‘attorney general’
Nebraska Attorney General Gives the State Some Bad Legal Advice Concerning Marijuana Legalization
Aug. 4, 2019—On August 1, Nebraska Attorney General Douglas Peterson gave the state some bad legal advice concerning proposed medical marijuana legislation (the Medical Cannabis Act). In response to a request from a state senator, he concluded that the MCA would be preempted by the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and thus null and void. The AG’s full...
How U.S. Attorneys Have Responded to the Rescission of Marijuana Enforcement Guidance
Jan. 13, 2018—[Revised 1/14 for clarity and updates.] Now that the Attorney General has rescinded Obama-era marijuana enforcement guidance, local federal prosecutors (U.S. Attorneys) arguably have more leeway to pursue legal action against the state-licensed recreational marijuana industry. (The state-licensed medical marijuana industry is still protected by spending restrictions Congress has imposed on the DOJ, at least under the current federal budget .)...
Jeff Sessions Rescinds Obama-Era Enforcement Guidance: Five Observations
Jan. 5, 2018—[Post has been updated and revised again to add new links: Jan. 12, 2018] On January 4, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions formally rescinded enforcement guidance that had been issued by the Obama Administration DOJ as far back as 2009. To simplify somewhat, that guidance had urged United States Attorneys not to enforce the federal...
Iowa Officials Urged Not to Permit Importation of CBD from Minnesota
Sep. 12, 2017—The Iowa Attorney General’s office just advised the state health department not to authorize two Minnesota medical marijuana dispensaries to supply medical marijuana to Iowa residents. If heeded, the advice would nullify a novel provision of Iowa’s nascent medical marijuana program. The provision, adopted as part of a package of reforms in May 2017, calls...
Coverage of DOJ’s Response to Legalization
Aug. 17, 2017—The Cannabist has compiled a wonderful collection of primary documents detailing the back-and-forth between the governors of the first four recreational legalization states (Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington) and the U.S. Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. The documents include: April 2017 letters from state leaders imploring Sessions to adhere to the Obama Administration’s non-enforcement policy. That...