Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner says he struck a deal with President Donald J. Trump that would protect states’ marijuana laws from federal interference.
www.thecannabist.co/…
The Cannabist reports that Cory Gardner (R-CO) has reached an agreement with Trump to protect state-legal cannabis. Gardner is the head of the fundraising for Republican Senators. He is also the clown who told Doug Jones that he should caucus with the Republicans because that’s what Alabamans really wanted.
Normally, I would consider this good news, but not so much in this case. Gardner has been holding up DOJ nominees. He agreed to lift his embargo in exchange from an agreement from Trump. The DOJ, as far as I know, has stayed out of state cannabis businesses, irrespective of Sessions’ hatred of the herb. The pushback from a public that wants legalization would just be too much political trouble and the states have refused to assist the Feds in enforcement, as is their legal right.
I don’t know if Gardner’s hold included Federal judges, but in any case, I would prefer to see Trump’s nominees blocked for whatever the reason rather than this promise (like Trump would remember it tomorrow anyway) to protect states’ rights. Legalization will happen with or without Trump and the DOJ. It is inevitable because you cannot block 70% of the public. Had Trump agreed to push descheduling, maybe there would be more here. But he didn’t.
Brief Update
Mitch McConnell has introduced legislation to legalize hemp. Hemp was considered as evil as psychoactive plants and is illegal strictly because it makes enforcement more difficult, i.e. hard to differentiate the plants.
McConnell said last month that he hopes hemp “can become sometime in the future what tobacco was in Kentucky’s past.”
The farmers must be getting really, really pissed off at Republicans and they have to throw them something other than banning transgender soldiers in the Army.