US County Officials Call on Federal Government to Respect State Marijuana Reforms
With each passing month, more American politicians and officials are voicing support for marijuana reforms, even though legalization bills continue to stall in the federal Congress and President Trump has not followed through on his campaign promise to support therapeutic reforms.
Late last week, as a show of support for reform efforts, the National Association of Counties (NACo)—which represents about 3,069 local government entities across the country—issued an official statement to Congress. In this statement, the organization expressed formal support for both medical and recreational marijuana legalization and criticized officials who are sabotaging reform efforts.
“NACo calls on Congress to respect the sovereign right of individual states and regions to implement local reforms regarding the status of marijuana, and to stop using resources to prosecute representatives of the legal marijuana industry and their customers,” the statement reads. “Additionally, Congress should take all necessary steps to promote and support systemic reforms nationwide, allowing states to regulate the production, processing, and distribution of marijuana within a unified framework.”
Federal Pushback Against State Reforms
Throughout last year, the Trump administration—particularly Attorney General Jeff Sessions—did everything possible to destabilize regional legal marijuana markets. At the beginning of the year, Sessions abruptly rescinded an Obama-era memorandum that had set guidelines for implementing regional reforms for recreational and therapeutic marijuana. Since then, Sessions has continued to publicly criticize medical marijuana legalization and oppose local decriminalization reforms.
Congressional Efforts and Promises
In recent months, influential members of Congress such as Senators Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, and Dana Rohrabacher have introduced several bills aimed at protecting states’ sovereign right to legalize marijuana. However, these bills have so far stalled in Congress. Thanks to Senator Booker’s advocacy, President Trump pledged to immediately support any bill aimed at legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana at the national level.
The most promising of these is the STATES Act, introduced by Senator Warren, which seeks to strengthen the Tenth Amendment’s provisions on state sovereignty, allowing states to set their own marijuana policies independently. Last month, the bill received support from 12 governors of states that have already legalized marijuana, as well as the national conference of mayors. Despite this, the bill has made little progress in Congress.
Local Leaders Speak Out
“There’s no doubt that the strict criminalization of marijuana has completely failed to achieve its goals,” said Portland, Oregon Mayor Ted Wheeler in late June. “Strict prohibition hasn’t protected our youth from marijuana use; criminalization has only increased police corruption and destroyed the futures of entire generations in Latino and African American communities. Legalization will help us fix this, but for it to work effectively, reform must be adopted nationwide.”
In other words, while NACo’s statement did not directly call for reform, the organization demanded that Congress provide necessary protections for regions that have chosen to end marijuana criminalization on their own.
“The federal government should focus on fighting the illegal drug trade and smuggling across the country, not on legal businesses that strictly follow local regulations governing the recreational and therapeutic marijuana market,” the statement concludes.
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