As America prepares for a shift in leadership, the incoming Administration’s pick for Attorney General will likely be one of the most consequential signals as to how the Biden-Harris Presidency will address marijuana policy reform.
During the Trump Administration, two ardent drug-warriors — Jeff Sessions and William Barr — were appointed Attorney General. Under their leadership, the administration rescinded the policy guidance known as The Cole Memo, which had directed federal prosecutors not to interfere with state legalization efforts and those licensed to engage in the plant’s production and sale. More recently, in June, a prosecutor working for AG Barr said that the Justice Department is using burdensome antitrust probes to unnecessarily harass licensed cannabis businesses.
We cannot allow this sort of Reefer Madness to continue to flourish at the Department of Justice.
We have never been closer to ending the cruel policy of prohibition, but we cannot stop pushing now.
Thanks for standing with us in this fight,
Erik Altieri,
NORML Executive Director