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Trump Administration Takes Step That Could Threaten Marijuana Legalization Movement Trump Administration Takes Step That Could Threaten Marijuana Legalization Movement
(about 7 hours later)
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration freed federal prosecutors on Thursday to more aggressively enforce marijuana laws, effectively threatening to undermine the legalization movement that has spread to six states, most recently California. WASHINGTON — The viability of the multibillion-dollar marijuana legalization movement was thrown into new doubt on Thursday when the Trump administration freed prosecutors to more aggressively enforce federal laws against the drug in states that have decriminalized its production and sale, most recently California.
In a move that raised doubts about the viability and growth of the burgeoning commercial marijuana industry, Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded an Obama-era policy that had discouraged federal prosecutors from bringing charges of marijuana-related crimes in states that have legalized sales of the drug. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, long a vocal opponent of the legalization of marijuana, rescinded an Obama-era policy that discouraged federal prosecutors in most cases from bringing charges wherever the drug is legal under state laws.
In a statement, Mr. Sessions said the Obama-era guidance undermined “the rule of law” and the Justice Department’s mission to enforce federal statutes. “It is the mission of the Department of Justice to enforce the laws of the United States, and the previous issuance of guidance undermines the rule of law,” he said in a statement. In his memo to United States attorneys, he called the earlier policy “unnecessary” and pointed to federal laws that “reflect Congress’s determination that marijuana is a dangerous drug and that marijuana activity is a serious crime.”
“Today’s memo on federal marijuana enforcement simply directs all U.S. attorneys to use previously established prosecutorial principles that provide them all the necessary tools to disrupt criminal organizations, tackle the growing drug crisis, and thwart violent crime across our country,” he said. Democrats and some Republicans condemned the move. Senator Cory Gardner, Republican of Colorado, threatened to retaliate by holding up Justice Department appointments that required Senate approval. Gavin Newsom, the Democratic lieutenant governor of California, vowed to encourage cooperation among states that have legalized marijuana.
In a briefing with reporters, Justice Department officials refused to say whether they intended for federal prosecutors to carry out a federal crackdown on marijuana dispensaries, or whether the Trump administration was merely creating ambiguity to chill growth of the semi-legal commercial marijuana industry. “This brings states together around issues of freedom, individual liberty, states’ rights,” he said in an interview, “all of the principles that transcend red and blue.”
But the move seemed certain to increase the confusion surrounding whether it is legal to sell, buy or possess marijuana in the United States. Federal law has long prohibited those activities, and in 2013, after voters in Colorado and Washington State voted to decriminalize marijuana for recreational use, the Justice Department deliberated about how to handle the resulting disconnect between state and federal law. California began allowing the sale of recreational marijuana on Monday, joining Alaska, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Massachusetts and possibly Maine are expected to begin sales this year. In all, 29 states and the District of Columbia have at least partly legalized the substance — including for medicinal use — though it remains illegal under federal law.
Ultimately, the Obama administration decided not to sue such states, and the Justice Department issued a policy memo instructing federal prosecutors to de-prioritize marijuana-related prosecutions in those states — except in certain cases, such as when there were sales to children, gang-related activity, or diversions of the product to states where it remained entirely illegal. The move seemed certain to increase the confusion surrounding whether it is legal to sell, buy or possess marijuana in those parts of the United States where state and federal law conflict. Federal law has long prohibited those activities.
That guidance was known as the “Cole memo” after the then-deputy attorney general who issued it, James Cole. In 2013, after voters in Colorado and Washington State voted to decriminalize marijuana for recreational use, the Justice Department deliberated about how to handle the resulting disconnect between state and federal law. Ultimately, federal prosecutors were instructed to deprioritize most marijuana-related prosecutions in those states.
The federal government’s hands-off approach allowed a new industry to flourish in states that had decided to legalize and regulate marijuana use and sales for recreational and medical use. In Colorado, one of the first states to broadly legalize the drug for adult use, marijuana sales now top $1 billion each year and thousands of people work in the industry, in jobs ranging from “bud trimmers” to marijuana tour guides for out-of-state visitors. Justice Department officials would not say whether they intended to carry out a crackdown and begin prosecuting commercial growers, distributors and shopkeepers, or were instead merely trying to sow doubt and slow growth in the semilegal industry.
Huge grow warehouses sprouted up inside old industrial neighborhoods, and companies that produce marijuana-laced candies, infusions and drinks have large-scale production facilities — all of which may now have a bull’s-eye on their backs. The dissonance between federal laws that outlaw marijuana and a growing number of state laws that allow and regulate it make uncertainty a fact of life for marijuana businesses and consumers. They say they live constantly with shifting legal terrain, losing their bank accounts and lines of credit and never knowing how vulnerable they may be to losing their business or being federally prosecuted.
“I do expect to see the larger investors and businesses targeted,” said Kevin Sabet, a prominent critic of legalized marijuana and former drug-control policy official in the Obama administration, who praised the step. “I’m not sure whether local mom-and-pop marijuana shops will be affected.” “It’s a really scary time for us,” said Jaime Lewis, whose Denver-based company, Mountain Medicine, sells marijuana-infused honey sticks, chocolates and cookie bites across Colorado.
California began allowing the sale of recreational marijuana on Monday, joining Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Nevada. Massachusetts and possibly Maine are expected to begin sales this year. Ms. Lewis said that she emailed her 15 employees on Thursday to tell them that things were “business as usual,” and added that she still had access to her credit union and had no plans to close her business.
Mr. Sessions was a vocal opponent of marijuana legalization as a United States senator from Alabama. At his confirmation hearing in January, he said he saw some value in how the Obama administration evaluated whether to spend resources on prosecuting marijuana cases in states that had legalized the drug. Mr. Gardner accused Mr. Sessions of violating promises he had made not to interfere.
“I won’t commit to never enforcing federal law,” he said, “but absolutely it’s a problem of resources for the federal government.” “With no prior notice to Congress, the Justice Department has trampled on the will of the voters in CO and other states,” Mr. Gardner wrote on Twitter, adding: “I am prepared to take all steps necessary, including holding DOJ nominees, until the Attorney General lives up to the commitment he made to me prior to his confirmation.”
Still, he suggested, there was legitimate criticism that prosecutors may have shied away from potential cases that they should have brought under the exceptions listed in the Cole memo. The White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, maintained that President Trump was not going back on a campaign promise to refrain from using federal authority to shut down sales of recreational marijuana in states where they were legal.
The Justice Department’s move is likely to have the biggest effect on major funding sources for marijuana retailers and large-scale growing and production operations, said Mr. Sabet, who is president of an advocacy group called Smart Approaches to Marijuana. The Justice Department move, she said, “simply gives prosecutors the tools to take on large-scale distributors and enforce federal law. The president’s position hasn’t changed, but he does strongly believe that we have to enforce federal law.”
“It puts the industry on notice in these states who thought they had cover from the states and the feds,” he said. “All these people are going to wake up today with a bit of a heartache because they thought were scot-free, when in reality, they’re not.” Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon, a Democrat, said in an interview that she was still exploring her options, but that the net effect of Mr. Sessions’s move was to “rip the framework from underneath us.”
Several lawmakers representing states that have legalized marijuana reacted angrily to the news. Among them, Senator Cory Gardner, Republican of Colorado, accused Mr. Sessions of violating promises had made and threatened retaliation. Marijuana has become an important industry in Oregon, she said, with 19,000 new jobs, many in rural areas, and $100 million in state tax revenue over the past year and a half put toward schools, law enforcement and other programs.
“This reported action directly contradicts what Attorney General Sessions told me prior to his confirmation. With no prior notice to Congress, the Justice Department has trampled on the will of the voters in CO and other states,” Mr. Gardner wrote on Twitter, adding: “I am prepared to take all steps necessary, including holding DOJ nominees, until the Attorney General lives up to the commitment he made to me prior to his confirmation.” Gov. John W. Hickenlooper of Colorado, a Democrat, said he doubted that the move would have much immediate effect on his state’s legalized marijuana industry. He expressed skepticism that United States attorneys would want to siphon resources from other prosecutions so they could close a marijuana dispensary operating under state regulations.
Another lawmaker, Representative Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat who is co-chairman of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, called for people to mobilize and push back against the Justice Department decision. “What are you going to cut back on: heroin enforcement or sex trafficking, to shut down a little marijuana shop?” he asked in an interview.
“This is outrageous,” Mr. Blumenauer said. “Going against the majority of Americans — including a majority of Republican voters — who want the federal government to stay out of the way is perhaps one of the stupidest decisions the attorney general has made.” He said he hoped Congress would pass legislation giving individual states some federal latitude to write their own marijuana regulations, taxes and other programs when their voters did approve legalization.
But in a conference call with reporters organized by Mr. Sabet’s anti-marijuana legalization group, Patrick Kennedy, a former Democratic congressman from Rhode Island who advises the group, praised the move as a blow for public health. Marijuana users should receive treatment, not go to jail, Mr. Kennedy said, but he said the country should not allow a new profit-driven commercial push for drug consumption akin to the liquor and tobacco industries. But during a conference call with reporters, Patrick J. Kennedy, a former Democratic congressman from Rhode Island who serves as an adviser to Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a group against the legalization of the substance, praised the move as a boon to public health. Marijuana users should receive treatment, not go to jail, Mr. Kennedy said, adding that the country should not allow a new profit-driven commercial push for drug consumption akin to the liquor and tobacco industries.
The move is particularly poignant in California, where the state’s marijuana industry, by far the largest in the country, is still celebrating the launch on Monday of recreational marijuana sales. More than 100 dispensaries began selling marijuana across the state, and many more are expected to open in the coming weeks once San Francisco and Los Angeles begin issuing licenses. Mr. Sessions has put the industry on notice, said the group’s president, Kevin Sabet, a prominent critic of legalized marijuana and former drug-control policy official in the Obama administration. Mr. Sabet referred to marijuana sellers as the “new tobacco industry,” and said the drug posed more harm to brain function and public health — particularly for younger users — than legalization advocates cared to discuss.
Henry G. Wykowski, a leading cannabis attorney in San Francisco, said he has been inundated with questions from his clients on what they should do to defend themselves. “All these people are going to wake up today with a bit of a heartache because they thought were scot-free, when in reality, they’re not,” he said.
“I can say unequivocally that we as an industry will aggressively defend our rights to engage in an activity that is authorized by state laws,” he said. “They have challenged us before,” he said of federal authorities, “and we stood up for our rights and we ultimately prevailed.” The federal government’s hands-off approach under the Obama administration allowed a new industry to flourish. In Colorado, one of the first states to broadly legalize the drug for adult use, marijuana sales now top $1 billion each year and thousands of people work in the industry, in jobs like “bud trimmers” and marijuana tour guides for out-of-state visitors.
Huge grow warehouses developed inside old industrial neighborhoods, and companies that produce marijuana-laced candies, infusions and drinks have large-scale production facilities — all of which may now have a bull’s-eye on their backs.
“I do expect to see the larger investors and businesses targeted,” said Mr. Sabet, who praised the step. “I’m not sure whether local mom-and-pop marijuana shops will be affected.”
Ramsey Hamide, an owner of Main Street Marijuana, one of Washington State’s largest cannabis retailers, agreed that the move could have important financial implications.
“The immediate concern is how it is going to impact banking — that’s a significant issue for the industry,” he said. “If the banks are feeling like they’re not protected and that they have to pull our access to banking, it is going to really make things difficult with regards to payroll and how we transact with our vendors and our tax obligations monthly to the state for the excise taxes.”
California’s marijuana industry, by far the largest in the country, is still celebrating the debut on Monday of recreational marijuana sales. More than 100 dispensaries began selling marijuana across the state, and many more are expected to open in the coming weeks as San Francisco and Los Angeles begin issuing licenses.
Henry G. Wykowski, a leading cannabis lawyer in San Francisco, said he had been inundated with questions from his clients on how they should defend themselves.
“We as an industry will aggressively defend our rights to engage in an activity that is authorized by state laws,” he said. “They have challenged us before,” he said of federal authorities, “and we stood up for our rights and we ultimately prevailed.”
California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana more than two decades ago, and the industry is now entrenched. The state produces far more marijuana than it consumes; the surplus is sold illegally across state lines. Those interstate sales have been the prime target of law enforcement officials but have proved difficult to control.California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana more than two decades ago, and the industry is now entrenched. The state produces far more marijuana than it consumes; the surplus is sold illegally across state lines. Those interstate sales have been the prime target of law enforcement officials but have proved difficult to control.
Nationwide, the marijuana market in states that authorize medical or recreational marijuana is estimated at around $6 billion and projected to grow to $9 billion by the end of the year, according to Marijuana Business Daily, a trade publication that conducts research. Chris Walsh, the editorial director of the publication, estimates there are about 4,500 medical and recreational shops across the country. That number is projected to grow significantly this year as the rollout of licenses proceeds in California. Nationwide, the marijuana market in states that authorize medical or recreational marijuana is estimated at around $6 billion and projected to grow to $9 billion by the end of the year, according to Marijuana Business Daily, a trade publication that conducts research. Chris Walsh, the editorial director of the publication, estimated that there were about 4,500 medical and recreational shops across the country. That number is projected to increase significantly this year as the rollout of licenses proceeds in California.
“They are not going to put this industry back in the bottle,” Mr. Walsh said.“They are not going to put this industry back in the bottle,” Mr. Walsh said.
Mr. Blumenauer accused Mr. Sessions of breaking a campaign promise by President Trump not to interfere with state marijuana laws. And Mr. Gardner retweeted a video of Mr. Trump telling a Colorado journalist in a July 2016 interview that if he were elected, he would not use federal authority to shut down sales of recreational marijuana in states that had legalized it.
“I think it’s up to the states,” Mr. Trump said then. “I am a states person. I think it should be up to the states. Absolutely.”