White House warns of crackdown on recreational marijuana use

By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times - Updated: 3:58 p.m. on Thursday, February 23, 2017In a departure from the Obama administration’s policies, the White House said Thursday that the Trump administration is likely to crack down on recreational marijuana use.

“I do think you’ll see greater enforcement,” said White House press secretary Sean Spicer. “The Department of Justice, I think, will be further looking into [the issue]. I believe they are going to continue to enforce the laws on the books with respect to recreational marijuana.”

He drew a distinction between marijuana use for medical purposes, and compared recreational marijuana loosely with the opioid epidemic.

Advocates of recreational marijuana reacted quickly to his comments.

“If the administration is looking for ways to become less popular, cracking down on voter-approved marijuana laws would be a great way to do it,” said Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority. “On the campaign trail, President Trump clearly and repeatedly pledged that he would leave decisions on cannabis policy to the states. With a clear and growing majority of the country now supporting legalization, reneging on his promises would be a political disaster and huge distraction from the rest of the president’s agenda.”

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