Trump Says He'll Probably Support Ending the Federal Ban on Marijuana
Suddenly, Trump is chill about cannabis.
So, President Trump has a new stance on weed. ICYMI, there’s currently a federal ban on marijuana that conflicts with half of the state’s cannabis laws, from legal recreational use to medical prescriptions. It’s actually classified as a Schedule I drug by the DEA, along with heroin! But today, the president issued a vague statement that might mean that’s about to change.
A piece of proposed legislation would give states the right — that they already exercise — to classify marijuana how they’d like within their boundaries. Some federal restrictions, like not being able to buy weed under the age of 21, would remain. But the big, scary ban, the one that might cause trouble for Canadians in the near future, would go. And what does Trump have to say about this?
Marijuana legalization status as of 2017
“We’re looking at it. But I probably will end up supporting that, yes,” the president said to reporters at the White House today. Yippee!
This is a big adjustment from how the Trump administration was talking about weed just last year, when Sean Spicer was less of a joke and more of a press secretary. Back then, we thought the federal government might actually crack down on states for ignoring their big ol’ ban. Trump apparently thought there was a “big difference” between the medical and recreational use of weed. And in the past, he’s said that toking up was, like, really bad.
But not anymore! Maybe! Who’s to say? Turn his Twitter notifications on, just in case. He likes to make big policy changes while lying in bed on the phone.
In all seriousness, the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Entrusting States (STATES) Act was proposed this morning by a bipartisan group of senators and, if passed, would really help cannabis companies get support from banking services, and remove both hemp and weed from the Controlled Substances Act. It might even encourage more states along the path of legalization.
We’ll just have to see if Trump really meant what he said and if the legislature is as easily persuaded.
