- On behalf of Mike G Law posted in Federal Drug Charges on Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed all federal prosecutors to return to the old ways. Instead of taking steps to limit long prison sentences for nonviolent, low-level drug offenders, he ordered U.S. Attorneys nationwide to seek the sentence set out in the federal sentencing guidelines, no matter how harsh. "By definition," he opined in his policy memo, "the most serious offenses are those that carry the most substantial guidelines sentence, including mandatory-minimum sentences." In other words, if the sentence for a nonviolent, street-level marijuana user’s sentence is harsh, it’s because Congress wants it that way. But there’s plenty of evidence that Congress doesn’t want the extreme drug sentences we’ve been seeing — drug sentences that break up families, devastate... Read More »
- On behalf of Mike G Law posted in Marijuana on Thursday, May 18, 2017
How many retail dispensaries should a medical marijuana treatment center reasonably operate? The Florida House thinks it’s around 100 dispensaries per treatment center, but the Senate thinks it should be around 5. This disagreement has stalled the implementation of Florida’s medical marijuana amendment, to the consternation of many who voted for it. The bill looks dead for now. A spokesperson for the Department of Health said they continue to review public comments. If the agency makes rules at this point, litigation is expected. "The legislature chose political gamesmanship over the will of 71 percent of voters," said the executive director of Florida for Care. "The House got to poke the Senate in the eye one last time, but the real... Read More »
- On behalf of Mike G Law posted in Federal Drug Charges on Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Traditionally, prosecutors have had the authority to determine which among the various possible criminal charges to file in a given situation. They can also choose not to file any charges at all, even when there is a provable case. This concept is called prosecutorial discretion. That said, U.S. Attorneys and their staffs of federal prosecutors serve at the pleasure of the Attorney General, who directs the overall policy direction taken by anyone representing the Department of Justice. During the Obama Administration, for example, Attorney General Eric Holder urged federal prosecutors to avoid taking on low-level marijuana crimes, especially in states that had legalized marijuana for medical or recreational purposes. Marijuana possession cases, he reasoned, are better handled by state and... Read More »
- On behalf of Mike G Law posted in Marijuana on Friday, April 14, 2017
Drug Free America and its lobbying arm, Save Our Society From Drugs, opposed last year’s amendment to allow wider use of medical marijuana in Florida. Now, despite 71 percent of voters having an opposing view, the group is having a major impact on how the medical cannabis program is being structured. Some argue their impact is oversized. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Drug Free America sent lawmakers a list of suggestions, and 43 of them have already made it into the bill. By contrast, none of the language suggested by Florida for Care, one of the amendment’s authors, made it into the bill. "The suggestion that Drug Free America should be involved in the implementing language is absolutely ludicrous,"... Read More »
