Warren to Musk: Stop federal marijuana enforcement in regulated markets
- U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency, urging him to recommend halting federal marijuana enforcement activities in states with regulated cannabis markets.
- Warren suggested that cutting unnecessary federal enforcement actions and detention related to marijuana could save hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
- She proposed that the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security deprioritize costly arrests and enforcement actions targeting marijuana activity in states where it is legal.
- Observers hope for federal marijuana reform in Trump's second term, with a focus on his potential endorsement of failed marijuana legalization efforts in Florida.
If Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) wants to save money, he should tell federal law enforcement to halt marijuana seizures and raids in states with regulated cannabis markets.
That’s one of the cost-cutting measures floated by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren in a Jan. 23 letter to Musk, who was chosen by President Donald Trump to co-lead the nascent DOGE with Vivek Ramaswamy. Ramaswamy has since left the DOGE as he considers a run to become governor of Ohio.
Musk, the wealthiest person in the world, wields significant clout in the Trump administration, where he’s in charge of an effort to slash as much as $2 trillion in government spending in the name of “efficiency.”
If Musk is serious about cutting costs, Warren wrote, he should recommend a halt to federal marijuana enforcement activities in state-regulated markets.
“The United States could save hundreds of millions of dollars each year by reducing wasteful spending on unnecessary federal enforcement actions and detention,” wrote Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who noted that “federal arrests for marijuana possession account for roughly a quarter of all drug possession arrests, even though federal sentences for marijuana possession are rare.
“These arrests and seizures unnecessarily drain federal resources,” her letter continued, in part.
“DOGE should recommend that (the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security) conserve resources by deprioritizing costly arrests and other enforcement actions targeting marijuana activity, at least where the activity is legal in the jurisdiction where it occurred.”
A recent example includes the roles Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection have played in the seizure of state-regulated marijuana at interior checkpoints in New Mexico.
Observers hope that Trump’s second term will mean a fresh opportunity for federal marijuana reform, although those desires are pinned on the president’s endorsement of a failed marijuana legalization effort in Florida.
Musk once made news by smoking cannabis during an interview with influential podcaster Joe Rogan, but the billionaire has not involved himself in marijuana reform efforts.
It’s unclear whether Musk will heed Warren’s request; in fact, Musk ignored a December missive from the progressive lawmaker, her letter noted.