Politics
Trump AG Pledges To Review Tribe’s Legal Marijuana Sales As Administration Separately Considers Rescheduling
The Trump administration’s attorney general told senators on Tuesday that she’s committed to reviewing an Indian tribe’s practices related to the legal marijuana sales program it has launched on reservation lands. She also pledged to look into an app a GOP senator flagged that helps connect people to legal cannabis businesses across state lines.
During a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) asked Attorney General Pam Bondi about cannabis policy issues, focusing on the sale of marijuana on Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians (EBCI) land within his state of North Carolina that he said he has “no problem with” generally—but that he still finds “concerning” with respect to the conflict between state and federal marijuana laws.
“Nearly three dozen states [have] either medical, recreational or hybrid” cannabis models, the senator said. “But this kind of feels like to me, the way the tobacco industry got attacked for advertising to young people.”
“This is just this worries me, because it’s a money-making enterprise. It kind of seems like it’s preying on younger people,” he said, pointing to an app that he claims allows people in states that prohibit cannabis to order marijuana products in a legal jurisdiction and then pick it up after crossing state boundaries.
“I assume that they’re not delivering it outside of the boundary, because I think that would be illegal. Would that be illegal?” Tillis asked.
Bondi thanked the senator for “pointing that out” and said she was “not familiar with that app that we will certainly look at.”
Tillis then presented a “hypothetical” for the attorney general, inquiring about whether it would be federally illegal if cannabis was imported into a port in North Carolina, where it’s prohibited, and then transported to a legal state such as New York.
“Is that an illegal transportation of a controlled substance—unless it teleports into a legal jurisdiction, wouldn’t it have been illegally transported at some point?” he asked.
Bondi replied: “Based on federal law [that’s true], senator.”
“Are you familiar with the science of teleportation?” Tillis asked jokingly.
“No, senator,” the attorney general said.
“There’s a growing operation of western North Carolina that is a part of the tribal lands. The problem is, I can’t find any legal way to get this pot that is grown here to the dispensary that’s at another non-contiguous area of the boundaries,” Tillis said. “I’m just trying to figure out how the Eastern Band of the Cherokee are legally transporting what they’re growing at scale here to where they’re advertising in Charlotte on the billboards as one of the country’s largest dispensaries—and apparently also offering to let you buy it online.”
“Can I get your commitment within the DOJ—not you personally—but can I just get a definitive answer, that there’s no there-there that they are legally transporting it, or that we do have something here that doesn’t seem to comport with federal law?” he asked.
“Yes, senator, I will absolutely have my team look at that issue,” Bondi said. “And I’m not familiar with that establishment.”
“Like I said, it’s an island. I really think the federal government needs to step up. We need to get rid of this neither fish nor fowl sort of status that marijuana has in this country now,” the senator said. “I think that people have spoken many red states, even your home state—my home state has, I think probably the many states… are trending towards legalizing it.”
“We’ve got to get it solved at the federal level. We’ve got to capture revenue,” he said. “That revenue needs to go back to federal law enforcement, and we need to have a lot more focus on what I think are unsafe and inconsistent practices across the state. So if I could get that, I would appreciate it.”
A recent infographic from an advocacy group representing Native American tribes in the legal cannabis industry showed that more than a fourth of Indigenous communities in the continental U.S., including the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, are now involved with marijuana or hemp programs.
Tillis also said last month that the federal government needs to “step up” and explore a regulatory framework for marijuana—and that should include a pathway to explore the “efficacy” of cannabis for certain health conditions.
At a separate Judiciary Committee hearing in June, Tillis said opponents of marijuana legalization “have lost” the fight to maintain prohibition and that “it’s time” for lawmakers to address that reality by creating a regulatory framework treating cannabis “in the same way that we do with alcohol and tobacco,” so that states can set their own policies without federal intervention.
Back in February, the senator also raised the issue during a Senate Banking Committee hearing, saying “we should reexamine [federal marijuana laws].” But at the same time, “we damn sure shouldn’t do it by passing” legislation that would simply prevent federal regulators from penalizing banks that work with state-legal cannabis businesses.
During her confirmation hearings, meanwhile, Bondi declined to say how she planned to navigate key marijuana policy issues. And as Florida’s attorney general, she opposed efforts to legalize medical cannabis in the state.
Tillis also said last December that he’s hopeful Congress will have a “discussion” about potentially creating a federal regulatory framework for marijuana in 2025, though he added that he personally wouldn’t vote to federally legalize cannabis.
Last year, the senator also said he supports creating a “comprehensive regulatory framework that treats marijuana just like tobacco,” arguing that “the federal government needs to figure out a safe way to allow this market to occur.”
Tillis in April joined Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) in asking federal, state and local officials what steps they were taking to enforce marijuana prohibition as an Indian tribe prepared to launch recreational cannabis sales on its lands within North Carolina.
Separately, Trump’s nominee for White House drug czar, Sara Carter, told members of the Judiciary Committee at a hearing last month that the administration is keeping “all options” on the table as it continues to consider the marijuana rescheduling proposal, while describing cannabis reform as a “bipartisan issue.”
Three GOP senators discussed the impact of the administration potentially rescheduling cannabis in interviews with Marijuana Moment last with, with two of them describing the move as a “game changer.”
Meanwhile, one of Trump’s longtime advisors, Roger Stone, recently said that his administration has an opportunity to move forward with marijuana rescheduling—or, even broader legalization—in a way that Democrats who regularly tout the reform failed to achieve when they controlled the White House and Congress.
The comments came in response to the president’s social media post late last month where he shared a video that touted the health benefits of hemp-derived CBD, particular for seniors.
The Republican Senate sponsor of a bipartisan cannabis banking bill said recently that Trump rescheduling marijuana would be an “important domino” to advance his legislation.
Whether Trump ultimately decides to move forward with rescheduling remains to be seen. Despite his endorsement of the policy change on the campaign trail ahead of his election for a second term, he declined to restate that support when asked about it during a briefing late last month—though he did say a decision would come within weeks.
Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.
