(DHS) Secretary John Kelly says that the Department of Homeland Security will continue to enforce marijuana laws and make marijuana a major part of its criminal enforcement efforts. This has been the fear of many activists, industry professionals, and consumers, as many of us were crossing fingers and hoping for a hands-off approach be the federal government.
As reported by The Washington Times
John Kelly is a retired Marine Corps general who as commander of U.S. forces in Latin America got a close-up look at the cartels that smuggle the drug into the U.S., said his department considers marijuana a dangerous drug, both because it feeds the finances of the cartels and is harmful to users in the U.S.
“It is a potentially dangerous gateway drug that frequently leads to the use of harder drugs,” the new secretary said in a speech laying out the top enforcement priorities he’ll pursue.
Cannabis advocates, including us here at The Weed Blog, have certainly been watching closely to determine whether the Trump administration will meddle with state-level legalization efforts and if the Department of Homeland Security will continue to enforce marijuana laws, Currently, Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational/adult-use marijuana in some form and another 20 states permit the sale of cannabis for medical purposes.
According to the Miami Herald, Kelly also stated
“Let me be clear about marijuana: It is a potentially dangerous gateway drug that frequently leads to the use of harder drugs,” he said in his first major speech since being sworn in. “Its use and possession is against federal law and until that law is changed by the United States Congress, we at DHS, along with the rest of the federal government, are sworn to uphold all the laws that are on the books.”
After seeing the elections results last November and the overwhelming amount of support for legalized marijuana, in addition to the fact that the majority of Americans think that marijuana should be legalized, we are still curious, and hopeful, to see how this plays out.
