Bipartisan senators take on Jeff Sessions over marijuana research restrictions, calling for the Justice Department to stop blocking the DEA from approving new suppliers. On Thursday, Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) sent a letter to the DOJ demanding action on the more than two dozen applications the DEA has yet to review.
Is Jeff Sessions Blocking The DEA From Authorizing More Marijuana Suppliers?
In their letter, Harris and Hatch expressed concern that Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department was sitting on a number of requests from growers looking to supply FDA-approved research on medical cannabis.
While the DEA wants to increase the number of authorized marijuana manufacturers, Sessions’ DOJ appears to be holding them back.
Jeff Sessions extreme opposition to marijuana legalization and his public disdain for cannabis users have prompted concerns that the Trump administration would attempt to roll back policies aimed at expanding access to medical cannabis and ensuring states are free to pass their own marijuana legislation.
And those concerns have already proven themselves to be valid. Since becoming Attorney General, Sessions has repeatedly vowed to ramp up federal drug enforcement. He’s ordered federal judges to pursue the maximum sentence possible even for non-violent, petty drug offenses.
Furthermore, on January 4, Sessions rescinded an Obama-era memo adopting a non-interference policy with legal-cannabis states.
What Sens. Harris and Hatch say Sessions is doing, though, is a bit more subtle than all that. In their letter, the senators reference reports that the Justice Department is preventing the DEA from reviewing applications from cultivators.
Unable to authorize new manufacturers, FDA-approved research projects on medical marijuana can source their cannabis from just one grower. Indeed, the University of Mississippi is currently the