Trump Says He is “​in favor of the States Rights Act”​. But then apparently uses his own money to launch a PSA against the plant!
By: Jeffrey Hill
Tags: Medical Marijuana, Cbd, States Rights, Marijuana, Cannabis

Trump Says He is “​in favor of the States Rights Act”​. But then apparently uses his own money to launch a PSA against the plant! jeffrey hill Sep 23, 2019·3 min read

ON THE ONE HAND:

President Donald Trump reiterated his support of states choosing whether to legalize cannabis. When asked on the White House lawn by a Washington Examiner reporter whether cannabis would become legal during his Administration, Trump stated, “We’re going to see what’s going on. It’s a very big subject and right now we are allowing states to make that decision. A lot of states are making that decision, but we’re allowing states to make that decision.”

While Trump does change positions on issues, he has been consistent on the legalization of cannabis since the 2016 campaign. He has stated he is “100%” in favor of legalizing medical marijuana, and has said a number of times that recreational use should be decided by the states. Of course Republicans tend to favor states’ rights as supporters of federalism.

Trump confirmed back in April 2018 to Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) that he would sign a bill that permitted states to decide for themselves on legalization. Gardner and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA now running for President) subsequently introduced a bill to remove cannabis as a controlled substance within states that have legalized it. Many believe that Senate leaders Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham have been blocking attempts to move that bill forward in the current Congress.

Trump’s comments seem to echo Attorney General William Barr’s recent statements that his department is effectively operating under the 2014 Cole Memorandum which deemphasized prosecution against state legal cannabis enterprises in most cases.

ON THE OTHER HAND:

Federal health officials are launching a public awareness campaign about the dangers of cannabis use; the effort is funded by President Trump, who reportedly donated his full second-quarter salary of $100,000 to the effort.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar have announced a cannabis public awareness campaign saying that cannabis use “carries more risk than ever” amid increased access and potency, according to a Washington Post Report.

Adams said that current cannabis “isn’t your mother’s marijuana,” pointing out that in 1995 the average potency of cannabis flower was 4 percent and now it’s about 12 percent to 25 percent, while concentrates can run as high as 80 percent or 90 percent.

Azar said he does support increasing federal cannabis research into both the risks and potential benefits into cannabis. The Drug Enforcement Administration announced it was moving forward with expanding Cannabis Research and would approve some pending research applications.

“We need to be clear: Some states’ laws on marijuana may have changed. But the science has not. And federal law has not.” — Azar, during a press conference, via the Post

According to the report, the health advisory is only the second issued by Adams. His first came in December and was aimed at e-cigarettes. Officials said that Trump using his own salary to back the cannabis health awareness campaign underscores his — and the administration’s — concerns about addiction and possible abuse.

Conclusion -I find it fascinating that the medicinal properties of the plant and its 100 or so molecules (Cannabinoids) are being studied by Harvard, MIT, Cornell and Universities all over the world. The results are very encouraging on disease states like: Epilepsy, Autism, PTSD, MS, Parkinson’s Disease, Fibromyalgia and many others. Yet our government, and specifically our President, seems to want to be on “both sides of the issue”. I guess that’s just politics.

Special thanks to Ganjapreneur for help with this story.