HEROES: Tulsi Gabbard, Ron Paul slam Jeff Sessions over failed drug policies

States’ rights are only a concern to Republicans when it suits their agenda. When it doesn’t, then who really cares about the 10th Amendment?

Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memorandum that essentially enhances federal laws and power over states deciding to legalize marijuana. This goes against what President Donald Trump said during the 2016 campaign: it is “a state issue, state-by-state.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed the president’s revised stance on marijuana legalization:

“The President believes in enforcing federal law. That would be his top priority, and that is regardless of what the topic is. Whether it’s marijuana or whether it’s immigration, the President strongly believes that we should enforce federal law,” she said.

“The move that the Department of Justice has made — which, my guess is, what you’re referencing — simply gives prosecutors the tools to take on large-scale distributors and enforce federal law. The President’s position hasn’t changed, but he does strongly believe that we have to enforce federal law.”

As a result marijuana stocks crashed, causing a great level of uncertainty in places like Colorado and California.

This decision to rescind an Obama-era policy has prompted former Congressman Ron Paul to urge the president to fire Sessions.

He spoke in an interview with CNN on Saturday:

Session is the antithesis to liberty, and should be dumped immediately for someone who is a lot more liberty-minded.

Meanwhile, Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has chimed in, issuing a statement:

Attorney General Sessions’ reversal of the current non-interference policy that essentially allowed states to implement their own marijuana laws without federal interference, tramples on states’ rights and is a dangerous escalation of the failed so-called War on Drugs. This overreach by the federal government undermines state governments like Hawaii’s that have legalized medical marijuana and threatens the livelihoods and rights of the people of Hawai’i and those of the 29 states and Washington DC who have legalized some form of marijuana.

This decision reinforces our outdated and destructive policies on marijuana that turn everyday Americans into criminals, tear families apart, and waste billions of taxpayer dollars to arrest, prosecute, and incarcerate people for nonviolent marijuana charges. Taxpayer dollars would be better spent tackling the many problems that plague the American people including combating the opioid epidemic, ensuring affordable housing, repairing aging infrastructure, and investing in education, healthcare, veterans’ care, and more.

By continuing to pour billions of dollars down the drain with our archaic marijuana policies, we stifle our economy, society, and criminal justice system and leave the people of Hawai’i and millions more devastated – all for a substance that is far less dangerous and harmful than alcohol. Our laws should accurately reflect scientific consensus – not misplaced stigma and outdated myths about marijuana.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1227, the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act, which would decriminalize marijuana by removing it from the federal controlled substances list, treating it the same as alcohol and tobacco. Our bipartisan legislation will end this unnecessary and costly debate once and for all by federally decriminalizing marijuana and kick-starting long overdue, common sense criminal justice reform.

She may not be great on economics, but Gabbard has been fabulous on foreign policy and now this topic.

But it is interesting that suddenly the left cares about states’ rights. For the last eight years, anytime someone mentioned states’ rights, they were deemed as racist.