April 28, 2017 02:18 PM UTC

Sessions Backing Off Marijuana Crackdown?

• 3 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

That seems to be what the Denver Post’s Alicia Wallace writing at The Cannabist thinks based on comments from Gov. John Hickenlooper, who met this week with Attorney General Jeff “Reefer Madness” Sessions:

Following a face-to-face meeting with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said he doesn’t think a federal crackdown is imminent for his state or others that have legalized cannabis…

Sessions was receptive to keeping the lines of communication open, Hickenlooper said, adding that a policy position appears to be in the works.

“He’s obviously reviewing the Cole (Memo),” Hickenlooper said. “(They’re working on) a version of that that makes sense for this administration. We’ll have to see how far they go.”

Hickenlooper described Sessions as “direct,” “straight-forward” and “honest.” And while the attorney general “couldn’t have been more emphatic” about legalization being a bad idea, he also understood that Colorado’s marijuana regulations came to be because of the will of the voters.

As such, Hickenlooper said, he doesn’t believe Sessions will come down on legal marijuana states from an enforcement standpoint.

Sessions’ rhetoric against legalized marijuana since his appointment as Attorney General, not to mention for many years before as a U.S. Senator, left Colorado’s billion-dollar marijuana industry very nervous about the future. It’s interesting that Hickenlooper came away from this meeting with a different impression of how Sessions intends to proceed, but we think it will take more words–or at least more time–before the industry is comfortable. And even if Sessions allows the status quo to continue, many issues like banking for marijuana businesses remain unresolved.

Until we definitively get the word that DEA stormtroopers will not be raiding dispensaries and cuffing stoners, we would advise continued caution. It’s possible that President Donald Trump has decided to restrain Sessions on this issue, or will decide to do that–but until you see it in writing, don’t count on it.