Jeff Sessions, head of the Department of Justice, reversed the “Cole Memo” that allowed states to pursue marijuana legalization without fear of the federal government stepping in and prosecuting the marijuana industry. Sessions is leaving it up to each state’s federal prosecutor to decide on how to proceed. This happened just as California moved to implement legal marijuana and Vermont voted to legalize marijuana. We speak with Justin Strekal, policy director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), and Doug McVay, a long time advocate for drug law reform at the state and national level and editor of Drug War Facts, about what lies ahead for the movement to end marijuana prohibition.
Listen here:
Relevant articles and websites:
What now? Experts and politicians weigh in on potential impact of Sessions’ rollback of marijuana policy by Alicia Wallace
Sixty-nine Members Of Congress Sign Letter To Congressional Leadership by Justin Strekal
Marijuana Law Reform Efforts Advance in States Despite a Hostile Attorney General by Kevin Mahmaliji
Guests:
Justin Strekal is the Political Director for NORML, where he serves as an advocate to end the federal prohibition of marijuana and to reform our nation’s laws to no longer treat marijuana consumers as second-class citizens. Before working on drug policy, he worked on tax, wage, and campaign finance reform as well as electoral campaigns throughout the country for positions in every level of government.
Doug McVay is the host of Century of Lies on Drug Truth Network and the editor of Drug War Facts for Common Sense for Drug Policy. He became active in NORML in college in 1983 and has been active ever since at the national level and in Oregon.