President Trump, will you be cracking down on the billion-dollar marijuana industry?
Displays at Shango Cannabis shop on first day of legal recreational marijuana sales beginning at midnight in Portland, Oregon October 1, 2015. The sale of marijuana for recreational use began in Oregon on October 1, 2015 as it joined Washington state and Colorado in allowing the sale of a drug that remains illegal under U.S. federal law.
Over President Donald Trump's first 100 days, we're asking him questions that our audience wants answers to. Join the project by tweeting this question to @realDonaldTrump with the hashtag #100Days100Qs.
#81. @realDonaldTrump, will you be cracking down on the billion-dollar marijuana industry? #100Days100Qs
Recreational marijuana is a huge industry in Oregon, Washington and Colorado — states where cultivating and smoking pot has been made legal. The money made from taxing marijuana — a $21 billion industry, according to reports — pads state’s coffers, pays for schools and other infrastructure and some say it even curbs the illegal drug trade.
Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, although seven states have approved measures providing some level of legal sale and consumption. Medical marijuana is legal in another 28 states. A recent Quinnipiac poll found that 71 percent of Americans oppose a federal crackdown on marijuana and 93 percent approve of medical marijuana. On Thursday, Canada announced it was moving toward legalizing the use of marijuana as well.
During the campaign, Trump expressed support for medical marijuana to ease suffering. He also said that as far as legalizing marijuana for social use — that was a decision best left up to the states. It was a comment met with huge cheers from supporters, but some of his advisers seem to have differing views.
Press Secretary Sean Spicer, in early February, said “there’s a big difference between [medical marijuana] and recreational marijuana, and I think 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.” Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently said he’d like to bring back “the war on drugs,” a largely failed campaign from the 1990s that some felt targeted people of color and poor people and led to harsh sentences for minor crimes.
Those two comments could leave supporters of legal marijuana wondering whether the federal government is going to start seizing assets from stores that sell legal marijuana? Should stores in Washington state selling fine chocolates tinged with a 4:20 blend be worried?
Or is the administration simply too busy with world affairs? So we’re asking President Trump, do you plan to crack down on the multibillion-dollar marijuana industry?
Click here to tweet that question to President Trump.
The article you just read is free because dedicated readers and listeners like you chose to support our nonprofit newsroom. Our team works tirelessly to ensure you hear the latest in international, human-centered reporting every weekday. But our work would not be possible without you. We need your help.
Make a gift today to help us raise $67,000 by the end of the year and keep The World going strong. Every gift will get us one step closer to our goal!