Trump chooses cannabis opponent as Attorney General

The election of Donald Trump not only raised fears of random developments in social and egalitarian policies, it also raised concerns in the cannabis industry. The first of his qualities being the fickleness of his opinions, the industry didn't really know how to welcome the 45th President of the United States.

If his statements are anything to go by, Donald was more in favor of letting the states legislate, without federal legalization. A strong position was taken by offering the position of Attorney General to Alabama Senator Jeff Session, an ardent opponent of cannabis law reform.

The Attorney General is the American equivalent of the Attorney General. In the U.S., this person oversees federal prosecutors, the DEA and other law enforcement agencies which are, among other things, responsible for enforcing cannabis laws. Cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, but previous Presidents have limited the action of federal agencies as long as companies and consumers comply with the laws of their state (with a few raids on dispensaries, though, this is the States).

In a recent Senate hearing in April, Jeff Sessions had stated that «good people don't smoke marijuana» and that even discussion of legalization could create a gateway effect to increased use of other drugs.

«We need the adults in Washington to say that cannabis is not the kind of thing that should be legalized, it shouldn't be minimized, that it's actually a real danger,» he says. «You'll see cocaine and heroin increase more than it should, I think, than if we hadn't talked about it.».

He also openly criticized the Obama administration for its approach to the subject, which calls into question 20 years of strong prohibition and hostility, which had notably begun with Nancy Reagan's «Just Say No» program.

In 1986, he also declared that he found the Ku Klux Klan «OK until I found out they smoked cannabis». A remark he claimed was taken out of context, but soon followed by other racist comments that led to the rejection of his nomination to the position of Alabama State's Attorney.

So much for character. The industry will now be watching Donald Trump's future decisions very closely and hopes he sticks to his guns. his latest statements If [the States] vote for it, they vote for it«.