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What if the Department of Justice, after the legalization of recreational marijuana, decided to crack down on the entire medical cannabis industry, like it has with pharmaceutical companies?
It’s already happening in the states of Colorado and Washington, where the federal government is still prosecuting medical marijuana dispensaries.
The DOJ’s proposed budget request would allow it to expand the use of the federal Controlled Substances Act to include any company with at least 20 employees that “maintains at least five dispensaries in the United States.”
In short, the DOJ is seeking to expand its authority over the medical marijuana industry to include anything that has employees in the U.S. If the department is allowed to expand this authority to include the entire cannabis industry it would make medical marijuana businesses essentially a public trust.
The proposed budget is likely to be controversial.
On the other hand, the Trump administration could very well use the budget to make it easier for states to grow their own medical marijuana.
And if medical marijuana is now a public benefit, it might be a more effective way to incentivize compliance.
As the Trump campaign’s tax returns revealed, Trump has said that he would be open to the legalization or decriminalization of cannabis, as long as he doesn’t get “in the way.”
If the Trump Administration were to move forward with this policy, the cannabis industry could be in a stronger position than it’s ever been in the past.
