Chronicle AM: Sessions on State-Legal Pot, Trump and Duterte Buddy Up, More... (11/14/17)

The US attorney general concedes that Obama-era pot policy is still in effect, New York approves medical marijuana for PTSD, the Bolivian high court upholds a coca expansion law, Trump buddies up with drug war criminal Duterte, and more.

Licit Bolivian coca production will nearly double under a new law just approved by the country's high court. (YouTube)

Sessions Acknowledges that Obama's Laissez-Faire Marijuana Policy Remains in Effect. At a congressional hearing Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions conceded that Obama-era policies allowing states to go their own way on marijuana policy remain in effect. "Our policy is the same, really, fundamentally as the Holder-Lynch policy, which is that the federal law remains in effect and a state can legalize marijuana for its law enforcement purposes but it still remains illegal with regard to federal purposes," Sessions said, referring to his Obama administration predecessors.

Wisconsin Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Calls for Marijuana Legalization. Former state Democratic Party chairman and current contender for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination Matt Flynn has come out for marijuana legalization -- but only if state voters support it. He is calling for a non-binding referendum on the issue to guide policy makers. "Having reviewed the results of legalization in other states, I now believe Wisconsin should legalize marijuana," said Flynn. "I am concerned about the impact of mass incarceration on our society, including both the social and financial impact. Under present law, people can easily acquire a felony record that effectively bars them from most employment for the rest of their lives. The financial burden on the criminal justice system is also unacceptable."

Medical Marijuana

New York Approves Medical Marijuana for PTSD. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed into law Saturday a bill that adds PTSD to the state's list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana. "Our veterans risked their lives in order to defend the ideals and principles that this nation was founded upon," Cuomo said in a signing statement, "and it is our duty to do everything we can to support them when they return home. PTSD is a serious problem facing our state, and now we have one more tool available to alleviate suffering."

Foreign Policy

Trump Celebrates "Great Relationship" With Philippines Drug War Criminal Duterte. During a visit to the Philippines Monday as part of his Asian trip, President Donald Trump said he had a "great relationship" with Philippines President Duterte, under whom thousands of alleged drug users and sellers have been killed by policy and shadowy death squads. According to a Duterte spokesman, when Duterte brought up "the drug menace" in his country, Trump did not mention the topic of human rights or express any concern about the bloody toll in Duterte's drug war.

International

Poll: Nearly Two-Thirds of Germans Oppose Marijuana Legalization. A new poll from Forsa has found support for marijuana legalization at only 34%, with 63% opposed.  Support for legalization centered in smaller parties on the left and right, with the Left Party (55%), the Green Party (46%), and the Alternative for Germany (41%) having the highest levels of support for legalization.

Bolivia High Court Approves Morales Coca Law. The country's Constitutional Tribunal has upheld a bill passed earlier this year that nearly doubles the amount of licit coca cultivation in the country from 30,000 acres to 55,000 acres. The law also allows the government to regulate the cultivation, sale, and distribution of the leaf.

(This article was prepared by StoptheDrugWar.org's lobbying arm, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also pays the cost of maintaining this web site. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)