The Sessions Letters: Read the U.S. attorney general’s missives to the first four states to legalize marijuana

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.

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…