NORML reports that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer declared war on much of the cannabis community yesterday when he announced the the Trump administration intends to engage in the ‘greater enforcement’ of federal anti-marijuana laws in the eight states that have legalized and regulated its adult use.
In resuming this regressive policy, Trump stands with a shrinking minority. Again, according to NORML, fifty-nine percent of voters say that adults’ use of marijuana should be legal while a whopping 93 percent support the medical use of marijuana. Perhaps most importantly, 71 percent of voters — including strong majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents — say that they ‘oppose the government enforcing federal laws against marijuana in states that have already legalized medical or recreational marijuana.’
At the Mises Institute, Ryan McMaken points out that 81 percent of all drug arrests are for simple possession, defining the renewed war on marijuana as a war on personal choice. Since Trump has sided with the police regarding civil asset forfeiture and praised Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug death squads, drug-war abolitionists can likely expect little help from the Trump administration over the next several years.
