resources on trying to prevent people from smoking or utilizing or consuming a weed,” Rohrabacher told CULTURE.

Rohrabacher has also recently introduced legislation intended to prevent Sessions and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from interfering with a state’s right to have legal cannabis.

It is called the “Respect State Marijuana Laws Act of 2017,” a proposal that would permanently keep Trump’s or any future administration from interfering with states that have legalized cannabis for medicinal or recreational purposes. The bill would provide federal immunity for people and businesses acting in accordance with state law.

The government has announced intentions to have a National Summit on Crime Reduction and Public Safety within the next 120 days. Sessions wants the new task force to report back with initial recommendations on cannabis by the end of July. They have requested that local law enforcement, local organizations and the communities offer their input on the violent crime issues, whatever those may be. Sessions states in the memo, “I have pledged to listen to the stories and concerns of those who are most affected by this rise in violent crime in communities across the country.”

As we know, violent crime in the U.S. has been declining since 1992, but Sessions seems to believe otherwise. It is too early to tell what will come from this effort or this new task force, but advocates in the cannabis industry remain hopeful that the legal states’ rights will remain protected.