A Democratic congresswoman is demanding that the Justice Department explain its apparent “reversal” of federal marijuana enforcement guidelines that was recently revealed by a U.S. attorney who said his office, in response to the Trump administration action, will be “rigorously” prosecuting people over cannabis possession or use on federal lands.
Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday that said the revelation about the revised federal cannabis policy “raises significant concerns about transparency and the rationale underlying the Department’s enforcement priorities that will inevitably have a severe social and economic toll on communities throughout the country.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming said earlier this month that DOJ sent a memo to federal prosecutors in September, announcing the rescission of previously unpublicized Biden-era guidance that advised against going after people for simple possession on federal lands.
“We need sensible cannabis policy reform,” Titus told Marijuana Moment on Friday after sending the letter to Bondi. “It is ludicrous for the Trump Administration to enforce an outdated law and target simple marijuana possession, claiming it as a public safety hazard. As Co-Chair of the Cannabis Caucus, I am taking the lead to challenge this decision that would continue a cycle of unjust incarceration and unequal enforcement.”
Neither the memo nor that prior guidance has been made publicly available, and Titus is requesting that the Trump administration provide a copy of its message to prosecutors—and also answer additional questions about marijuana enforcement priorities—by December 3.
“Simple marijuana possession poses no meaningful threat to public safety, and it is indefensible to revive prosecution under an outdated law that no longer reflects the current use of cannabis in the United States,” she said. “The War on Drugs has been a costly venture that has disproportionately impacted low-income and historically marginalized communities.”
She added that marijuana continues to be the top driver of federal drug-related arrests “despite the fact that the vast majority of states have enacted laws that, to varying degrees, relax their prohibitions against the use of marijuana or its components.”
“Reverting to punitive criminalization at the federal level will not deter use or strengthen public safety; it will simply continue a cycle of incarceration and unequal enforcement,” the congresswoman wrote. “The ripple effects of a charge for simple possession of cannabis can have life-altering consequences.”
“The decision to resume prosecution for minor marijuana offenses demands immediate reconsideration. I urge you to reverse course and to release, without delay, the Biden-era guidance and the recission memorandum. The public deserves full transparency regarding the policies that shape federal enforcement priorities and determine how taxpayer dollars are deployed. This is especially critical given that nearly 70 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization and do not believe people should face criminal penalties for minor possession.”
In addition to providing the September memo to U.S. attorneys concerning marijuana prosecutions, Titus is asking DOJ to specify what types of cannabis offenses they are prioritizing, what “data and evidence” it relied on to reverse the Biden-era guidance, how many cannabis possession cases on federal lands the department has prosecuted in the past 10 years and how many it expects to prosecute under the revised policy.
“Thank you for your attention to this important matter,” the letter concludes. “I look forward to working with you to ensure federal enforcement policies are transparent and aligned with the values and priorities of the American public.”
While former President Joe Biden granted two rounds of mass pardons for people who’ve committed federal cannabis possession offenses during his term—specifically including those prosecuted for possession on federal lands during the second round—the administration didn’t publicize that any prosecutorial guidance directive had been issued, and none has previously been reported.
Questions remain as to the specifics of both the Biden- and Trump-related marijuana prosecutorial guidance, but the apparent decision to revert discretionary policy adds to the uncertainty around how the current administration views its enforcement role as federal and state cannabis laws continue to conflict.
For example, the notice from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming came just one day after Trump signed a key spending bill that contains provisions to ban consumable hemp products with THC—a move that industry stakeholders say would eradicate the market that’s emerged since the president signed the 2018 Farm Bill legalizing the crop during his first term.
Then there’s the ongoing marijuana rescheduling process that the president said in late August would be decided within a matter of weeks.
That still hasn’t come to fruition—and a White House spokesperson told Marijuana Moment that “there is a process ongoing regarding the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on rescheduling marijuana from May 2024 and all policy and legal requirements and implications are being considered.”
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Trump endorsed rescheduling—as well as marijuana industry banking access and a Florida adult-use legalization initiative that ultimately failed—on the campaign trail ahead of his election to a second term. But when he was pressed on the status of the rescheduling process in mid-August, he was less clear about his personal stance.
The administration was “only looking at that” reform, and it’s too “early” to say how the issue will be decided, he said at the time, adding that “it’s a very complicated subject.”
Meanwhile, top White House staffers under the Biden administration recently shed new light on the mass marijuana pardon and cannabis rescheduling process they helped facilitate, revealing the extent to which they were involved in broader clemency actions that are now under scrutiny by GOP leaders.
Also, as the marijuana rescheduling proposal awaits action, some GOP members of Congress have been urging Trump to move forward with the reform—with one lawmaker taking a jab at Biden by joking that it’s possible the prior administration “must have not been able to find the autopen in time” to complete the cannabis reform process it initiated.
Separately, the president last month posted a video on his Truth Social platform promoting the health benefits of cannabis—suggesting that covering CBD under Medicare would be “the most important senior health initiative of the century.”
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