Congresswoman Demands Details On Trump DOJ Marijuana Policy After Biden Guidance It Rescinded Is Revealed
Trump DOJ marijuana policy, laid bare: the ground just shifted, and you can feel it in your knees like a storm moving in. A Biden-era memo that told federal prosecutors to go easy—especially on simple marijuana possession and cases tied to federal land—was quietly yanked this fall. Documents obtained through FOIA show that what began as a push toward prosecutorial discretion after mass pardons has been replaced by a harder edge and radio silence. Rep. Dina Titus, the Nevada Democrat who co-chairs the Cannabis Caucus, wants answers from Attorney General Pam Bondi. And she’s not whispering. She’s asking how, exactly, this administration plans to treat cannabis cases on federal property, where a picnic can turn into a prosecution if a park ranger decides today is the day.
The discarded guidance did three big things: it nudged U.S. Attorneys to be “extremely cautious” with marijuana cases after the pardons; it told them to dismiss charges covered by clemency; and it set guardrails for anything beyond the low-hanging fruit. If you’re keeping score, that’s prosecutorial restraint with a bureaucratic backstop. For a deeper cut on the caution piece, see Newly Revealed Biden Marijuana Guidance Rescinded By Trump DOJ Told Prosecutors To Be ‘Extremely Cautious’ About Cannabis Cases. And the approval chain wasn’t window dressing; it required higher-level signoff before moving on certain cannabis prosecutions, as in Newly Revealed Biden Marijuana Guidance Rescinded By Trump DOJ Ordered Prosecutors To Seek Higher-Up Approval For Cases. The guidance even nodded to medical patients and the tangled mess of federal gun laws that don’t play nice with state-legal cannabis use. It wasn’t perfect. It opposed expungements even as it forgave. But it was a map. Now, someone folded that map up and slipped it in a drawer.
That vacuum didn’t last long. A U.S. Attorney in Wyoming said the quiet part out loud: with the memo gone, marijuana cases on federal land would be “rigorously” enforced. Imagine the unevenness. One minute, prosecutors are told to look for off-ramps. The next, they’re greenlit for the on-ramp to stricter action. Add to that a recent spending bill signed by the president that would ban consumable hemp products with THC—a sledgehammer hovering over an entire slice of the market that exploded after the 2018 Farm Bill—and you get the sense this version of cannabis policy is being written with one hand while the other erases. Then there’s rescheduling. We were told a decision was coming in weeks. Months later, we’re still chewing on “it’s complicated,” as if that’s a policy. The Michigan pinstripes might call it regulatory risk; the kid rolling a joint before a hike calls it a trap.
Titus calls the rescission a step backward, and she’s right to ask what happens next. Federal land is everywhere: parks, courthouses, post offices, bases, housing. The line between legal and criminal is a patchwork quilt, and most of us only notice the seams when they snag. This legal whiplash doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it plays out in courtrooms that are already crowded with contradictions. When voters approve reform and the judiciary stares it down, you get scraping sparks—see Nebraska Supreme Court Hears Case Seeking To Overturn Medical Marijuana Law Approved By Voters. Against that backdrop, a federal memo matters. Not because memos are magic, but because they tell people with badges how to act—and tell everyone else whether to carry their state ID card with confidence or tuck it away like contraband.
The industry doesn’t live on memos alone, but it can die by them. Compliance, banking, insurance—every spreadsheet groans under the weight of uncertainty. Patients worry about their medicine. Workers worry about their livelihoods. And the person who just wants to responsibly consume without stepping on a federal rake is left guessing. This is why some in the trenches keep saying the quiet part louder: only Congress can beat back the chaos with durable law. One candidate made the case bluntly—Marijuana Business Owner Running For Congress Says Federal Legalization Is The ‘Only Path’ For ‘National Market Stability’. Until then, policy will keep feeling like a late-night diner: the menu never changes, but the cook does, and the omelet’s a gamble. If you care about where this all lands next—and you want cannabis that respects your time and taste—take a look at our curated selections here: https://thcaorder.com/shop/.
