"States' Rights!" (note exemptions)

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is a federalist who believes in states' rights and local control. Except when he doesn't.

Last week, as reported in the New York Times, AG Sessions "rescinded an Obama-era policy that had discouraged federal prosecutors from bringing charges of marijuana-related crimes in states that have legalized sales of the drug."

Attorney General Sessions is a proponent of states' rights and an opponent of federal overreach. Except, apparently, when states take action that he doesn't like.

Sessions has a big problem with marijuana. In his worldview, "good people don't smoke marijuana." He certainly has the right to his opinion, though Willie Nelson and millions of others might disagree. His Justice Department should not, however, seek to impede or subvert the will of the voters in the states that have approved marijuana use.

That is a textbook case of federal overreach.

The Attorney General is not on the same page as the President on this issue. President Trump is on the record stating that marijuana policy "should be up to the states, absolutely." It's always hard to know how seriously Donald Trump takes his own policy pronouncements, but he's right.

There are many thorny issues associated with legal weed, including compatibility issues in rural/residential areas regarding agricultural production of marijuana. Deschutes County has been wrestling with those issues, and the Sisters City Council is poised this Wednesday to discuss in a workshop its approach to marijuana production and distribution.

And that's exactly where these decisions should be made - at the state, county and local level. With respect, Attorney General Sessions, the feds need to butt out.

Jim Cornelius

Editor