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Chronicle AM: Trump Marijuana Plans, More Cases Thrown Out in MA Drug Lab Scandal, More... (10/12/18)

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #1039)
Consequences of Prohibition

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) says the president will move on marijuana policy after the election, the Supreme Court will hear an important asset forfeiture case later this year, thousands more drug defendants will see drug charges dismissed in the Massachusetts drug lab scandal, and more.

Rep. Dana Rohrabcher (R-CA) says the Trump administration will move on marijuana policy after the election. (house.gov)
Marijuana Policy

Trump Plans To Back Legal Medical Marijuana After Midterms, GOP Congressman Says. In an interview with Fox Business on Thursday, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) said that he had been talking with people inside the White House about ending marijuana prohibition. Rohrabacher added that he's been "reassured that the president intends on keeping his campaign promise" to protect state marijuana policies from federal interference. He didn't point to any specific legislation but said details would begin to take shape after the election. "I would expect after the election we will sit down and we'll start hammering out something that is specific and real," he said. "It could be as early as spring of 2019, but definitely in the next legislative session," he said.

Asset Forfeiture

Supreme Court to Hear Asset Forfeiture Case Later This Year. The US Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in an important asset forfeiture case on November 28. The case is Timbs (and a 2012 Land Rover) v. Indiana, in which Tyson Timbs appeals the seizure of his vehicle after he was arrested for selling heroin to undercover police officers. Timbs bought the vehicle with proceeds from his late father's life insurance policy -- not drug profits -- and argues that seizing the vehicle amounts to a violation of the 8th Amendment's ban on excessive fines. A state appeals court had overturned the seizure, calling it "grossly disproportional," but the state Supreme Court vacated that decision on the grounds the ban on excessive fines does not apply to the states.

Criminal Justice

Massachusetts High Court Orders Dismissal of Thousands of Cases in Drug Lab Chemist Scandal. The state's Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday ordered the dismissal of thousands of additional drug convictions due to the misconduct of Amherst drug lab chemist Sonja Farak, some dating back as far as 2004. "We conclude that Farak's widespread evidence tampering has compromised the integrity of thousands of drug convictions apart from those the Commonwealth has agreed should be vacated and dismissed," wrote Justice Frank Gaziano in the court's 61-page unanimous decision. "Her misconduct, compounded by prosecutorial misconduct, requires that this court exercise its superintendence authority and vacate and dismiss all criminal convictions tainted by government wrongdoing." Farak has pleaded guilty to stealing drug samples to feed her addiction. State prosecutors had already agreed to dismiss some 8,000 cases. Now there will be thousands more, though an exact number is not immediately available.

International

Colombia Coca Farmers Protest Against Forced Crop Eradication. Coca-growing peasants set up roadblocks on Thursday to protest against the forced eradication of coca crops and fumigation measures. The farmers in several municipalities of Norte de Santander are demanding to be included in the program of crop substitution so they have an alternative to growing coca. Farmers in Cucuta and El Zulia blocked two main local highways. They are members of the National Coordination of Cultivators of Coca, Poppy and Marijuana and the Campesino Association of Catatumbo.

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Comments

Dain Bramage (not verified)

Dana Rohrabacher has ZERO credibility.

Dana Rohrabacher is a Trump stooge, a Putin tool, and a treasonous Republican, just like the rest of them.  So he smokes pot -- that excuses nothing.

Who gives a flying fuck what Dana Rohrabacher has to say?

Fri, 10/12/2018 - 9:42pm Permalink
Dain Bramage (not verified)

My guess is that Brett Kavanaugh will rule on asset forfeiture something like this: "YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!   I'M BRETT FUCKING KAVANAUGH,  BITCHES!!  I RULE!!  I SEE IT, I WANT IT, I TAKE IT!  WOO-HOOO!! SHOT!!  I SAID "SHOT" MOTHERFUCKERS!  EVERYBODY TAKE A SHOT, NOW!!  DON'T FUCK WITH ME!  I'LL TOSS YOUR ASS IN PRISON!!"

Sat, 10/13/2018 - 7:21am Permalink
saynotohypocrisy (not verified)

Medical marijuana is way too popular for Trump to be afraid to support it before the election. The normal political thing would be to announce something so popular BEFORE the election, so this sounds like real bullshit. He might have said something like that to Rohrbacher, he likes to tell people what they want to hear, he doesn't mean anything by it. And if he does  conveniently say something in public before the election, and there's the slightest ambiguity about what he's saying, then it isn't worth shit either. 

Mon, 10/15/2018 - 6:44pm Permalink
Dain Bramage (not verified)

In reply to by saynotohypocrisy (not verified)

Saynotohipocrisy, you nailed it!

This isn't 2016, this is 2018, and the issue is settled: if Trump actually supported marijuana legalization (he doesn't) then, a) he would NOT have appointed Jefferson Peckerwood Sessions for AG; and b) the Republican House, Senate, and White House would have LEGALIZED IT ALREADY! and c) Trump is a known and proven LIAR, anyway, so how is this even a meaningful discussion!

So the question becomes, who is actually falling for this bullshit, this lie, this blatant con-job, that for some miraculous reason, the Republicans are suddenly going to come to Jesus and LEGALIZE MARIJUANA?

SO WHO ACTUALLY BELIEVES THIS BULLSHIT THE REPUBLICANS ARE SELLING?  THE DEMOCRATS? OR THE REPUBLICANS?  WELL, NOT ME ANYWAY, SUCKERS!

Look, whether you are on the Left or the Right... Let's cut the crap, okay?  Trump is not our friend!

THE TRUTH: In 2018, Republicans and Traitor Trump are THE ENEMY when it comes to marijuana legalization and ending the war on drugs.  FUCK TRUMP!

Mon, 10/15/2018 - 8:16pm Permalink

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