September 2013
Texas NORML - Updates, Events and Activities
Updates
Nationally, the Department of Justice has recently been in the news updating their stance on cannabis and criminal justice issues. It started with Mandatory Minimums. Attorney General Eric Holder announced during a speech before the American Bar Association that the Justice Department will no longer list drug quantities in indictments of certain low-level drug offenders, allowing defendants who lack ties to gangs, violence and large-scale drug trafficking organizations to avoid harsh mandatory minimums. Click here to view and read more about his statement. Then in a memo to U.S. attorneys in all 50 states, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole directed federal prosecutors to focus on eight areas of enforcement rather than spending time targeting individual users in states that have legalized cannabis use. Those aims include preventing distribution of marijuana to minors, stopping the growing of marijuana on public land, keeping pot from falling into the hands of cartels and gangs, and preventing the diversion of marijuana to states where it remains illegal. Click here to read the memo. Additionally, as this newsletter is being written, during a briefing a senior Department of Justice (DOJ) official said that Financial Institutions and other enterprises that do business with marijuana shops which are in compliance with state laws are unlikely to be prosecuted for money laundering or other federal crimes that could be brought under existing federal drug laws. This is a reversal of their previous guidance. www.mayorgalvan.com
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