Huffman Urges DOJ to Clarify Stance on Pot Advertising

March 29, 2016

North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman is urging the Department of Justice to rebuff the U.S. Postal Service’s requests and publicly state that it won’t prosecute businesses who are mailing advertisements for marijuana but are acting in line with state law.

Huffman joined seven of his colleagues in penning a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch urging her to “clarify” how the Department of Justice intends to respond to the USPS’ referring newspapers to her office for potential prosecution for violations of the federal Controlled Substances Act. By “clarify,” the members of congress mean publicly state “that DOJ will not prosecute individuals who are placing advertisements for marijuana products in accordance with state law.”

In January, the USPS contacted the Journal and other newspapers throughout the country, informing us that we were breaking federal law by including medical marijuana advertisements in our papers and mailing them to subscribers through the postal service. The issue apparently began in Oregon and Washington where local postmasters threatened to refer newspapers for federal prosecution. That stance was later adopted as an official policy by USPS officials.

In the lawmakers’ letter, they urge Lynch to act in accordance with her office’s 2013 memo stating that prosecuting business acting legally under state medical and recreational laws was not a priority, and with a spending bill passed by Congress that explicitly prohibited the department from spending federal funds to interfere with state marijuana laws. “Congress has made clear its intent that DOJ not interfere with medical marijuana programs,” the members of Congress wrote.

Joining Huffman in signing the letter were Earl Blumenauer ( D-OR), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Sam Farr (D-CA), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Ted Lieu (D-CA).


Source: by Thadeus Greenson