Reefer madness returns to America as Trumps DOJ begins a marijuana crackdown
Rawstory
A new Department of Justice report on violent crime and marijuana will pave the way for the Trump administration to crack down on the drug, campaigners and lawmakers say.
The Trump administrations Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety, led by Sessions, is next week to release a report that critics fear will link marijuana use to violent crime and advocate tougher sentences for those producing, selling and using the drug.
Democrat Senator Brian Schatz, linking to a report on the crackdown, described the plans as "backward and inhumane in a tweet on Sunday.
I hope every third-party voting progressive remembers this. There's a real difference between R's and Ds.
He said that Sessions would reverse eight years of progress towards a more humane, less expensive, more just system by ramping up punishment for marijuana users.
In recent years a series of U.S. states have loosened laws banning marijuana, with the drug now decriminalized for recreational use in 21 states. Under the Obama administration, the justice department did not interfere with state legislatures that legalize marijuana, in a December exit interview with Rolling Stone the former president said the drug ought to be treated as a public health issue like alcohol or tobacco.