U.S. marijuana friends and foes cautious at signs of softer Trump
The agreement made it "even more politically difficult for Sessions to initiate a crackdown"
Saturday, April 14, 2018
Both advocates and opponents of legalized marijuana reacted with caution to signs from the White House that growers in U.S. states where the drug is permitted would be shielded from federal prosecution, saying it was too early to know the final impact. U.S. Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado announced that he had convinced President Trump, a fellow Republican, to protect from federal interference those state laws that legalize marijuana for certain uses. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who opposes marijuana use, rescinded a memo issued by Obama, that dialled back enforcement of the federal ban in states that legalized the drug. That decision unnerved the fast-growing U.S. marijuana industry, which has been legalized in more than half of all states.
