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I doubt that prosecutors in liberal states with legal markets (Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada) will clamp down on the industry, in fact under certain co

I doubt that prosecutors in liberal states with legal markets (Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada) will clamp down on the industry, in fact under certain conditions I could see them clarifying their stance and perhaps clearing confusion as to how federal law will be enforced. However, I do think that this may halt the spread of the industry into midwest and north east markets.

olfactory 9y ago
I think it may already be too established in the midwest for anything like this to threaten the spread of the legal pot industry. I suspect this is a tactic to justify Federally taxing marijuana, and would be consistent with Trump's broader approach of making tax policy tweaks that hit the bluest states and regions the hardest.
- beamatronic 9y ago
  Never forget: Trump did not even want to be president, as revealed yesterday. So this is the alt-rights way of exacting revenge for 8 years of Obama, by punishing the 52% of voters who didn't vote for Trump. The right is getting their licks in while they can. Edited for clarity
- olfactory 9y ago
  Not sure why my comment was down-voted so viciously, was it that stupid? I think there may be a mod bot that automatically bestows -2 points to any comment mentioning Trump, we'll soon find out :)
gervase 9y ago
Note that these are federal prosecutors, not state prosecutors; they have no incentive to respect state law over federal law. In particular, if the Justice Department intended to respect states' rights, then I suspect they wouldn't have changed these regulations. Of course, this isn't an official announcement; we can save most of the hand-wringing, moral outrage, and/or smug satisfaction (depending on your views) until after the official policy change, at which point I'm sure it will show up here on the front page again.
- mmmBacon 9y ago
  Actually they do have incentives to care about local and state laws because they need cooperation from local and state governments to enforce the law.
  - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
    They can always enforce federal law themselves, it’s just more expensive for them. Getting into street-level marijuana dealing isn’t something the FBI or DEA have resources for.
  - chc 9y ago
    They were busting California medical marijuana dispensaries left and right as recently as 10 years ago, which is more than a decade after we passed Proposition 215. It seems a bit optimistic to think that now they'll bow to state law.

olfactory 9y ago

I think it may already be too established in the midwest for anything like this to threaten the spread of the legal pot industry. I suspect this is a tactic to justify Federally taxing marijuana, and would be consistent with Trump's broader approach of making tax policy tweaks that hit the bluest states and regions the hardest.

beamatronic 9y ago
Never forget: Trump did not even want to be president, as revealed yesterday. So this is the alt-rights way of exacting revenge for 8 years of Obama, by punishing the 52% of voters who didn't vote for Trump. The right is getting their licks in while they can. Edited for clarity
olfactory 9y ago
Not sure why my comment was down-voted so viciously, was it that stupid? I think there may be a mod bot that automatically bestows -2 points to any comment mentioning Trump, we'll soon find out :)

gervase 9y ago

Note that these are federal prosecutors, not state prosecutors; they have no incentive to respect state law over federal law. In particular, if the Justice Department intended to respect states' rights, then I suspect they wouldn't have changed these regulations. Of course, this isn't an official announcement; we can save most of the hand-wringing, moral outrage, and/or smug satisfaction (depending on your views) until after the official policy change, at which point I'm sure it will show up here on the front page again.

mmmBacon 9y ago
Actually they do have incentives to care about local and state laws because they need cooperation from local and state governments to enforce the law.
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  They can always enforce federal law themselves, it’s just more expensive for them. Getting into street-level marijuana dealing isn’t something the FBI or DEA have resources for.
- chc 9y ago
  They were busting California medical marijuana dispensaries left and right as recently as 10 years ago, which is more than a decade after we passed Proposition 215. It seems a bit optimistic to think that now they'll bow to state law.