John Oliver Vs Jefferson Beauregard Sessions-- The Marijuana Chronicles

Sunday night, John Oliver took on the attempts by Trumpist Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, to reinvigorate the War on Drugs. The segment (above) is worth watching in its entirety. Oliver, if course, is hilarious-- but Sessions isn't. Recently Sessions took another patently absurd shot at the marijuana industry, this time, though, it was directly aimed at Medical Marijuana, which even Trump acknowledges is a fact of life he doesn't want to make a fuss over. Sessions:

"I am astonished to hear people suggest that we can solve our heroin crisis by legalizing marijuana-- so people can trade one life-wrecking dependency for another that's only slightly less awful. Our nation needs to say clearly once again that using drugs will destroy your life."

This was especially resonant for me since I did solve my personal heroin crisis with marijuana. That was several decades ago and marijuana helped me cure heroin addiction and then I eventually stopped using marijuana as well-- although medical marijuana was something my doctor prescribed when I was recovering from the devastating side effects of chemotherapy over 40 years later. Saved by weed again!

How can some boob like Sessions make these comments when there are millions of people who are using marijuana and cannabis products to improve their overall quality of life? He recently said that his position is an "unfashionable belief in a time of growing tolerance of drug use. But too many lives are at stake to worry about being fashionable. I reject the idea that America will be a better place if marijuana is sold in every corner store." The sooner the Trump Regime is shut down permanently, the better off all Americans will be, whether they smoke weed or not.

This week, the governors of Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Alaska-- all of whose states have legalized recreational marijuana-- sent Sessions a letter asking him not to overturn the 2013 deal known as the Cole Memo. The Memo advises prosecutors in states where marijuana had been legalized to avoid strict enforcement of federal prohibitions on marijuana, in deference to state law.

A couple weeks ago Trump said he intended to nominate Scott Gottleib, a big PhRMA guy as head of the FDA. Better than the other top contender, Jim O’Neill, the lunatic Peter Thiel was pushing on Trump, because of O'Neill's whacky views that would have gutted standards for drug approval trials and testing. Still, Gottlieb is too deeply tied to the drug manufacturing industry, which is eager to turn marijuana into a profit center for themselves.

According to Greenwave Advisors, the recreational marijuana market is forecasted to hit $18 billion by 2021, even if Sessions and the Trump Regime actively challenge the market. 2016 saw retail marijuana sales in the U.S. reach approximately $6.5 billion, an increase of 35% form 2015’s $4.8 billion and it is expected to grow another 18% in 2017 to around $7.7 billion, with California alone accounting for 40% of the market. Additionally, the report suggests that as legalization takes hold, the black market will crumble.

Yesterday, the Florida state Senate approved a proposal with more dispensaries and more options for consuming cannabis in line with the state's voter-approved medical marijuana constitutional amendment, something still being fought by conservatives in the state House. On the same day Trump beat Clinton in Florida 4,605,515 (49.1%) to 4,485,745 (47.8%), Amendment 2, legalizing medical marijuna, passed 6,496,157 (71.3%) to 2,616,128 (28.7%). Rubio was reelected to the Senate that day too-- also with far fewer votes than the medical marijuana amendment-- just 4,822,182. Maybe these politicians should wake up and start realizing marijuana is more popular than they are. Florida state Senator Rob Bradley, a Republican from Fleming Island, said the bill he wrote-- which was approved unanimously by the Senate Health Policy Committee-- "fully implements the will of the voters and does so without playing games or being cute."