The Sessions Letters: Read the U.S. attorney general’s missives to the first four states to legalize marijuana
Published: Aug 17, 2017, 5:01 am • Updated: Aug 16, 2017, 8:03 pm
By Aleta Labak, The Cannabist Staff
In April, the governors of the first four states to legalize recreational marijuana asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions to “engage with us before embarking on any changes to regulatory and enforcement systems.”
Sessions responded at the end of July with four letters addressed to the governors of Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington.
In each letter, Sessions referred to regional and state data depicting serious public health and safety issues arising from marijuana legalization and raised questions about the efficacy of their respective marijuana regulatory regimes.
Timeline
‘Something’s going to have to give’: An untenable conflict between feds, legalized states
Teaming up: Four governors urge feds to keep marijuana enforcement status quo
Research: AG Jeff Sessions directs task force to review federal marijuana policies
Face-to-face: After meeting with Sessions, Colorado gov thinks AG unlikely to crack down on marijuana
Fact-finding: Feds visit Colorado to research marijuana regulation, black market, enforcement
Govs push back: Washington, Alaska officials dispute Sessions’ data in the letters they received
This week, Alaska Gov. Bill Walker and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee followed up with official responses to Sessions, questioning the data he had cited about their states. The Cannabist has confirmed a response will be forthcoming from Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and has made an inquiry to Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s office as to if and when that state will respond.
For comparing and contrasting, The Cannabist has gathered all the documentation from Sessions’ letters to the states’ top officials:
Sessions’ July 24 letter to Alaska Gov. Bill Walker:
AG Jeff Sessions’ marijuana policy letter to Alaska received 8/3/17 (PDF)
AG Jeff Sessions’ marijuana policy letter to Alaska received 8/3/17 (Text)
Sessions’ July 24 letter to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper:
Sessions Hickenlooper July 24 2017 Letter (PDF)
Sessions Hickenlooper July 24 2017 Letter (Text)
Sessions’ July 24 letter to Oregon Gov. Kate Brown:
AG Jeff Sessions’ letter to Oregon governor about marijuana legalization (PDF)
AG Jeff Sessions’ letter to Oregon governor about marijuana legalization (Text)
Sessions’ July 24 letter to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee:
Sessions Inslee July24 2017 Letter (PDF)
Sessions Inslee July24 2017 Letter (Text)
Governors of AK, CO, OR and WA April 2017 letter to Sessions:
AK CO OR WA Govs Marijuana Letter 4 3 17 (PDF)
AK CO OR WA Govs Marijuana Letter 4 3 17 (Text)
Topics: Alaska, Alaska marijuana sales, Bill Walker, Colorado, colorado marijuana sales, jay inslee, Jeff Sessions, John Hickenlooper, Kate Brown, Oregon, oregon marijuana sales, Sessions and the states, washington recreational marijuana, Washington state 
Aleta Labak
This Colorado native joined The Cannabist in January 2014 as a digital producer, after working behind the scenes for The Denver Post since 1999 in News, Features and Sports as a copy editor and designer. These are fascinating times,…
