October 04, 2018 01:38 PM UTC

Is Trump Coming For Colorado's Weed Or Not, Cory Gardner?

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• by: Colorado Pols

AP reports via the Colorado Sun–after almost two years of uncertainty over what the Trump administration might do about legalized marijuana in Colorado and elsewhere, featuring disturbing threats against the industry from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and repeated reassurances by GOP Sen. Cory Gardner that such threats shouldn’t be taken seriously, real signs are emerging just weeks before the midterm elections that Trump and Sessions may crack down on legal weed after all:

Colorado’s system for regulating marijuana has too many loopholes that disguise illegal activity and jeopardize public safety, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday, detailing his motivation for boosting scrutiny in the first state to broadly allow cannabis sales.

U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer said he is particularly concerned with how companies that grow marijuana account for damaged product and the state’s system allowing people to grow a certain number of plants at home for medical use. He said both situations create an opportunity for marijuana to be sold on the black market and require federal prosecutors to take a closer look at Colorado’s regulated marijuana industry.

“If somebody is licensed by this state, should they feel at increased risk of federal prosecution now?” Troyer said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Yes. They should. We do a public safety analysis, not an analysis of whether someone has a piece of paper from the state.” [Pols emphasis]

In 180-degree contrast to Gardner’s assurances, supposedly after talking to the President himself about the situation, that Colorado’s marijuana industry was not in danger of federal prosecution, this flat-out statement from U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer that marijuana businesses in compliance with state law are at “increased risk of federal prosecution” is deeply chilling–and not in the pleasant sense that follows a nice indica bong hit.

So what happens next? The industry isn’t reacting with public alarm, at least not yet. Cory Gardner has been silent so far on Troyer’s comments, with the high drama over Brett Kavanaugh’s embattled Supreme Court nomination hogging the spotlight. If the federal government’s interest here is merely to prevent black market diversion and not shut down the legal marijuana industry entirely, that would be one thing. But who can say that with confidence knowing how Jeff Sessions feels about the devil weed?

As it stands now, everyone from individual tokers to investors with millions committed to this business should be worried–and Gardner’s assurances are looking awfully hollow.