Politics
Trump U.S. Attorney Who Threatened Licensed D.C. Marijuana Dispensary Sends Mixed Signals About Respecting Local Laws
A U.S. attorney with the Justice Department is giving mixed signals about his approach to prosecuting alleged violations of federal laws by licensed marijuana businesses, saying on the one hand that prohibition must be “abided by,” but specifying that cannabis operators who are not in compliance with local laws are most at risk of enforcement action.
Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin made the comments despite having recently warned a licensed cannabis dispensary in D.C. about violating federal law, suggesting the possibility of prosecutorial action despite compliance with local policy.
“Your dispensary appears to be operating in violation of federal law, and the Department of Justice has the authority to enforce federal law even when such activities may be permitted under state or local law,” he said in a letter to the District dispensary last month.
But in emails to Politico, Martin seemed to draw a distinction between locally licensed and unlicensed cannabis activity.
“Anybody who is selling marijuana better have a license and everything in order, otherwise we will pursue action against them,” he said.
Again, Green Theory, the dispensary that the prosecutor targeted in his letter, is compliant with D.C. laws, though Martin has also made the case that it is in violation of a separate federal statute that prohibits cannabis shops within 1,000 feet of schools, as is the case with the business in question.
“We should expect federal law to be abided by, and we’ll take a look at any situation where there’s questions,” Martin said. “If the law is broken, we’re going to look closely at it.”
As far as Green Theory is concerned, he said the issue was “referred to me by a citizen,” and when he investigated, “I thought the parents and the families in that community had not been heard well enough, so I thought I would go take a look at it.”
“It was referred to me by a citizen who said: ‘Have you seen this?’” Martin said. “And when I looked into it, I thought the parents and the families in that community had not been heard well enough, so I thought I would go take a look at it.”
In a separate interview late last month, the U.S. attorney said shutting down licensed marijuana dispensaries doesn’t “rise to the top” of his priorities, but his “instinct is that it shouldn’t be in the community.”
“You apply the facts to the law, but you do it in the context of what the community is going through at that moment,” he said.
“I want to get to the bottom of it. I think—look, my instinct is that it shouldn’t be in the community based on what I saw from the parents,” Martin said. “But I think people and businesses deserve the opportunity to look at it and interact.”
He added that, “If you want to change the law, we can go to Congress, you and I can say that. I happen to think that’s a good law.”
Green Theory was reportedly one of the first in D.C. to transition from being an illicit so-called “gifting shop”—which attempted to use a loophole to sell non-regulated marijuana to adults—to become part of the District’s licensed medical marijuana program.
The dispensary at one point sought to allow onsite marijuana use, with a business plan that envisioned “a vibe similar to the world-famous Amsterdam Coffee Shops.” Since then, however, co-founder Robert Martin said the business no longer intends to allow onsite consumption.
Under D.C.’s own cannabis rules, dispensaries can’t operate within 300 feet of schools, though commercially zoned areas—where schools may be located—are exempt.
In a March 2024 letter, the District’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA) argued federal law does not interfere with its medical marijuana program, which the agency said had “been subject to congressional review, and has not been disapproved or repealed.”
In March, meanwhile, the White House called the District’s move to decriminalize marijuana an example of a “failed” policy that “opened the door to disorder.”
In a fact sheet about an executive order that Trump signed—which is broadly aimed at beautifying the District and making it more safe—the White House listed several local policies in the nation’s capital that it takes issue with, including cannabis reform. That’s despite the president’s previously stated support for a states’ rights approach to marijuana laws.
“D.C.’s failed policies opened the door to disorder—and criminals noticed,” it says, citing “marijuana decriminalization,” as well as the District’s decision to end pre-trial detentions and enforcement practices around rioters, as examples of such policies.
The executive order itself doesn’t mention marijuana specifically. But it says the directive will involve “deploying a more robust Federal law enforcement presence and coordinating with local law enforcement to facilitate the deployment of a more robust local law enforcement presence as appropriate in areas in or about” D.C., and that includes addressing “drug possession, sale, and use.”
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Recreational cannabis possession and personal cultivation is legal in D.C. under a voter-approved ballot initiative, though commercial sales of non-medical marijuana remain illegal.
Because of a congressional rider that’s been renewed annually since that vote, the District hasn’t been able to use its local funds to implement a system of regulated recreational cannabis sales, so officials have taken steps to expand the city’s existing medical marijuana program as a workaround.
During Trump’s first term in the White House, he maintained that D.C. rider to keep blocking cannabis sales in his budget requests, as did his successor, former President Joe Biden.
This week, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said she intends to “continue to fight” against efforts by her GOP colleagues to interfere with the District’s marijuana laws, vowing to again push for the removal of a spending bill rider that’s long prevented a commercial cannabis market.
What Norton didn’t mention in her speech is the fact that the District’s marijuana laws have recently been threatened in an especially direct way under the Trump administration with the U.S. attorney’s threat to a licensed dispensary.
Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
