Governors from pro-pot states ask Trump administration to ‘engage’ before cracking down
The governors of the first four states to legalize recreational marijuana have sent an open letter urging the Trump administration to work with them before making any changes to the enforcement of federal drug laws in their states.
The April 3 letter was addressed to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and signed by Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. Walker is a political independent; the other three are Democrats.
“As governors of states that have legalized marijuana in some form, we ask the Trump administration to engage with us before embarking on any changes to regulatory and enforcement systems,” the governors wrote. “We understand you and others in the administration have some concerns regarding marijuana. We sympathize, as many of us expressed apprehensions before our states adopted current laws.”
Hickenlooper — who originally opposed Colorado’s 2014 referendum — said last month that he hasn’t seen the negative effects he feared and that he was “getting close” to personally supporting it.
“As governors, we have committed to implementing the will of our citizens and have worked cooperatively with our legislatures to establish robust regulatory structures that prioritize public health and public safety,” the governors continued.
Their letter is similar to one that was sent to Sessions last month by a group of senators — mostly Democrats — asking the Department of Justice to continue the Obama administration’s policy of allowing individual states to determine their own pot laws.
Related: Senators urge Sessions not to crack down on marijuana
“We respectfully request that you uphold DOJ’s existing policy regarding states that have implemented strong and effective regulations for recreational marijuana use,” the senators wrote in the letter. “It is critical that states continue to implement these laws.”
According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, 71 percent of Americans said they would oppose a federal crackdown on legal marijuana.
But Sessions and the White House have been sending mixed signals on their approach to the country’s budding cannabis industry.
Before he was confirmed as attorney general, Sessions had told some members of the Senate that he would respect state laws and not change federal policy. But in late February, Sessions told reporters that the Obama-era pot policy is under review.
“I’m definitely not a fan of expanded use of marijuana,” he said. “States, they can pass the laws they choose. I would just say it does remain a violation of federal law to distribute marijuana throughout any place in the United States, whether a state legalizes it or not.”
And last week, the Denver Post reported that a Drug Enforcement Administration supervisor recently sent an email to a prosecutor in the Colorado state attorney general’s office seeking information on marijuana crimes “for the new administration.”
“Some of our intel people are trying to track down info regarding some of DEA’s better marijuana investigations for the new administration,” the email stated. “Hopefully it will lead to some positive changes.”
Any changes are what the governors and senators in pro-pot states are worried about.
“Any forced change in federal enforcement policy will interrupt the collaborative approach we have taken with local law enforcement and the federal government,” Mark Bolton, Hickenlooper’s adviser on marijuana policy, said in a Monday statement. “Our hope is that we can continue working with the administration to build on a regulatory system that prioritizes protecting public safety and public health.”
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