Republicans in support of cannabis legalization like Senator Cory Gardner out of Colorado are scrambling to make their constituents happy after the DOJ overturned the Cole Memo. President Trump does not have a very high approval rating and a number of key republican seats have already been lost. Republicans are afraid the new policy changes towards the federal government’s stance on marijuana will have voters switch to voting for democrats.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions revoked Obama-era guidance to make it easier for federal prosecutors to enforce existing marijuana laws in the eight states that have legalized the substance.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, meanwhile, unveiled a proposal to permit drilling in most continental-shelf waters, including protected areas of the Arctic and the Atlantic, in a boon for oil companies.
Both moves are unpopular with voters, especially key people in places that are likely to determine whether the GOP holds the House. In practice, these two stories probably pose bigger challenges for the president’s party in the midterms than any book about White House dysfunction. A Gallup poll in October found that 64 percent of Americans want to legalize marijuana, including a 51 percent majority of Republicans. Support is also particularly strong among millennial voters who Democrats are trying to galvanize for the midterms.
This explains why most elected Republicans in places that are directly impacted moved swiftly to distance themselves. For example, Trump lost by nine points in the suburban Denver district represented by Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., making him one of the most endangered House Republicans on the ballot this November. “Attorney General Sessions needs to read the Commerce Clause found in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution that limits the power of the federal government to regulate interstate and not intrastate commerce,” Coffman said in a statement. “The decision that was made to legalize marijuana in Colorado was made by the voters of Colorado and only applies within the boundaries of our state. Colorado had every right to legalize marijuana and I will do everything I can to protect that right against the power of an overreaching federal government.”
This explains why most elected Republicans in places that are directly impacted moved swiftly to distance themselves. For example, Trump lost by nine points in the suburban Denver district represented by Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., making him one of the most endangered House Republicans on the ballot this November. “Attorney General Sessions needs to read the Commerce Clause found in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution that limits the power of the federal government to regulate interstate and not intrastate commerce,” Coffman said in a statement. “The decision that was made to legalize marijuana in Colorado was made by the voters of Colorado and only applies within the boundaries of our state. Colorado had every right to legalize marijuana and I will do everything I can to protect that right against the power of an overreaching federal government.”
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., in an Orange Country district that Hillary Clinton carried, went even further: “The attorney general of the United States has just delivered an extravagant holiday gift to the drug cartels,” he said in a statement. “By attacking the will of the American people, who overwhelmingly favor marijuana legalization, Jeff Sessions has shown a preference for allowing all commerce in marijuana to take place in the black market, which will inevitably bring the spike in violence he mistakenly attributes to marijuana itself. He is doing the bidding of an out-of-date law enforcement establishment that wants to wage a perpetual weed war and seize private citizens’ property in order to finance its backward ambitions.”
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, R, up for reelection this fall in a state Trump lost by 27 points, said he “fully supports the will of the voters” vis-à-vis marijuana. “The administration believes this is the wrong decision and will review any potential impacts from any policy changes by the local U.S. Attorney’s Office,” a spokesperson said.
Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., perhaps the most vulnerable Republican incumbent up for reelection in 2020, threatened to put a hold on all of Trump’s nominees for the Justice Department over the new directive. “This is about a decision by the state of Colorado, and we were told states’ rights would be protected,” he said in a fiery floor speech. “One tweet later, one policy later ― a complete reversal of what many of us on the Hill were told before the confirmation. Without any notification, conversation or dialogue with Congress, completely reversed!”
The senator’s threat is meaningful, and he has lots of leverage, because there are still no confirmed assistant attorneys general for the national security, criminal and civil rights divisions. Of the 93 U.S. attorney slots nationwide, Trump has nominated 58 and only 46 have been confirmed by the Senate.
The post Republicans in Jeopardy of Losing Seats Due to Cole Memo Being Overturned appeared first on Marijuana News.
Source: MJFeed
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