NJ Advocates: Sessions’ Marijuana Reversal Would Double Down on Major Policy Mistakes and Harm States For No Clear Reason
NJ Advocates: Sessions’ Marijuana Reversal Would Double Down on
Major Policy Mistakes and Harm States For No Clear Reason
For Immediate Release
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Contact:
Allison Peltzman, ACLU-NJ, 201-253-9403
Elizabeth Ruebman, NJUMR, 917-628-1330
New Jersey advocates responded with vehement disapproval to the news that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to overturn a policy that established the federal government would not stand in the way of states that have legalized cannabis. Instead, the federal government would allow individual U.S. attorneys in states with legalized cannabis to determine whether to enforce marijuana federally.
New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform, a coalition of law enforcement, medical professionals, civil rights organizations, social justice groups, and criminal justice reform experts, issues the following statement:
“The prospect of the federal government enforcing marijuana laws in states that have legalized cannabis raises red flags on many levels. With the majority of Americans in both major parties supporting the legalization of marijuana for adults, this move reveals just how out-of-touch with the American people this administration’s criminal justice policies are.
“New Jersey will continue to fight for the legalization of marijuana, above all because ending the civil rights crisis of marijuana arrests is simply the right thing to do. We urge states that have already legalized marijuana and states, like ours, that see legalization on the horizon to stand with us as a united front.
“This move shows reckless disregard for the devastation wrought by the war on drugs and mass incarceration, which have disproportionately targeted communities of color. It’s an affront to self-determination, racial justice, and the democratic process. Reviving policies that actively harm people and communities insults states that have benefited from ending marijuana prohibition, as well as the Americans who expressed their will for legalization through the democratic process.
“Socially, economically, civically, and democratically, this policy would be disastrous. We call on the attorney general not to regress to destructive policies and not to turn his back on the vast majority of Americans who believe it’s time for marijuana to be legal.”
Express opposition to Jeff Sessions’ drug war policies through the ACLU.
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