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Congresswoman Demands Answers From Trump DOJ Over Marijuana Prosecution Policy Change

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3 months ago

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Democratic congressmen are demanding the Justice Department respond to the Trump administration’s action by a U.S. attorney, his office said recently, to explain the apparent “backwardness” of federal marijuana enforcement guidelines recently revealed by a U.S. attorney. It will “harshly” prosecute people for possessing or using cannabis on federal lands.

Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), chairwoman of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday saying the review’s revelations about federal cannabis policy “raise serious concerns about the transparency and rationale behind the Department’s enforcement priorities, which will inevitably have a serious social and economic impact on communities across the country.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming said earlier this month that the DOJ sent a memo to federal prosecutors in September announcing it was rescinding a previously unpublished Biden-era policy that discouraged people from trespassing on federal land.

“We need common sense cannabis policy reform,” Titus told Marijuana Moment after sending the letter to Bondi on Friday. “It is ridiculous for the Trump Administration to enforce an antiquated law and target the simple possession of marijuana, claiming it is a public safety risk. As chair of the Cannabis Caucus, I am taking the lead in challenging this decision that would continue a cycle of unfair incarceration and unequal enforcement.”

Neither the memo nor the prior guidance has been made publicly available, and the Trump administration is asking prosecutors to provide a copy of its message — and to answer additional questions about marijuana enforcement priorities — by Dec. 3.

“The simple possession of marijuana does not pose a significant threat to public safety, and it is indefensible to revive prosecution under an outdated law that does not reflect the current use of cannabis in the United States,” he said. “The War on Drugs has been a costly enterprise that has disproportionately affected low-income and historically marginalized communities.”

He added that marijuana remains the leading cause of drug-related arrests “despite the fact that most states have to varying degrees enacted laws that relax prohibitions against the use of marijuana or its components.”

“A return to criminalization at the federal level will not deter use or strengthen public safety; it will simply continue the cycle of incarceration and uneven enforcement,” the congressman wrote. “The consequences of a simple possession of cannabis charge can have life-changing consequences.”

“Your decision to begin prosecuting misdemeanor marijuana requires immediate reconsideration. I urge you to release the Biden-era guidance and appeal memos without delay. The public deserves full transparency about the policies that shape federal enforcement priorities and determine how taxpayer dollars are deployed. People should face criminal penalties for possessing minors.”

In addition to issuing September notices to U.S. attorneys about marijuana charges, Titus is asking the DOJ to specify what types of cannabis crimes it prioritizes, what “data and evidence” it relied on to reverse the Biden-era policy, how many cannabis possession cases the department has prosecuted on federal land in the past 10 years and how many it expects to prosecute for the policy.

“Thank you for your attention to this important issue,” the letter concludes. “I look forward to working with you to ensure federal enforcement policies are transparent and aligned with the values ​​and priorities of the American public.”

While former President Joe Biden issued two mass pardons to people convicted of federal cannabis possession offenses during his tenure – notably including those convicted in the second round of possession on federal land – the administration did not report that a prosecutorial guidance directive had been issued, and there has been no news.

Questions remain about the specifics of marijuana prosecution policies associated with Biden and Trump, but the apparent decision to roll back discretionary policies adds uncertainty to how the current administration views its enforcement role as federal and state cannabis laws continue to conflict.

For example, the release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming came just one day later Trump signed a major spending bill that includes provisions to ban consumable hemp products containing THC—Industry players say the president’s legalization of the crop would wipe out the market that has sprung up since he signed the 2018 Farm Bill into law during his first term.

Then there is the ongoing process of reorganizing marijuana, which the president said would be decided in a few weeks at the end of August.

That hasn’t happened yet, a White House spokesperson told Marijuana Moment “There is a process underway regarding the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Marijuana Reregulation From May 2024 onwards and all policy and legal requirements and implications are being considered”.

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It’s Marijuana Time tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelic and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters by pledging at least $25/month, you’ll get access to our interactive maps, charts, and audio calendars so you never miss a development.

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Trump endorsed the review — as well as bank access to the marijuana industry and an initiative to legalize adult use in Florida, which ultimately failed — during his campaign ahead of his second term. But when he was informed of the status of the reorganization process in mid-August, he was less clear about his personal position.

The administration was “only looking at” the reform, and he said at the time that it was “too early” to say how the issue would be decided, adding that it was “a very complicated issue”.

Meanwhile, key White House staff under the Biden administration has recently shed new light on the massive marijuana pardon and cannabis reprogramming process they helped facilitate, revealing the extent to which they were involved in the broader acts of grace that GOP leaders now scrutinize.

Also, as the marijuana reregulation proposal awaits action, some GOP members of Congress have urged Trump to push ahead with reform, with one lawmaker joking that it’s possible, taking a jab at Biden. the previous administration “shouldn’t have been able to find the autopen in time” to complete the cannabis reform process he started

Separately, the president last month posted a video on the Truth Social platform to promote the health benefits of cannabis– suggesting that covering CBD under Medicare would be “the most important senior health initiative of the century.”

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New rules raise cannabis stock limits for Malta’s associations

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February 27, 2026

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Malta’s cannabis associations will be able to hold larger stocks of cannabis under new rules introduced last week. While associations were previously only allowed to keep 500g of cannabis, a new legal notice sets different limits depending on the number of members registered with each.

Malta’s largest cannabis associations, with over 350 members, will now be able to sell 3.5kg of cannabis. Between 250 and 350 members will be allowed to possess 2.45 kg of cannabis, and associations registering between 110 and 250 members will be allowed to possess up to 1.75 kg.

Smaller ones will have stricter limits. Associations with less than 100 members will only have 700 g, while those with less than 50 members will have 350 g. Meanwhile, associations are allowed to store the equivalent of an eight-month supply in their cultivation area, calculated at 50g per member.

The new rules do not change how much cannabis a person can carry or consume. Under Malta’s cannabis laws, first introduced at the end of 2021, people can carry up to 7g of cannabis without fear of prosecution. Anyone caught with between 7g and 28g of cannabis will appear in court rather than face charges in a criminal court.

Read more at Maltese times










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Trump Administration ‘Very Anxious’ To Allow Psychedelic Therapy ‘As Quickly As Possible,’ RFK Tells Joe Rogan

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4 hours ago

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February 27, 2026

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The Trump administration is “very eager” to create a pathway for access to psychedelic therapy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. According to the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and senior officials of federal agencies want to “communicate to the public as soon as possible.”

In an interview on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast released Friday, Kennedy said he’s confident “we’re going to get it,” with plans to develop and finalize rules that would allow patients with conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression to access psychedelic substances like psilocybin and MDMA in a “very controlled environment.”

The secretary has been noted for his advocacy of psychedelic reform, an idea he floated as a 2024 Democratic presidential candidate before ultimately becoming the nation’s top health official under the Trump administration.

The president himself has been silent on the issue, but as Kennedy points out, support for expanding access to research and new therapeutics extends beyond HHS, with the heads of the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) also looking to take advantage of the potential benefits of psychedelic drugs.




“Everybody in my agency, and in (Secretary Doug Collins’) agency at the VA, is very eager to get a rule that will allow these types of studies and allow them to go into therapeutic settings, particularly for military personnel who have suffered these injuries to have access to these products,” Kennedy said. “We are working on that process now. We are all working and trying to make it happen.”

“I think we’ll make it.”

While some of the reform proposals being considered would be designed to “encourage more clinical trials” while having “very strong guidelines,” the health secretary said the agencies are interested in the full range of options that could include psychedelic therapies and other “rapid interventions.” One of Kennedy’s personal goals would be to validate the utility of substances like psilocybin over SSRIs for depression.

“We’re looking at that as a whole category of interventions that people should be able to look at and have appropriate access to, and we should roll it out as quickly as possible,” he said.

“This is what we’re anticipating, so I can’t tell you exactly what we’re going to do, but very, very strong therapeutic guidelines, so how they’re applied, what kind of follow-up. Because a lot of these things rewire the brain. If you don’t follow-up, it doesn’t work, or you have a failure rate. So we’re developing all of those things and I think we’re developing protocols. People in the administration are eager to do that as soon as possible. I know Doug Collins is doing 21 studies at the VA that they are doing, that they are very promising.

“You need those guidelines because you don’t want to do the Wild West. You can have horror stories overnight because some people can have very, very bad experiences,” Kennedy said. “We’re looking at ways to do it so it’s in a very controlled environment.”

Asked to expand on how Rogan sees the future of psychedelic therapies and whether it will include people in the military or other non-frontline roles, the secretary said he would “personally” like to see broad access, but “we have to take baby steps because you don’t want to create a situation where people want to get hurt.”

However, “you shouldn’t have a soldier who has given everything for the country, who has suffered terribly, who has come to Tijuana to receive these treatments, leave our country to receive treatments,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“I’ve seen so much overwhelming anecdotal evidence,” Kennedy said, emphasizing that one of his relatives has benefited from psychedelic therapy“but also clinical studies that verify the effect.” And officials at agencies like the NIH and FDA are “doing everything they can to make that happen.”

Rogan’s podcast interview comes a month after the release of a book by a reporter who allegedly had a romantic relationship with Kennedy, in which, as a presidential candidate, Kennedy still used psychedelics like DMT for “fun” and hid his drug use from his wife.

Meanwhile, in November, Kennedy, Vice President JD Vance, FDA Commissioner and other Trump administration officials attended the “Make America Healthy Again” summit. it was a session dedicated to studying psychedelic medicine.

In June, Kennedy said that his agency “Fully committed” to expanding research into the benefits of psychedelic therapy. and, along with the head of the FDA, aims to give military veterans legal access to these substances “within 12 months.”

The secretary also said that in April He had a “wonderful experience” with LSD at the age of 15He took it because he thought they would be able to see dinosaurs, as depicted in a comic he was a fan of.

Last October, Kennedy specifically criticized the FDA under the previous administration for the agency’s “eradication of psychedelics” and a laundry list of other issues that he said was a “war on public health” that would end under the Trump administration.

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Data collection as an operational tool in commercial cannabis cultivation

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1 day ago

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February 26, 2026

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At the latest edition of Indoor Ag-Con, Jeremy Shechter focused his presentation on how data collection should work as an operational tool in commercial cannabis cultivation.

Jeremy, founder of Open Source Horticulture, opened by challenging a common assumption within the cultivation community. “We’re not as good as we think we are,” he said, pointing to the gap between perceived performance and what can actually be demonstrated. Without data, he argued, operators tend to rely on preconceptions rather than evidence.

Genetics, Jeremy explains, cannot be evaluated in isolation. “Genetics don’t just happen in a vacuum,” he said. In other words, data collection becomes the only reliable way to understand how genetics behaves in different rooms, facilities and operating conditions.

Profit figures alone, he adds, rarely tell the whole story. Teams may be able to articulate a number, but struggle to explain how that result was achieved. “Show me the dashboard,” Jeremy said, describing situations where performance claims fall apart because historical data is not available or cannot be accessed. In those cases, memory fills the void, even though, as he said, “our memory is very bad.”

© Eelkje Pulley | MMJDaily.com

The importance of setting goals
Jeremy envisioned data as a mechanism that allows teams to move toward defined goals. “One of the most important drivers for people is moving toward a goal,” he said, and progress is only seen when it’s measured consistently. Without solid data, goals remain abstract.

A recurring point in the presentation was the need for moderation. To illustrate this, he quoted Leonardo Da Vinci: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication,” Jeremy said, describing the tendency to overcomplicate data systems. He argued that not all data is worth collecting, and that excessive measurement often creates noise rather than insight.

Deciding what data matters, Jeremy insists, should not be left to chance. “Data is not created equal,” he said, “teams can easily spend time collecting information that doesn’t impact results. KPI selection should be driven by leadership and tied directly to business performance, then clearly communicated to crop managers.”

Entrepreneurship then becomes the key. “If a data point doesn’t inform a decision, it shouldn’t be treated with the same rigor.” Jeremy used room pressure as an example, explaining that while deviations from a set point can indicate a problem, they don’t necessarily correspond to long-term performance tracking. In other words, trends are more important than isolated readings.

Data collection systems
Jeremy also discussed the structure of effective data collection systems. “It has to be top to bottom,” he said, describing the need to follow every step of the process from cultivation to packaging. “Those systems have to be custom built for each facility.” He again emphasized the importance of keeping it simple and easy. “If you want to keep doing something, keep calm,” Jeremy said. Adding steps to any process increases friction and reduces compliance, whether in cultivation or data entry.

Paper-based workflows were highlighted as a persistent problem. Jeremy described the operations involved in entering data and then transferring it to a computer, a process he noted is inefficient and error-prone. Fully digitized systems, using tablets or mobile devices, were presented as a basic requirement for reliable data access.

Towards the end of the session, Jeremy touched on how data influences decisions beyond crop metrics. He noted that some cultivars can produce high yields but perform poorly after drying, becoming brittle or difficult to handle. Without tracking these results, operators run the risk of optimizing for numbers that don’t translate into finished product performance.

For more information:
Indoor Ag-Con
www.indoor.ag

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