This comes as a bit of a surprise. Senator Cory Gardner (R-Colorado) says he has received a promise from Donald Trump that he won't try to use his Justice Department to attack marijuana in the state's that have legalized its recreational use.This goes against a memo issued by Trump's own Attorney General last year that sought to overturn Obama's hands-off policy on legal marijuana, and hinted that a crackdown could be coming.
Gardner said:
"I received a commitment from the President that the Department of Justice's rescission of the Cole memo will not impact Colorado's legal marijuana industry. Furthermore, President Trump has assured me that he will support a federalism-based legislative solution to fix this states' rights issue once and for all."
Trump made the promise so Gardner would release the holds he had placed on Department of Justice nominees, and Gardner believed him. He is releasing those holds. Should he have believed Trump?
Personally, I think Trump just made another promise he has no intention of keeping (like the promise he made to Senate Democrats to support a negotiated agreement to save DACA).
Trump has told over 2,400 lies since assuming office, and he has shown no aversion to breaking promises. His base is opposed to legal marijuana (as is his Attorney General), and Trump takes no action that his base opposes.
Senator Gardner may believe the president from his own party, but I do not. I think Gardner just got conned. Trump will get his nominees, and then break his promise. He has a track record of doing just that -- making promises to get what he wants, and then breaking those promises once he gets it.
The American people know Trump cannot be trusted. When are congressional Republicans going to realize that?
