Statement on the reclassification of state-licensed medical marijuana

This statement is in response to breaking news. Please contact pr@rstreet.org to speak with the scholars.

In response to the Trump administration reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana, Jillian Snider, a resident senior fellow with R Street’s criminal justice and civil liberties team and retired NYPD officer, released the following statement:

“The Trump administration’s decision to reclassify and loosen restrictions on licensed medical marijuana is a step in the right direction. It will expand medical research, remove a burdensome tax provision, and begin to align federal law with reality. I commend the administration for acting and acting swiftly.

But rescheduling is not the finish line. 

Recreational markets remain federally prohibited in nearly half the country, forcing officers to navigate two incompatible legal systems. Illicit operators who pay no taxes and follow no rules will maintain their structural advantage over licensed businesses. Partial prohibition will continue to subsidize the black market and organized criminal networks.

After years in law enforcement, I know what threatens our communities: violent crime and organized criminal enterprises. Every resource spent on federal marijuana enforcement is pulled from those fights.

Instead, we should completely deschedule marijuana to give law enforcement clear, uniform rules; refocus federal resources on genuine threats; respect the states’ choices; and end a prohibition that nearly seven in ten Americans reject. This is not soft on crime; it’s smart on crime. I urge the administration to treat the June 29 DEA hearing as the beginning of that conversation, not the end, and I urge Congress to finish the job.”