Letter writer Simon Guillet rails against marijuana and conflates it with opioids and heroin. He obviously is not aware that marijuana has not caused an overdose death in recorded history. It's the "safest therapeutic substance known to man safer than most foods," wrote DEA judge Francis Young after hearing hundreds of hours of testimony. U.S. states that have legalized weed have had significant drops in opioid use and overdoses. So don't fear the weed, Canada, embrace it. You'll be much better off. Jeff Meyers, Westlake Village, Calif. [end]
Taking a break from his provocative tweets on North Korea, President Trump on Thursday declared the opioid addiction epidemic a national emergency, heeding Gov. Chris Christie's suggestion as part of Christie's work with a special presidential commission on opioid abuse. It was a welcome step by Trump, albeit a bit unexpected; as recently as Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said Trump would not make the emergency declaration because it was unnecessary. But as is so often the case with Trump, even sensible policy is layered with impulsiveness, hypocrisy and a general sense of cluelessness. [continues 640 words]
The deadly painkiller fentanyl, thrust under a spotlight by a rare warning by three health agenices and city police, isn't the only dangerous street drug raising eyebrows in London. Heroin is also showing up, in levels-those who work with addicts say they haven't seen before. One agency blames the spike on the province tightening the prescription drugs it covers under a program for people on social assistance and seniors, which has driven some users to heroin instead. "I've never known it (heroin) here. Now it is," said Karen Burton, needle and syringe program coordinator at Regional HIV/AIDS Connection in London, whose work includes a drug needle exchange program. "Heroin is here and I don't see it disappearing anytime soon." [continues 630 words]
MANITOBA RCMP officers are being equipped with special masks and goggles to protect them in the event they're exposed to fentanyl, a potentially deadly synthetic opiate. They will also switch to black latex gloves instead of the standard-issue blue ones to better detect the white powder. Criminals are footing the bill. Justice Minister Heather Stefanson announced on Friday that the provincial government will spend nearly $54,000 from its criminal property forfeiture fund to equip more than 1,000 front-line Mounties with the new gear. Also included will be specialized drums to store evidence. [continues 329 words]
In reply to Robert Sinclair's letter ("gateway drug theory is flawed") defending the legalization of marijuana, and his refuting that weed may be a gateway to harder drugs, the National Institute of Drug Abuse, as late as April of this year, has stated that "an alternative to the gateway-drug hypothesis is that people who are more vulnerable to drug-taking are simply more likely to start with readily available substances such as marijuana, tobacco, or alcohol, and their subsequent social interactions with others who use drugs increases their chances of trying other drugs." [continues 241 words]
A conspiracy hypothesis must surely be tested regarding the carnage currently inflicted by street fentanyl and its weaponized derivative, carfentanil. Simply stated, drug dealing is a business. No entrepreneur is going to deliberately contaminate product so that it kills the customers. Suspicion must be entertained that some organization with ulterior motives is deliberately contaminating the street drug supply. Opioid and stimulant injectors are the main target. The possibility of tainted street marijuana (Get naloxone, pot users urged, Aug. 4) pales by comparison. Now more than ever, the adage rings true that illegal drugs are not dangerous because they're illegal, they're illegal because they are dangerous. Harm reduction efforts are laudable but they are failing to stop the purge. Jamie Harris London [end]
As deadly fentanyl fuels a public health crisis, Free Press reporter Jennifer Bieman reveals what you should know about common London street drugs Forget the old adage that what you don't know, can't hurt you. When it comes to street drugs, what you don't know can kill you. That was the thrust of a rare public health warning - three health agencies and London police joined in its release - last week in London, when authorities stressed that the latest villain in Canada's opioid drug crisis, deadly fentanyl, is turning up in other illegal street drugs. [continues 1350 words]
Judge struggles with 'lawful prescription becoming unlawful due to its use,' by driver under its influence SARNIA - In what's believed to be a Canadian first, a judge here is having to wrestle with whether having medicinal pot on you is illegal if you're driving under its influence. In a case heard Wednesday, federal drug prosecutor Michael Robb said the issue hadn't come up before in the government's prosecution service. Anthony Francis Barr, 27, of St. Clair Township near Sarnia, pleaded guilty to driving while impaired by marijuana and to possessing marijuana. [continues 308 words]
I am concerned the federal government plans to legalize cannabis for recreational use by July 2018 when there is so much well researched information available about its harmful effects and when so many health associations have expressed grave concern. The only plausible reason I can see is that it is viewed as a source of revenue, yet The Free Press reported in Weighing the pot-ential impact (July 29) that the "marijuana boss for the city of Denver" stated 100 per cent of revenue there went toward regulation, education, enforcement and public health. [continues 73 words]
Shortly after becoming licensed as a family therapist, I was hired to facilitate group therapy on a chemical dependency unit. I did this every day for about 10 years. I also coordinated family group for the spouses and relatives of those who were recovering from alcohol and drug abuse. There were a lot of "take aways" from this experience. Despite my education, I held many prejudices and myths toward those who abused alcohol and drugs. These men and women taught me a great deal. [continues 459 words]
Proactive public health warning, or scare tactic? A heated debate has erupted after the London region's top public health official warned that illegal drugs, including marijuana, could be contaminated with fentanyl, a powerful painkiller already blamed for hundreds of overdose deaths in Canada this year. There's no shortage of skepticism about part of that warning, involving pot, especially since there's never been a confirmed case of fentanyl-laced marijuana in Canada. Though multiple warnings that fentanyl-contaminated cannabis have circulated in communities - even former B.C. premier Christy Clark made the claim last year - both the RCMP and Canada's health minister have said the rumours haven't been proven. [continues 665 words]
On top of city, region and provincial efforts, Matt Brown makes new bid to tackle local crisis, issues Another drug crisis, another drug strategy. In the midst of an ongoing London drug strategy, a regional drug strategy and a provincial drug strategy - none of them completed yet - the city's mayor wants his own drug strategy. But the new effort will be nimble with a concrete focus, battling opioid overdoses and other problems in large part through the establishment of a supervised injection site, city health leaders promise. [continues 571 words]
Council committee backs mayor's crisis working group. London's response to the opioid crisis might become nearly as complex as the addictions that require it. City politicians voted in favour of yet another group focusing on solutions to opioid abuse Tuesday, but several admitted they were unclear on what, exactly, they were supporting. "I need to know this is going to be effective," Coun. Phil Squire told the community and protective services committee. His motion to send the plan back to staff for clarification was narrowly defeated. [continues 429 words]
The gruesome statistics on drug-related deaths, destroyed lives, broken relationships and demolished families are only getting worse every year. In one province, British Columbia, about 15 million hypodermic needles destined solely for illicit drug use were distributed last year to the various "safe injection" sites and agencies around the province. Fifteen million needles - it's hard to fathom the widespread addiction to various drugs and the terrible casualties inflicted. Unfortunately, it's growing in every province. In B.C., this is a 50 per cent increase from 2014 in hypos distributed for illicit use, and statistics for the rest of Canada must be similar. [continues 207 words]
Region's medical officer of health reacts to drug tests showing fentanyl in pot users' urine. The London region's top public health official is recommending marijuana users keep the anti-overdose medication naloxone handy. That advice from Dr. Christopher Mackie comes after the Middlesex-London Health Unit and London police issued a public warning that fentanyl, a potentially deadly opioid, could be showing up in other street drugs, including pot. "The more naloxone we have in our community, the safer the community is going to be," Mackie, Middlesex-London's medical officer of health, said Friday. [continues 401 words]
Authorities sound alarm as tests find fentanyl cut into other street drugs, including marijuana The new villain in the opioid drug crisis sweeping Canada, often with deadly results, fentanyl is now showing up in London added into other drugs, including marijuana, authorities are warning. Urine tests conducted on people who reported using only heroin or smoking pot tested positive for the powerful drug, the London area's public health office reported Thursday. One pot activist said he's skeptical that fentanyl is being cut into marijuana, but officials were taking no chances after the tests, issuing a rare warning involving police and three different health agencies. [continues 450 words]
Bootleg fentanyl blamed for five overdoses, two of which didn't respond to double doses of antidote WOODSTOCK - Five Oxford County overdoses in the last half of June likely were caused by a bad batch of heroin, possibly laced with particularly potent bootleg fentanyl, a health official says. "Our clients are scared," said Oxford County public health nurse Lisa Gillespie. "From everything I have heard, bootleg fentanyl has arrived in Oxford or there is a very bad batch of heroin going around." [continues 467 words]
NDP says government-run Liquor Marts best initial option THE Liquor and Gaming Authority of Manitoba will likely be the province's regulator for cannabis, although Justice Minister Heather Stefanson said "nothing is off the table," 11 months before Canadians will be able to legally buy it over the counter. Stefanson spoke with reporters Thursday, shortly after the Conservative government announced it had issued an expression of interest to determine how best to deal with the issues stemming from Ottawa's plan to enact the new law July 1. [continues 568 words]
Two city councillors want staff to start figuring out now how London will handle legal marijuana in a year. Just getting the zoning rules in place for retail outlets could take months, Jared Zaifman and Jesse Helmer say in a letter heading to council's planning and environment committee Monday. "There's a lot to consider," Zaifman said in an interview. "Jesse and I have some concerns about the time we as a municipality will need to prepare for this." The letter asks council to direct staff to review how other communities have handled zoning for cannabis sales and consult with provincial officials, the health unit and police for their approach on regulations. [continues 177 words]
Judge 'troubled' but forced to lock up single mother of four children PLANS to appeal a mandatory minimum sentence as unconstitutional are on the horizon for a Winnipeg mother who is now behind bars despite the judge's declaration that justice would not be served by locking her up. Sandra Dignard, 37, was taken into custody Wednesday to start serving her two-year federal prison sentence for smuggling drugs into Stony Mountain prison five years ago. She tearfully said goodbye to her young son and pleaded with other relatives to take good care of all four of her children before sheriff's officers led her away, out of view of her family. [continues 833 words]
WILL you partake? That's a reasonable question given the upcoming legalization of marijuana, but it's only one of many questions that will arise. The legalization of a recreational drug is extremely rare and it will challenge both the Pallister government and individual Manitobans with unaccustomed issues. The government is dealing only with legalities, leaving individuals on their own to resolve the personal, family and social issues that will come with legal marijuana. At their meeting in Edmonton last week, the premiers mulled questions such as: where and how will it be sold? What will be the legal age to partake? How will courts prosecute drugged driving, given that breathalyzers don't work with marijuana intoxication? How many plants will gardeners be allowed to grow on their own? [continues 616 words]
A Texas girl whose family moved to Colorado to use medical marijuana to treat her intractable epilepsy is among those suing Attorney General Jeff Sessions over the federal cannabis prohibition. Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the federal government should be able to prosecute marijuana use and distribution in states that have declared it legal. An 11-year-old Texas cannabis "refugee" has joined a retired NFL football player, an Iraq War veteran and two others in a lawsuit challenging beleaguered Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the federal government's stance on medical marijuana. [continues 795 words]
Riverside has long prohibited medical marijuana dispensaries. Now officials may add recreational pot businesses to the ban -- at least temporarily. Since November, when California voters legalized adult use of marijuana, the Riverside City Council has not decided whether to allow, tax and regulate pot cultivation, manufacturing and sales. On Tuesday, July 25, council members will consider saying no to pot businesses until they have more information on how state regulations will look and what other Inland and Southern California communities are doing. [continues 469 words]
Excuse me! As a 64-year-old registered nurse from an RCMP family, if a Canadian citizen is considered old enough to legally put their lives on the line to sign up for military service at the age of 18, then they are plenty mature enough to decide whether or not to consume commonly used drugs such as alcohol or marijuana. To legislators: quit being so hypocritically nanny state and, realistically, get with the program! Liz Stonard Port Alberni, B.C. [end]
A drug bust at Richmond and Dundas streets, a downtown London intersection with a notorious reputation for crime, is rarely a head-turner. The shocker this time? One of two men charged with drug trafficking in a recent bust there is 88 years old. Then, there's the small amount of marijuana that was seized, 16 grams. Social media chatter lit up, and critics pounced, after London police Thursday announced the trafficking charges against the two men, the octogenarian and a 60 year old. [continues 407 words]
Health minister rebuffs calls to delay legalization THE federal government will stick with its July 1, 2018, deadline for marijuana legalization despite concerns from Premier Brian Pallister and other premiers. Health Minister Jane Philpott said in Winnipeg on Thursday that civil servants across Canada are already preparing for legalization and there will not be an extension, which was requested by Pallister. He has been adamant Manitoba won't be ready to cover the health, justice, safety, sale and production issues that need to be met by that time. [continues 603 words]
San Jacinto has set permit fees for those who wish to operate commercial marijuana businesses in the city. Anyone wanting a permit to operate a commercial marijuana cultivation business in San Jacinto better have some cash. The City Council set the permit fee at $16,500 during its meeting Tuesday, July 18. Annual permit renewals will cost $6,000 and there also will be a $10,000 fee to transfer a permit. The money covers the cost of staff time required to review and process the applications, according to the city. [continues 322 words]
PREMIER Brian Pallister has shown great determination for tightening Manitoba's belt. But he's had less success finding new revenue to fatten the province's wallet. For a premier who has unleashed a wide array of tough-love measures he says are necessary to return Manitoba to fiscal stability, Mr. Pallister has been surprisingly quiet about legalized marijuana as a potentially rich source of new revenue. At a meeting of premiers in Edmonton this week, Pallister repeated his pitch for an extension of the federal government's July 1 deadline for legalization, saying provinces need more time to deal with tricky issues such as distribution, sales, a minimum age and drugged-driving enforcement. [continues 485 words]
An initiative to amend Detroit's medical marijuana ordinance to allow dispensaries to operate near liquor stores, child-care centers and parks could appear on the November ballot, after a group behind the effort submitted thousands of signatures backing the measure. Citizens for Sensible Cannabis spokesman Jonathan Barlow confirmed his group submitted petitions late last month seeking to amend Chapter 24 of the city's code. Elections Director Daniel Baxter said the group met the threshold of required signatures and his department has since turned the initiative over to the Detroit City Council, which is expected to consider it Tuesday. [continues 935 words]
Chronic pain is a tremendous public health problem. The Institute of Medicine estimates chronic pain affects 100 million Americans at an estimated annual cost of $600 billion. But the rampant use of opioids to treat chronic pain stands out as the least-defensible and most-harmful of our maltreatments. Many U.S. physicians remain resistant to this, though I would argue other options should be considered. More than 14,000 Americans died in 2014 from unintentional overdose of prescription opioids, making this the leading cause of death among younger individuals in many states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Countless others continue to take opioids not because they have meaningful pain and functional improvement, but because they enjoy feeling numbed, or simply have not been presented with more appropriate and helpful therapeutic options. [continues 692 words]
Pallister says marijuana legalization makes province a dealer OTTAWA is forcing the provincial government to compete with street gangs in the marijuana business next summer, Premier Brian Pallister said Friday. The federal mandate for provinces to be ready for legal retail cannabis sales is July 1, 2018. That doesn't give Manitoba anywhere near the amount of time it will take to control sales and prepare for legal pot, he told reporters. "There's no way we're going to supply the demand, except in part. It's pretty clearly understood, we don't have enough pot to sell," he said, outlining some of the issues he'll raise at next week's premiers meeting in Edmonton. [continues 584 words]
THE Manitoba government will never have enough time to study and prepare for the impending legalization of marijuana. At least, that's how Canadian cannabis advocate and president of Winnipeg 420's organizing committee, Steven Stairs, sees it. Marijuana is already here, he said, and legalization won't change the fact that for years people have been buying and selling it, smoking and ingesting it. "They're fostering the black market right now," Stairs said of the government's slow response to legalization. [continues 428 words]
Marijuana ballot campaign's donors include "Big Tobacco," say critics. But supporters say smoke-store chain in Michigan is not typical donor. A campaign to once again try to fully legalize marijuana in Michigan is getting big support from a Washington D.C. nonprofit activist group and from a tobacco store company that has talked of opening a chain of marijuana shops in the state. The donor list, revealed in the latest campaign finance statements filed by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, alarmed critics who have long contended that marijuana's nationwide march toward legalization is being funded not by the idealistic stoners and medical-marijuana users long linked to the politics of cannabis but instead by a pack of profit-minded investors and corporate types said to be similar to Big Tobacco -- the nation's cigarette and cigar industry. [continues 1140 words]
Investigators found more than 87 pounds of suspected heroin Monday during a raid at a Novi apartment, according to a federal criminal complaint. DEA agents and the Oakland County Narcotics Investigation Team entered the Brownstones apartment complex unit shortly after 9:30 a.m. on the 42200 block of Joyce Lane to find three men inside, along with eight bricks of a light-brown substance on a table in plain sight, according to the complaint from special agent Michael Reamer in U.S. District Court. [continues 228 words]
New measures aimed at screening people who may be trying to smuggle in illicit drugs. Mushkegowuk leaders are calling for a regional strategy that would halt the flow of illegal drug into First Nation communities along the James Bay Coast. They say illegal drugs and the abuse of prescription medication and alcohol "continues to be the leading cause of criminal activity, premature deaths, destruction of families and cause life-long hardship" within their communities. "The communities and the whole region is in a crisis," said Mushkegowuk Grand Chief Jonathan Solomon. "In some way or another, every community member is affected. The illegal drug and alcohol trade has taken over our communities. It's a serious disease. It's big dirty business being brought in our communities by criminals from the south. It's killing us." [continues 435 words]
Auditors uncovered what a prison spokesman called "terrible" and "unacceptable" failures to conduct contraband searches of inmates, cells and staff. The Michigan Department of Corrections said Thursday it may take disciplinary action after auditors uncovered what a prison spokesman called "terrible" and "unacceptable" failures to conduct contraband searches of inmates, cells and staff at a women's prison. Auditor General Doug Ringler said during two five-day periods last year, the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti did not conduct or document nearly a quarter of the required cell searches and prisoner shakedowns. Using surveillance video, auditors also found that 58 of 170 required cell searches were not backed up by the footage -- meaning they were potentially falsified. [continues 272 words]
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) - A Pennsylvania man charged with trying to drive through the Holland Tunnel with a cache of weapons on his way to rescue a teenager from a drug den will ask New Jersey's governor for a pardon after a judge denied his request to enter a pretrial intervention program. Attorney James Lisa told a judge Thursday that he will seek a pardon after the judge denied allowing John Cramsey, of East Greenville, to enter the program after he earlier rejected a plea. [continues 311 words]
Could Michigan be next to legalize marijuana? The stars are aligning, say fans of legal cannabis. After a flubbed effort last year, supporters of marijuana legalization in Michigan can celebrate reaching a milestone at a posh $250-a-plate fund-raiser Thursday night. Their new petition drive has gathered 100,000 signatures in just six weeks, putting the campaign well ahead of schedule and giving leaders reason to believe that this year's petition drive will manage to put the legalization question on Michigan ballots, spokesman Josh Hovey said. [continues 535 words]
FOR the first time, naloxone kits will be available at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Festival spokeswoman Kelly Romas said Thursday any of the event's 60 first-aid volunteers can administer the medication that reverses the effect of an opioid overdose, which can slow down or stop a person's breathing. More than 100 Manitobans die from overdose every year and opioids are most often involved, says Street Connections, the Winnipeg-based health agency that supports harm-reduction and provides health care to people on the street. [continues 379 words]
There has been a lot of talk about weed in San Jacinto recently, but when the City Council gathers for a special meeting Thursday, July 5, it will be discussing the pesky garden variety. Council members, who recently put in place a number of rules related to legalized marijuana, will be asked to lift a moratorium on "discing," a type of plowing weeds that was outlawed in the city in 2007 as a dust control measure. The ban is likely to be lifted because of current weather conditions, including the extreme drying of vegetation and high temperatures, which have led to fires being started from the use of push mowers in weed abatement. Mower blades can cause sparks when striking debris, which can ignite the brush. [continues 61 words]
Wayne police say the man had taken a toy dragon head from a local park and turned it into a marijuana pipe. A 19-year-old Wayne man faces criminal charges after police say he stole a dragon head from a playground and turned it into a marijuana pipe. Wayne police say [name redacted] was recently arrested and charged with larceny -- $1,000 or more and malicious destruction of property -- $1,000 or more. The charges stem from an incident Wayne police responded to on Christmas Day in 2015. [continues 171 words]
DRUG bust worth about a quarter of a million dollars has been tossed out of court because city police violated the charter rights of two men they detained and subjected to a warrantless search. Court of Queen's Bench Justice Sheldon Lanchbery dismissed all drug trafficking charges against Benjamin James White and Jaden Joshua Omeasoo earlier this month, after he ruled officers violated their rights every step of the way. "We will never know how this incident may have evolved if those rights had been provided," Lanchbery said in his decision. "The officers are not permitted [continues 471 words]
Re: Province should control marijuana sales (June 19) Do we need to own a permit to purchase alcohol annually? No. Is there plain packaging for alcohol? No. Does the government only sell two types of alcohol? No. Does the government track everyone who purchases alcohol? No. Do we have a government task force to monitor who has legal alcohol in their homes? No. Does the MLL sell any intoxicating substances other than alcohol? No. Did the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health determine alcohol is one of the greatest public health threats in Canada in 2013? Yes. Alcohol accounts for eight per cent of all deaths for people under 70 years old currently and has a burden of $14.6 billion on our health-care and law enforcement services, according to a 2013 study, Strategies to Reduce Alcohol-Related Harms and Costs in Canada: A Comparison of Provincial Policies. [continues 243 words]
When it comes to drug and alcohol rehab centers, California channels its inner Texas: few burdens on business and as free-market as possible. That stands in sharp contrast to New York, Massachusetts and a dozen other states, where would-be rehab operators must prove there's a local demand for their services and obtain a "certificate of need" before snipping opening-day ribbons and scaling those legendary 12 steps. The lack of such a system is a key reason why Southern California is known as Rehab Riviera, with far more centers than the region's population could possibly support, critics say. [continues 1893 words]
SOME Manitobans might not like it, but at least this province now knows where it stands with its request for an extension of the date when marijuana will be legalized. There will be no extension. Ready or not, Manitobans - like all Canadians - can legally light up on July 1, 2018. Finance Minister Cameron Friesen spoke out this week after returning from a two-day summit of his provincial and federal colleagues, frustrated that his request for a deadline extension was denied by federal finance minister Bill Morneau. [continues 569 words]
THE Trudeau government is set on legalizing marijuana by the summer of 2018. While they will enjoy the political payoff of appearing progressive on this matter, all of the associated problems and the logistics of doing so will fall on the shoulders of the provincial governments and their civic counterparts. I suggest the Manitoba provincial government draw lessons from the last time an illegal substance was legalized following Prohibition in the late 1920s, as well as from the current public health efforts to eliminate tobacco use in Canada as a means to guide their policy on marijuana. [continues 927 words]
Canada's finance ministers met in Ottawa Monday to confront the reality that if we want legal marijuana to displace the illegal kind, they won't be able to tax it heavily, at the same time as Ottawa's public-health authorities conferred on how to discourage people from getting high at all. "Our government's goals are clear: we want to keep criminal elements out, and we want to keep cannabis out of the hands of children," Finance Minister Bill Morneau said, in a statement setting up the ministers' meeting. "This will mean keeping taxes low, and working together on an ongoing basis to ensure a coordinated approach." [continues 491 words]
Two Healing Health locations re-open after fire inspections but only for existing buyers Two London marijuana dispensaries are back in business after temporarily closing this month following a visit from a fire inspector, but neither of the pot shops are taking on new customers. Healing Health Compassion stopped selling cannabis at its Dundas Street store for several days - moving its inventory off site - and closed its Wonderland Road location after a fire inspector visited the Dundas shop June 4, prompting fears of a crackdown by city officials. [continues 305 words]
Friesen says feds are ignoring important questions about pot rollout OTTAWA - One way or another, Manitobans will have legal access to marijuana after July 1, 2018. The federal government says it's prepared to roll out mail-order marijuana if Manitoba can't update its laws by Ottawa's 2018 deadline for legalized pot. That's left Manitoba Finance Minister Cameron Friesen with "a sense of frustration" as he left a two-day summit of his provincial and federal colleagues. Friesen accused Ottawa of ignoring unanswered questions on issues such as public safety, enforcement and finding legal supplies of marijuana. He said federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau "seemed firm" against Friesen's request for an unspecified extension. [continues 581 words]
Donald Trump was not elected president to renew crackdowns on marijuana in states that have legalized it for medicinal or recreational purposes. Last week, it was revealed that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent a private letter to congressional leaders dated May 1 asking them to lift the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, which prevents the Justice Department from meddling with state medical marijuana laws. "I believe it would be unwise for Congress to restrict the discretion of the Department to fund particular prosecutions, particularly in the midst of an historic drug epidemic and potentially long-term uptick in violent crime," Sessions wrote, citing no evidence linking medical marijuana to the "historic drug epidemic" or violent crime increases. [continues 370 words]
