In summary
In a possible reversal of his support for medical marijuana on the campaign trail, President Trump today expressed his displeasure with Congress limiting his administration’s ability to prosecute growers and consumer of medicinal pot.
In a possible reversal of his support for medical marijuana on the campaign trail, President Trump today expressed his displeasure with Congress limiting his administration’s ability to prosecute growers and consumer of medicinal pot.
In a signing statement accompanying the $1.2 trillion spending bill that will keep the federal government afloat through September, Trump took umbrage with several limitations on executive authority included in the legislation, including a provision known as the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment that prohibits the Justice Department from interfering with state-sanctioned medical marijuana markets.
Accompanying other objections to the spending measure, the signing statement took note of a provision that “provides that the Department of Justice may not use any funds to prevent implementation of medical marijuana laws by various States and territories. I will treat this provision consistently with my constitutional responsibility to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”
Legalization advocates interpreted that language as a signal that Trump retains the right to interfere in state medical marijuana activities—if he does so, that would be a reversal from his campaign statements on the issue.
“To raise it to the importance of pushing it into a signing statement, rather than putting it somewhere else—that’s concerning,” said Lynne Lyman, California state director for the pro-legalization Drug Policy Alliance. “Everything is back on the table now.”
While voicing mixed views on recreational marijuana on the campaign trail, Trump was fairly clear on supporting medicinal use.