Trump signals DOJ taking more hands-off approach to marijuana prosecution

President Donald Trump has signaled to Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., that his administration will not interfere in his state’s marijuana industry, prompting Gardner to lift a hold on Department of Justice nominees that he had imposed in protest.

The announcement has potential implications for all states with or considering legalized marijuana, as Trump also said he would support legislative solutions to solidifying cannabis policy as a state-by-state issue, not a federal one.

“My colleagues and I are continuing to work diligently on a bipartisan legislative solution that can pass Congress and head to the president’s desk to deliver on his campaign position,” Gardner said in a statement.

Trump’s announcement centers on a DOJ document known as the Cole Memo, circulated during President Barack Obama’s administration, which advised prosecutors to defer to state cannabis laws and, in states where marijuana is legalized, to focus on issues like preventing its distribution to minors and stopping sale revenues from going to criminal enterprises.

But Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded that guidance, drawing a rebuke from Gardner and other lawmakers whose states have legalized marijuana. In a statement, Gardner said Sessions was going back on his word and he pledged to put a hold on all DOJ nominees “until the attorney general lives up to the commitment he made to me prior to his confirmation.”

Gardner said he had lifted some holds earlier this year after “positive discussions with the DOJ” but that with Trump’s assurances, he would be lifting all remaining ones.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said during Friday’s press briefing that the president spoke with Gardner today and yesterday. “We're consulting Congress about issues including states’ rights of which the president is a firm believer and the statement that the senator put out earlier today is accurate,” she said.

Gardner noted that Trump had stated during his campaign that he had supported states’ rights to decide how to approach marijuana.

Morgan Fox, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates state control of marijuana laws, said this was a positive step in the short and long term – as a signal to Sessions to get more in line with Trump’s previously-stated views on marijuana policy and as motivation for lawmakers to seriously tackle marijuana policy reform.

He also noted that while this announcement seems to only pertain to one state, it will almost certainly apply to other states with legalized marijuana policies. Thirty states and the District of Columbia have laws that legalize marijuana in some form, and eight states and D.C. currently have expansive laws that allow for legal recreational marijuana, according to analysis by Governing.com.

“It wouldn’t make any sense for him to say this applies to Colorado and then not apply to other states,” Fox said.