A drug reform advocate has revealed that the Trump administration is inviting proposals for federal marijuana legalization. The activist said that they attended a recent event where they discussed the matter of federal cannabis reform with a White House staffer and were invited to write a proposal explaining why President Trump should support legalizing cannabis at the federal level.
While President Trump isn’t a big proponent of legalizing recreational marijuana, he doesn’t oppose the idea of cannabis reform either. He has expressed support for medical marijuana in the past and said that legalizing the controversial drug should be a state issue, not a federal one. His stance on cannabis is quite at odds with most Republican lawmakers who claim legalizing cannabis could damage society by boosting youth drug consumption and increasing crime.
According to Howard Wooldridge, a drug policy specialist at Citizens Against Prohibition, a White House representative at the most recent Americans for Tax Reform’s weekly meeting invited all the event’s attendees to submit federal marijuana legalization proposals to the Trump administration. Wooldridge says the White House staffer also listened to him outline how he would advise the Trump administration to pursue federal cannabis reform.
The White House representative was open to any suggestions regarding federal cannabis legalization, Wooldridge said in a statement. Although Wooldridge declined to name the staffer, his revelation indicates that cannabis reform may not be one of President Donald Trump’s targets as he seeks to undo many of the previous administration’s policy decisions.
Wooldridge said he would submit a cannabis proposal at the end of the week after consulting with conservative marijuana lobbyist Don Murphy from the American Cannabis Collective. This proposal will focus heavily on the political gains the Trump administration could make by finally ending federal marijuana prohibition in the U.S. Wooldridge said the proposal could also support allowing states to determine their cannabis policy, a strategy that has been backed by President Trump in the past.
During his second presidential campaign, Trump also endorsed a cannabis reform proposal in Florida and expressed his support for federal rescheduling and granting the cannabis industry access to banking services. While President Trump has barely discussed cannabis reform since he was elected, it seems the White House is open to considering federal legalization.
If he instructs Congress to start working on a marijuana legalization bill, the GOP-led Senate and House may drop their resistance to cannabis reform and follow Trump’s directive, Wooldridge says.
GOP lobbyist Don Murphy will help Wooldridge with the ‘conservative messaging’ around cannabis and cannabis reform to make the White House more receptive to the federal reform proposal. Murphy says that even though Trump won’t win the love of progressives by pushing cannabis reform, there are still plenty of reasons to legalize cannabis.
This news about the willingness of the Trump administration to consider federal marijuana legalization is likely to be cautiously received by leading companies like Tilray Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY) (TSX: TLRY) until more concrete information about these developments is available.
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