Cory Gardner meets with Jeff Sessions to discuss federal enforcement for marijuana

Senator Cory Gardner R-Co., met with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday to discuss the Justice Department’s decision to rescind current policy on legal marijuana enforcement.

Sen. Gardner released a statement concerning the meeting on Wednesday morning, which reads in part:

” I reiterated my concern that states’ rights were being infringed on through this action and we agreed to continue talks. I also hope to expand these discussions with the Justice Department to include several of my Democrat and Republican colleagues about what steps can be taken legislatively to protect Colorado’s rights.”

According to Sen. Gardner’s team, the senator organized and led a meeting with Republican and Democrat senators that share his concerns with the DOJ decision. They will continue to work together on legislative steps that can be taken to restore states’ rights impacted by this latest action.

This comes after Sen. Gardner spoke out against Session’s decision to rescind the policy late last week.

“Thousands of jobs at risk, millions of dollars in revenue, and certainly the question of constitutional states’ rights, very much at the core of this discussion. Because I believe what happened today was a trampling of Colorado’s rights and it’s voters,” said Gardner just hours after Sessions made the announcement.

Gardner also spoke about an encounter he had with Sessions back when Sessions was still serving as a senator in Alabama.

“Senator Sessions told me that marijuana simply wasn’t going to be on President Trump’s agenda, that is was something they weren’t going to deal with, and it was something the president wasn’t going to focus on. That was back in the spring of 2016, and up until 8:58 this morning, that was the policy. One tweet later, one policy later, a complete reversal of what many of us were told on the hill before the confirmation, what we continued to believe the last year. And without any notification, conversation, or dialogue with congress, it was completely reversed,” said Gardner.

Gardner says he plans to stick to a promise to block all nominees to the Department of Justice, including U.S. Marshals, and U.S. attorneys from other states until federal forces let up on the issue.