Justice Eyes Federal Enforcement of Recreational Pot
By Alexis Simendinger
Real Clear Politics
President Trump may seek to prosecute recreational marijuana sales and use under federal law, reversing the cautiously evolving posture embraced by his predecessor, the White House suggested on Thursday.
Eight states and the District of Columbia currently allow recreational use of pot, which the president’s spokesman said is different than medicinal marijuana used to alleviate chronic pain and other disease symptoms.
“The president understands the pain and suffering that many people go through who are facing, especially terminal diseases, and the comfort that some of these drugs, including medical marijuana, can bring to them,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.
The nuanced rhetoric about federal enforcement pits Trump’s law-and-order platform against the growing acceptance among average Americans of all political stripes for an issue of emerging state law, continued community debate, and industry potential.
The administration’s federal heft on recreational pot clashed Thursday with its argument on behalf of states’ rights while opposing President Obama’s deference to transgender students who sought to use school restrooms that matched their gender selection rather than their biological sex. Trump terminated that guidance to schools, relying on the Justice Department’s insistence that transgender restrooms are a question for states and local school districts, not the federal government.
“I do believe that you’ll see greater enforcement of [recreational marijuana],” Spicer predicted, drawing a distinction between state laws legalizing medical marijuana and recreational pot use and sales, which he said the Trump administration opposes.
The Department of Justice under Attorney General Jeff Sessions will be “looking into” tougher recreational cannabis enforcement, Spicer said, appearing to draw a connection between marijuana use and a national surge in opioid drug addiction. Studies have pointed in the opposite direction on the question of whether marijuana use increases opioid painkiller abuse. Indeed, some studies indicate recreational and medical marijuana ward off rather than heighten opioid addiction by presenting users with an alternative.
But the White House appeared cool to Obama’s view that states rather than Washington could establish legal and enforcement policies when it comes to the expanding recreational marijuana industry nationwide. That marketplace could grow to $20.6 billion in revenue by 2020, according to an industry report authored by Arcview Market Research.
“When you see something like the opioid addiction crisis blossoming in so many states around this country, the last thing we should be doing is encouraging people,” Spicer said. “There is still a federal law that we need to abide by in terms of … recreational marijuana and other drugs of that nature.”
Pro-legalization organization NORML said an ideological split exists over marijuana policy between Trump, who campaigned on deference to the states, and Sessions, who favors federal enforcement.
“The press secretary’s comments are hardly surprising and they are similar to comments made by … Sessions during his vetting process when he made clear that any use of marijuana remains against federal law, and that ‘it is not the Attorney General’s job to decide what laws to enforce,’” said NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano in a statement. He called on Congress to pass a pending bipartisan measure, the “Respect State Marijuana Laws Act,” to safeguard the will of voters and state legislatures.
Recent polls have found the highest level of support – 60 percent – for marijuana legalization in 47 years of surveys, according to the Gallup Organization. Among Republicans polled last year, 42 percent said they backed legalization – twice the GOP support seen a decade ago – compared with 70 percent of independents, and 67 percent of Democrats.