The Justice Department’s decision to free federal prosecutors to enforce marijuana laws in states that have legalized the drug adds to the political burdens of congressional Republicans trying to hold their House and Senate majorities in an already challenging election year.
An early indication of the issue’s potency was the fierce reaction of Republican Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, a state where voters legalized cultivation and possession in 2012. Gardner, who also is chairman of the GOP’s Senate campaign arm, slammed the decision by Attorney General Jeff Sessions as “a trampling of Colorado’s rights, its voters.”
"Why is Donald Trump thinking differently than what he promised the people of Colorado in 2016?" Gardner said in a speech Thursday on the Senate floor, evoking Trump’s campaign promise to leave the issue of marijuana legalization to states. "Thousands of jobs at risk, millions of dollars in revenue, and certainly the question of constitutional states rights -- very much at the core of this discussion."
GOP control of Congress hangs in the balance, with all House seats and a third of Senate seats on the ballot in 2018. The question for Republicans is whether complaining publicly about the administration’s decision will be enough to inoculate them from Democratic opponents’ criticism during the campaign.
On Thursday, Sessions rescinded policies adopted by President Barack Obama’s Justice Department that helped states legalize recreational marijuana. The previous approach created guardrails for federal prosecution of the sale and possession of cannabis, which remains illegal under federal law, and allowed legalized marijuana to flourish in states across the country. Under the new policy, U.S. attorneys in states where pot is legal may now prosecute cases where they see fit.
‘Freedom Issue’
The issue looms large in Colorado, Nevada and California, which legalized marijuana and where several congressional Republicans already are facing tough re-election battles. Nevada Senator Dean Heller and Representative Mark Amodei are Democratic targets, as is Colorado Representative Mike Coffman. And some half-dozen GOP-held California House seats are in play, including three rated "toss up" that are represented by Steve Knight, Dana Rohrabacher and Darrell Issa.
"This is a freedom issue," Rohrabacher said Thursday in a conference call with reporters, calling for a change in federal law to protect legal marijuana in states. "I think Jeff Sessions has forgotten about the Constitution and the 10th Amendment," which gives powers to the states.
"By taking this benighted minority position, he actually places Republicans’ electoral fortunes in jeopardy," Rohrabacher said in a statement later Thursday.
The question could motivate Democrats -- particularly young people — in November.