White House: Feds will step up marijuana law enforcement

The White House said Thursday it expects law enforcement agents to enforce federal marijuana laws when they come into conflict with states where recreational use of the drug is permitted.

"I do believe you will see greater enforcement of it," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said regarding federal drug laws, which still list marijuana as an illegal substance.

Source

State's right, they matter...as long as it is a Republican idea that the states are pursuing.

Obama said in the immediate aftermath of those votes that the federal government had "bigger fish to fry" than cracking down on marijuana use in states where it's considered legal.

"bigger fish to fry"

Spicer on Thursday, however, linked marijuana use with the widespread abuse of painkillers, suggesting that allowing recreational use of marijuana could be interpreted as condoning drug use more widely.

marijuana usage is linked to widespread drug usage...

He was careful to distinguish between use of medical marijuana and recreational marijuana. President Donald Trump, he said, understood that marijuana could help ease suffering for patients with terminal illnesses.

....yet medical marijuana is just fine?

___

How do they come up with this?

Well, so much for those pot bills passing.

LOL

So could allowing recreational use of alcohol and tobacco. This is probably the most patently ridiculous thing he could have possibly said, but he didn't let that stand in his way.

The focus will be on the large grows; we still do routine large raids on homes and backyard grows. Also, of course, under the table sales will still catch someone a possession for sales arrest. Marijuana may be legal in CA but I can still charge someone for H&S 11359.

The war on drugs was the worst idea to come out of the USA.

Land of the free. Free to do as you're fucking told :(

Hahah nice. Free to do as you're told.... Aw... now I feel sad.

Gee, does anybody remember when I repeatedly said during the campaign that Trump would not allow recreational Marijuana? I was told that I was totally delusional. I also mentioned often he was going to be poor on gay rights too. Funny how right wing posters who enjoy marijuana wouldn't listen. Who exactly do you think the Republicans are? Sad how clouded people's thinking is to elect these awful people.

Well, still waiting for politicians to come out in favor of recreational marihuana, until then this is the law of the land. Selective enforcement of any particular law a President might favor (or not) is a dangerous slippery slope.

Grow a pair Democrats and come out in favor of legalization. It is the right thing to do.

Here is a list from October, not sure how many are still in office:

Representatives and senators supporting marijuana legalization:

• Mike Honda, D-California
• Jared Huffman, D-California
• Barbara Lee, D-California
• Ted Lieu, D-California
• Zoe Lofgren, D-California
• Alan Lowenthal, D-California
• Dana Rohrabacher, R-California
• Eric Swalwell, D-California
• Ed Perlmutter, D-Colorado
• Jared Polis, D-Colorado
• Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-District of Columbia
• Ruben Gallego, D-Illinois
• Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois
• Chellie Pingree, D-Maine
• Mike Capuano, D-Massachusetts
• Jerrold Nadler, D-New York
• Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon
• Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon
• Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee
• Don Beyer, D-Virginia
• Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont
• Mark Pocan, D-Wisconsin

(All Democrats save for one Independent and one Republican)

Source

Give them time. They are slow to change when it doesn't immediately benefits the law makers I guess... Also doing a complete 18o degree turn from a war on drugs to allowing one of them is pretty hard for many politicians.

I have no issue with legalizing weed. The taxes would go a long way to helping the national debt if used properly.

I posted this yesterday in the bathroom thread:

I actually think that the feds do not belong in many areas. Leave it up to states to decide (what do you know, this includes issues of weed as well, who would have thought?). If what you want is the feds in everything, then screw all those states who have passed recreational marijuana laws and start arresting those who run the weed shops, pharmacies and whatnot.

I have said it before and will say it again, be careful of what you wish for. If you want the feds to rule all parts of life, then that includes things you may not want them in.

This is so fucking idiotic.

Right, it has always seem like in this issue Republicans follow their (stupid) conviction of keeping marihuana illegal, but it is their conviction nevertheless so at least it is sincere. While there are many Democrats who seem to support legalization with a wink-wink attitude without actually taking the stand because of the political price. That's just cowardice.

Time to once again put the Republicans against the wall. Make them stand and provide their silly reasons for keeping marihuana illegal. While it might be easier to "wait for the right moment" the people getting their lives ruined because of this can't wait. Plus you are on the right side, so history will judge you well. Time to force the issue.

Trump is the best president, the best! Hippie drugs are a priority that must be stopped. He's such a winner. He will make America white again, by locking up all the minorities for daring to smoke the devil's lettuce.

I don't think drugs should be illegal but I have serious issue with selective enforcement of laws. If libs wanted it legal they should have made it legal when they had the power.

Republicans are all about state's rights until it goes against their agenda.

Can't let those crazy hippies have fun after all.

colorado alone had over $1B in marijuana sales last year with an estimated $150M bump to it's tax revenue due to it.

states aren't going to simply sit back and let that new revenue stream be destroyed so easily.

Right, the first thing the CO governor should do is give a call to his two Senators and ask them to fully, openly support legalization. It is in the best interest of their state so they should have no trouble supporting it...

it's an easy pitch. something like 1/3 of that revenue went directly to school improvement..

@Master_Live: I bet the (vast) majority of GOP Congress/Senator either currently use or have used weed as well. But for some reason are opposed to the legalization in the face of reason and evidence

+1 for "devil's lettuce"

I have a crazy idea. Maybe people who think marijuana should be legal shouldn't vote Republican. Unless the candidate is libertarian at least. People absolutely refuse to stop voting against their own interests. Next will be poor people who voted for Trump that can't afford insurance complaining about losing healthcare and federal assistance.

I live in Oregon, and it's legal here. I can hop across the street to the weed store and use my American Express. :/

Not after Jeff Sessions sends in the feds.

@mark1974: Here come the feds. :(

@mark1974: You think I'll be arrested?

Rand Paul should be on that list. So, two Republicans. Woot?

https://www.isidewith.com/candidate-guide/rand-paul-2/healthcare/marijuana

All Libertarians should be on the list of elected officials who support marijuana legalization.

He might be on the right side of this but Paul isn't a real libertarian, he has libertarian leanings on some issues; privacy being the most prominent.

Marijuana is the biggest fish to fry. There's so much money to be made by locking up stoners and stopping business.

Trump: MAKE PRIVATE PRISONS GREAT AGAIN!

Maybe +1 should be our unspoken like button. +1 sir.

I hope not. They will probably shut down your local shop and maybe arrest them and ruin their lives. But as for you, your quality of life and liberty will merely be trampled on. All of those right wingers will be so glad you are no longer able to enjoy yourself peacefully. It really bothers them when people have fun.

screw trump and his minions, im gonna keep smoking weed everyday. I don't consider him a legitimate president either.

Gotta rev up those private prisons to fill the pockets of the state and corporatists.

This a stupid and a counter-productive move. Weed made cancer treatment so much more tolerable for me.

States rights is like free speech. It only matters when it agrees with my agenda.

What? :S

Cannibinol or THC does ease nausea from chemo treatments. My Pops was given Marinol, which is a synthesized version of it, so he would also eat more. When he died, he maybe weighed 90 pounds, down from his normal weight of 140-145 Lbs. due to chemo for lung cancer.

My ocologist tried to give me Merinol. I hear it has withdraw effects. I opted for a note to get my medical card. Not only did it help with my petite during less-intensive chemos, it also helped with my pain. My platelets were constantly low, so the last thing I needed was pain killers to make it drop even more.

Sorry for your loss. I was around 135 lbs when I started and dropped to 105 lbs. I was forced to have a feeding a tube. It nearly saved my life.

Sorry for your loss man :(

At least he was given some treatment to ease his pain. But still, hearing about people having cancer is always saddening.

If people saw what I saw, as well as helped with what I, as well as other family members and friends of his, they would stop smoking. Agent Orange may have played a part also. He ended up with a broken arm after falling in the middle of the night while trying to go to the bathroom and didn't know about it for some time. After getting it fixed, the bone was shot out, he tried to drive to his friends house just down the street. He could barely start the truck and Ma had drive back. It pretty much killed him to lose the freedom to do something without someone's help. The worst part, and I was there when he told his oncologist this, was that he no longer wanted chemo or any other treatments. He was saying that he was ready to die. Not even 2 months later, he died, even after fighting to breathe for hours on his last day. Watching that would be hard any family.

Why put your family through that when it is not needed? Since I smoked as well, I know what I can expect some time down the road, and I do not relish it myself. If it wasn't for the Marinol, I believe he might have died sooner due to not eating. I often thought of getting him some weed so he would get the munchies, but smoking was out of the question and I don't think Ma would have been comfortable baking it.

lmao what kind of backwards ass shit is this

Given all the issues we have to deal with in this country...WHO CARES about marijuana use? The war on drugs, stuff like this-it is an unnecessary taxpayer expense that creates criminals out of people that just want to get lit.

It also creates an entire illegal economic ecosystem with millions of untaxed dollars that the government could benefit from. But we don't . Why? Because Nancy said -just say NO-

I'm so happy that drug addicts wont be able to roam free.

Now we just need harsher penalties and we're set.

We will finally have a real war on drugs thanks to Trump

We've had a drug war for the past three decades that has ruined this country, empowered cartels, and destabilized our neighbors in the south.

Are you a troll or are you lacking the capability to think critically?

Good.

Smoking and Drinking will kill you.

So you are in favor of the Nanny state? The government needs to tell us what we can and can't do to our own body for our own good? While the majority of Congress drinks heavily and consumes a variety of drugs? How about I just get the freedom to decide for myself.

Not really.

But i am also not for a total legalization of all kinds of drugs.

And the state decides things we can´t and cannot do all the time, it's called living in a society with others.

o

Three things came to mind

1) Under Obama's administration the feds still gave the marijuana industry a tough time. Wasn't all rose pedals. They helped during the transition from medical to recreational in some states, which was very nice, but they also gave many medical places a very tough time before that. Some pot laws in WA were getting switched around on a dime and then the feds would swoop in and take down any places that didn't instantly comply. It's fair in a sense (because they want to create the impression that you can't just run a dispensary willy-nilly), but based off some personal stories I've heard, seems like many people got bit big in the ass.

2) The recreational laws in WA suck. I enjoyed much better prices, selection, and quality before the switch to recreational. Maybe if I lived in Colorado I'd care a lot more.

3) Spicer seems a bit vague on specifically what might happen, but does seem to give a fair warning about the possibility of a fed crackdown. It would be a little shocking if they did, because it hearkens back to the style of old-Republicans who place their personal values over other people's freedoms. I'm not under the impression there's as much of a constituency to be anti-pot than to be open minded towards it in states that legalized it, so it's one of things where I don't necessarily see what they have to gain.

I could imagine they'll try to use marijuana as a way to prioritize which illegals to deport (sellers and those involved in the industry). Doesn't seem too far outside of the realm of possibility.

I haven't said my stance in awhile but I'm a daily user. I sympathize with Spicer's point of view but the fact of the matter is that prohibition on something so ubiquitous doesn't work. It also avoids the big elephant in the room that alcohol is much more commonly abused yet of course that doesn't seem to be the primary target.