Does Attorney General Jeff Sessions have junkies shaking in their boots from more than just the heroin?

Indeed, but under minimum sentencing, without discretion, even abusers will face harsher penalties

If you don't want to go to jail....don't do drugs.

Despite was he said, his memo makes no distinction whatsoever between drug dealing/trafficking and use...or prescribing, for that matter, which is currently illegal for marijuana under federal law, as it is a Schedule I controlled substance.  It doesn't mention drugs at all, in fact, though it does specify it is rescinding guidelines put in place under Obama/Holder.  It is simply an across the board mandate to federal prosectors to charge the most serious offense possible for all federal crimes, and requires approval for any deviation from that and/or in sentencing recommendations.

http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/national/jeff-sessionss-criminal-charging-policy/2432/?tid=a_inl-amp

I got no problem with any of that.

You may not, but a goodly number of Americans, doctors, researchers, states, and legislators do.

Currently there are 30 states, plus DC, Guam and Puerto Rico that have legalized medical marijuana and 16 where cannabis is legal for limited/specific uses;  8 states and DC have legalized marijuana for recreational use, while 13 more have decriminalized it.

http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-medical-marijuana-laws.aspx

https://www.celebstoner.com/news/marijuana-news/2013/08/23/marijuana-laws-nationwide/

Last year, the 9th Circuit unanimously decided that the feds cannot spend money to prosecute individuals using medical marijuana within that circuit who comply with state laws.  That was predicated upon the fact that Congress had banned spending for that purpose two years running.  A provision was included in the recently passed budget banning spending for fighting state law on medical and/or recreational use of marijuana, as well.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-medical-pot-20160816-snap-story,amp.html

https://www.google.com/amp/www.newsweek.com/congress-wont-give-jeff-sessions-money-fight-state-marijuana-laws-593188%3Famp%3D1

Federal marijuana laws are based upon its classification as a Schedule I controlled substance, which means it has no medicinal uses.  This is disputed by quite a few studies, including one by the Department of Health and Human Services that was the basis for that agency being awarded a patent on medical uses of cannabinoids in 2001.

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6630507.PN.&OS=PN/6630507&RS=PN/6630507

Ironically, since 1972, the federal government has sent certain individuals pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes on a monthly basis.  Four people are still receiving them.

http://www.medicalcannabis.com/patients-care-givers/federal-ind-patients/

Hypocrisy, no?

I am curious, m2c...why do you support a large, nanny-state federal government and spending billions of taxpayer funds to support it?  

Drugs being illegal is not a nanny state. People doing drugs is not good for the themselves or the country. Allowing small time dealers to go free helps no one. And knowing they will not be prosecuted takes a  tool out of law enforcement hands to get to the higher up dealers. 
Just because something is not illegal under state law does not mean it is legal under federal law. And our DOJ has every right to enforce our federal laws. 

Actually, it is, m2c.  Just as prohibition did in the 20s, criminalizing a personal choice has escalated the use of what is prohibited and created a lucrative criminal enterprise.  And has done so at great cost to taxpayers and society. 

It costs over $60 billion per year to incarcerate people in America.  We could save over $9 billion of that annually just by releasing non-violent drug offenders.  We wouldn't be spending $18 million annually to destroy plants, and some $40 billion per year could be saved annually on enforcement if we weren't waging a losing and never-ending "war" on drugs that has cost us in excess of a trillion dollars to date.  

In 2015,  1,463,213 people were arrested for drug offenses, more than any other category, and that while Obama's relaxed enforcement was in effect.  That's ~13.55% of all arrests.  Only 16.1% of those were for manufacturing/sales, while 89.1% were possession charges.  43.2% were for marijuana, 38.6% for possession of marijuana.  Over a half a million arrests for possession of marijuana.   

Just because a federal law exists, it doesn't make it just.  I sincerely hope that Congress continues to deny funds for the DOJ in this matter, and I hope that the rest of the circuits use the 9th's decision as a precedent (something I honestly never thought I would say, btw).  

As far as medical marijuana goes, I think the canabus oil that has no THC should be legal. In states where it is legal, it is a joke. You walk in and they give you a script. (Works like that in Vegas.. anyway) 

How much money would we save it those people were not doing dope? But had good jobs, and were productive members of society. Yes there maybe some who manage this, but those people are not the ones getting busted for possession. 

I was looking forward to an honest answer to my question....oh well.  

I think that you and others with no knowledge of the subject need to quit trying to impose what you think about marijuana and its derivatives upon others via expensive, ineffective, and destructive policing.  CBD oil is good for many things, not everything.  I also have to point out the hypocrisy of such a statement from one who takes opioid pain medications, which, unlike marijuana, are highly addictive.  

There were also over a million arrests for driving under the influence in 2015, the last year available and the years I cited numbers from.  Alcohol is far more dangerous and addictive, and causes a great many more societal problems than marijuana, should we outlaw it again?  

I personally know a large number of marijuana smokers eho are, indeed, productive members of society.  Some who have been charged with possession.  I'm really not sure who it is you think makes up those statistics, but you may be surprised that few are the junkies in the alley, or the gang members, or all the other folks that so many seem to fear...most are people you run across every day.  Regular folk who might bag your groceries, sell you a car, handle your legal business, or own the store next to yours.  Everyday, ordinary people.

The desire to micromanage people's personal choices has nothing to do with what is "good for" individuals or society.  Were that truly the case, food purchases, which cause far more harm, deaths, lost work time and increased medical costs would be closely monitored and regulated.  Alcohol would be illegal for those same reasons and more.  A great many prescription drugs would be banned.  And so on.   

For the record, while I have smoked marijuana before, it has been years since I have.  I do have to support medical marijuana, though, as I have personally seen its benefits.  In one case, I went out and illegally obtained it so that a dying man could ease his nausea enough to get a bit of food into his body.  And I would do it again.  

But even that isn't why I argue this subject.  It is about fighting those who try to impose restrictions upon others when they have no business doing so.  A great many who do so, and feel morally justified, hypocritically enjoy a cocktail of an evening and/or ease their own pain with meds far more dangerous than cannibas.  I do so because I believe in the freedom of personal choice.  If I am not harming others, they have no business telling me I cannot drink a big gulp or smoke a joint.     

Claps wildly...  :)  

Thanks, Piper.  :)

27 years later, I still regret that I didn't illegally obtain marijuana for my mom. She wouldn't have smoked it, but I've always wondered if it wouldn't have helped her get over the nausea that the "legal" morphine caused her. I could have baked it into something.  It would have been even better, if the THC  had made her feel good for a little awhile.  

Yes, it still helps nausea when baked into something.  While not actually a pain killer, it can take the edge off intense pain, I got it for both uses for him.  The pain itself can cause nausea.  It is heart-wrenching to have to watch someone go through that.  :(

Yes, it surely is.  

It would have helped her.
My mother had cancer in her uterus and was in a care facility because she broke her ankle.
And I took her Marijuana tea every day to help with the pain and so she could eat.
We told the nurse it was just herb tea to help settle her stomach.
And they even helped give it to her.
She thought it was so fun getting something over on them.
I drink it myself when I am having pain in my joints or back. It really helps.

Thank you for sharing that, Lulu'sMom. 

You are welcome Piper and happy mother's day.

Yes I took oxycodone for pain as a script. For about 4 days only taking 1/2 the dose prescribed. I would not take it on a regular basis because of the additiveness of the medicine. My husband also has been prescribed them for his back....he didn't take them on a regular basis. He uses OTC IB and Tylenol. Doesn't even have the script anymore. Because he did not want it because of the risks. We do not drink or smoke anything. But if it makes you feel better to call me a hypocrite...go ahead. 
I said there maybe some who can function and maintain. I personally don't know any. They may have a job for a while but then they don't. I have seen people both Mom's and Dad's  (not the same couple, different parents of different children) give up their children over it. I have seen them become less intelligent after years of use. People who were very smart in their youth who after about 20 yrs...made you truly understand what they meant when they said someone is burnt. I have seen people go from being successful business owners to someone who can't keep a job. This post was edited by my2cents at May 14, 2017 7:02 PM MDT

I said you were hypocritical because while you admittedly used a mind-altering substance, however briefly, you believe others shouldn't be allowed the same just because it is a different "drug".  That makes absolutely no sense, m2c, as opioids are far more potent anyway, and you would only allow cannabis in a form and method that would negate its effectiveness.  Not only is it the THC that helps the nausea, but smoking it effects almost instant relief, whereas any other form takes much longer.  

Smoking weed is a lot like drinking alcohol.  There are those who only partake occasionally on special occasions, there are those who do it to excess daily, the vast majority, however, are social users who do not use it to excess.  You probably run across many more marijuana users than you know.  

Again, though, my point is it is none of anyone else's business.  I do not want the left telling me whether I can drink a large pop, nor do I want the right telling me whether I can smoke a joint.  It's a matter of personal freedom.  

It did not alter my mind....it made me tired. There was no high to it. If it had made gave me a high, I would have threw them out after the first dose.  I have had cold medicine effect me more than it did....in terms of a high or mind altering. It is not just a different drug....it is a legal drug vs an illegal drug that the gov considers to be bad enough it is not legal federally. 
I would not give marijuana to anyone I love. For the reasons above that I have personally witnessed. And for those reasons I agree with the gov that it should remain illegal. Maybe there are more people who I know who smoke it...but the ones who I know for sure smoke it are not the people anyone would point to as an example to make it legal.