GOP senator confident Trump will support states rights on marijuana

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) remains confident in President Trump’s support for states’ rights on marijuana policy, despite a reported committee formed by the White House to compile negative information about marijuana legalization.

A spokesman for Gardner’s office told The Hill that media is creating a narrative that administration officials who are anti-legalization are attempting to “manipulate” Trump. 

“There seems to be a lot of interest in these storylines going around about how staff are trying to manipulate the President or to work around his firmly-held policy positions – including the position he’s held since the campaign that marijuana policy is best left to the states,” Alex Siciliano told The Hill in a statement.

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Buzzfeed reported Wednesday that the White House had formed a multi-agency committee called the Marijuana Policy Coordination Committee to gather information about the threat of marijuana.

According to Buzzfeed, the data the committee gathered will be used to brief the president.

The White House did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment on the reported committee.

“Regardless of the accuracy of the story, Senator Gardner remains confident in the commitment the President made to him to support a states’ rights solution to the current disconnect on marijuana law,” Siciliano continued.

Gardner authored a bipartisan bill giving states greater legal freedom in regulating or legalizing marijuana, for which the president expressed his support in June. Gardner said he obtained Trump’s personal commitment to states’ rights on the issue in April.

Siciliano reiterated the senator’s support for states’ rights to determine their own drug policies. Colorado is one of the states where marijuana is legal, despite federal law defining it as a controlled substance.

“Forty-seven states have now acted in a way that is contrary to the Controlled Substances Act and there are more initiatives on the ballot this year. Whatever their decision, these states ought to be respected,” Siciliano said.