President-elect Donald Trump has made his selection for another top Justice Department official: Harmeet Dhillon, who has peddled the gateway drug theory about marijuana and says cannabis makes people who consume it \u201csilly, boring and smelly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump said on Monday that he intends to nominate Dhillon as assistant attorney general for civil rights. The lawyer has served in leadership roles with the Republican National Committee and California Republican Party, and she\u2019s a frequent Fox News contributor.<\/p>\n
For those following the marijuana policy positions of Trump\u2019s cabinet picks, Dhillon\u2019s comments on the issue reveal a staunch opposition to the use of cannabis, which she claimed is a \u201cgateway drug and ambition-killer\u201d following President Joe Biden\u2019s mass marijuana pardons.<\/p>\n
This choice for a key DOJ position also comes amid the final steps of the Biden administration\u2019s efforts to reschedule marijuana\u2014a task that the incoming Trump administration will inherit and which his Justice Department will play a pivotal role in facilitating.<\/p>\n
Dhillon doesn\u2019t seem expressly opposed to the idea of preventing people from going to jail over simple cannabis possession, however, and she\u2019s pointed out that federal prosecutors rarely go after people over that low-level offense. At one point, she criticized Vice President Kamala Harris over her prosecutorial record on cannabis.<\/p>\n
But she\u2019s made her distaste for cannabis consumption clear on a number of occasions.<\/p>\n
\nYou prosecuted people for smoking and possessing weed, https:\/\/t.co\/PunO3kB2sF<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) April 21, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
The prospective DOJ official also suggested that Biden\u2019s marijuana pardons amounted to a political stunt that was meant to \u201cget the stoners to the polls.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you \u2018warm the line\u2019 with free joints?\u201d she said. \u201cIn all seriousness, [the mass pardon] affects very few people directly: feds almost never charge anyone *only* for simple MJ possession\u2026 it\u2019s an add-on charge. This is for the feelz & the youth vote. The youth who are being told marijuana is fine when it\u2019s a gateway drug and ambition-killer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe real locus of most drug possession crimes is in state laws. I agree that people should not be behind bars for being drug addicts. I disagree that we should minimize or even glorify drug use, much less use it it pander for votes. Less stuff should be criminal in general.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) October 6, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
\u201cThe real locus of most drug possession crimes is in state laws. I agree that people should not be behind bars for being drug addicts,\u201d Dhillon said. \u201cI disagree that we should minimize or even glorify drug use, much less use it it pander for votes. Less stuff should be criminal in general.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like other prominent critics of cannabis reform, Dhillon has frequently complained about the smell of marijuana.<\/p>\n
\nYou smell marijuana EVERYWHERE in Vegas. Not so in my city.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) February 3, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
In a post on the unofficial cannabis holiday 4\/20 in 2021, the official cautioned people to \u201cbe safe out there today\u201d because \u201cmarijuana makes you silly, boring, and smelly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nBe safe out there today y\u2019all \u2014 marijuana makes you silly, boring, and smelly. pic.twitter.com\/LyMWzgi07N<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) April 20, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
She also said<\/a> it\u2019s \u201cagainst my religion to smoke\u2014but I have been around enough stoners to spot them at a distance!\u201d<\/p>\n
Dhillon has also been critical of former House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and former RNC Chair Michael Steele for becoming involved in marijuana industry lobbying.<\/p>\n
\nThis is the guy who lost his RNC JOB due to financial scandals and being bad at his job and is now pushing marijuana investments with John Boehner all day long\u2026. this attempt at relevance is sad. And irrelevant. https:\/\/t.co\/pbbl2VYkmb<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) November 3, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
One of her top<\/a> concerns<\/a> amid the coronavirus pandemic was the fact that certain jurisdictions allowed cannabis businesses to continue to operate as essential businesses while other institutions such as churches were closed to prevent the spread of the virus.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the most egregious violations of our First Amendment freedoms was the treatment of religious Americans as second-class citizens, as vectors of disease,\u201d she said<\/a> in testimony before a House Judiciary subcommittee in April. \u201cFrom the very beginning of the pandemic, governors across the country discriminately labeled houses of worship, and by extension the First Amendment, as \u2018non-essential,\u2019 while at the same time leaving their secular counterparts open for business. In my state, California, marijuana, liquor, and big-box retailers were deemed essential, but God was banned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
In an interview with Fox News in 2018, she also condemned the city of Berkeley, California for passing legislation to prohibit local police from cooperating with the federal law enforcement in marijuana enforcement cases.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is awkward here is putting law enforcement officers who want to enforce the law because they have an obligation\u2014they took an oath under the Constitution to support federal law, and now they are told not to do that,\u201d she said<\/a>. \u201cIt is chaos. It doesn\u2019t really protect them. It is virtue signaling.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nIf confirmed, Dhillon would be taking over the role from current U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who recently condemned the Memphis, Tennessee Police Department (MPD) following an investigation that discovered a \u201cpattern\u201d of civil rights violations\u2014including racial disparities in marijuana-related arrests<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s Team On Marijuana<\/h3>\n
The selection of Dhillon came shortly after Trump\u2019s first choice to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) withdrew from consideration<\/a>. The Florida sheriff had strongly advocated for marijuana decriminalization<\/a>, calling it the \u201cright thing to do\u201d as \u201csociety is evolving.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s pick to\u00a0head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)<\/a> could also be a vociferous opponent of marijuana reform if the former GOP Florida congressman that Trump selected for the job, Dave Weldon, is ultimately confirmed.<\/p>\n
The president-elect\u2019s choice to run the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is also a medical marijuana skeptic, promoting claims that cannabis use is linked to cardiovascular issues and mental health problems<\/a>\u00a0for youth. He has also suggested that marijuana is a gateway drug.<\/p>\n
In contrast, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the president-elect\u2019s choice for secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that oversees FDA,\u00a0supports ending marijuana prohibition and legalizing certain psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0for therapeutic purposes.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s choice for\u00a0surgeon general has said she\u2019s \u201call for\u201d the use of medical cannabis<\/a>\u00a0for certain conditions, but she\u2019s also promoted research linking cannabis smoking to cardiovascular issues.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, pro-legalization former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL)\u00a0was recently replaced by former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R)<\/a>, who opposed medical cannabis legalization in the state, as Trump\u2019s choice to for U.S. attorney general.<\/p>\n
A non-governmental advisory body that Trump is putting together will have two familiar names helming the ship: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. And while both are proponents of marijuana and psychedelics reform, giving hope to some reformers that the new entity will recommend scaling back the costly war on drugs, Ramaswamy has\u00a0previously insisted on expanding DEA.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nGOP Congressman And D.C. Officials Push To End Federal Ban On Marijuana Sales In Nation\u2019s Capitol<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
The post Trump\u2019s Choice For Top Justice Department Role Says Marijuana Is A \u2018Gateway Drug\u2019 That Makes Consumers \u2018Boring And Smelly\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n
\nRead More: Trump\u2019s Choice For Top Justice Department Role Says Marijuana Is A \u2018Gateway Drug\u2019 That Makes Consumers \u2018Boring And Smelly\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President-elect Donald Trump has made his selection for another top Justice Department official: Harmeet Dhillon, who has peddled the gateway drug theory about marijuana and says cannabis makes people who consume it \u201csilly, boring and smelly.\u201d Trump said on Monday that he intends to nominate Dhillon as assistant attorney generalContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79358"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79358"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79359,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79358\/revisions\/79359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}