WASHINGTON, D.C. - Attorney General Jeff Sessions told a handful of Republican congressmen on Tuesday that the Department of Justice is exploring the possibility of using the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to house repeat drug offenders as part of a renewed effort to combat the spread of marijuana and other dangerous drugs.
“It’s a very fine place,” Mr. Sessions declared during a Washington-area breakfast event hosted by House Speaker Paul Ryan. “There’s plenty of space. They are well equipped - perhaps more so than we are - to handle these kinds of criminals.” Attorney General Sessions explained that under his proposed plan, the military would continue to oversee all operational aspects of the prison, including interrogation. “But,” he added, “I see no legal problem whatsoever with doing that.”
Citing a classified Bush-era intelligence report stating that at least five hijackers were high on marijuana when they carried out terror attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, Mr. Sessions likened the rise of marijuana acceptance in the United States to the spread of the Islamic State. “Dope dealers peddling their poison on our streets are no different than the Islamic extremists who seek to destroy our way of life,” he said.
While Sessions allowed that drug dealers are “slightly less awful” than terrorists, he said they share similar values and goals. “Right now we have a handful of states where people are willing to defy federal law in order to establish some kind of pot caliphate,” Sessions charged. The attorney general went on to describe states such as Colorado and Oregon, where recreational marijuana is legal, as “lawless regions” all but devoid of American values. “You have people there - elected officials even - who view our Constitution as just another piece of paper which they can roll into a marijuana cigarette.”
Speaking at Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix, Arizona, last month, Attorney General Sessions expressed surprise and dismay over the fact that most Americans don’t share his views on marijuana. “When you consider that more than fifty percent of the country supports efforts to legalize it, you have to wonder who these people are,” Sessions said, adding, “Good people don’t smoke marijuana and I’m inclined to believe the majority of Americans are good people.”
