President Donald Trump has shaken up his Department of Justice (DOJ) staff, naming Ed Martin—the former federal prosecutor for Washington, D.C.—as the new U.S. pardon attorney.
Martin’s appointment as the acting U.S. Attorney for District of Columbia, who threatened to prosecute a medical marijuana dispensary in the area last month, has raised questions regarding how he will handle the ongoing pardon activities at the federal government.
There’s no way to know, for instance, if his harsh attitude towards cannabis will affect the DOJ in processing applications for certificates of marijuana pardons associated with President Joe Biden’s mass marijuana clemency.
Martin has indicated that he intends to review any pardons granted by the former president in his final days as President. This includes those given to members of Martin’s family and other administration officials.
Martin, speaking at the press conference that followed his nomination Tuesday, reaffirmed his claim that D.C.’s medical cannabis program operates in violation of federal laws.
What gathers in these areas is unhealthy. “It’s not useful,” he stated at a media conference on Wednesday. The D.C. City Council is again passing laws that seem to be in conflict with federal law.
Trump has also praised Martin’s performance during his brief tenure as U.S. Attorney, stating on social media that he did an “amazing job.”
Martin will also be leading a federal Weaponization Working Group. “Martin, as the leader of this group, is going to make sure that we investigate and finally provide Justice for the victims who have suffered under the Biden regime.”
Alice Marie Johnson was recently appointed by the President as “pardon czar”.
Johnson received the presidential commutation of Trump’s last term, in 2018, while she was serving a sentence for life on charges related to cocaine trafficking. Trump granted Johnson’s pardon later in 2020.
During his short time as the federal prosecutor in D.C., Martin—who will be replaced in the role by former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro—made waves in the cannabis world when he sent a letter to the owners of a D.C.-licensed medical dispensary, Green Theory, suggesting they could face federal criminal prosecution.
The letter stated that “Your dispensary seems to be violating federal law. And the Department of Justice is authorized to enforce federal laws even when these activities are permitted by state or local law.”
Martin’s targeting Green Theory is opportunistic. The dispensary was also the target of complaints by parents and members of the community due to the proximity of four private schools.
Martin says that although the cannabis is in compliance with D.C. rules, the location does not comply with the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act. This law prohibits marijuana within 1,000 foot of schools.
“The community’s up in arms that we have cannabis—marijuana—pop-up shops and shops all over the place,” he said at the Wednesday press event.
By the way, they aren’t Republicans. These aren’t conservatives, these family members who are saying, ‘Hey, we don’t want a pot— a store within 1,000 feet of a school,'” he added. These are the things you’ll hear if you pay attention to what people have to say.
Martin said that despite having a positive relationship with D.C.’s Mayor and Police Chief, he did not notify them of his letter sent to the dispensary.
The prosecutor stressed the importance of the local context in a second interview, shortly after the original letter was sent. In a separate interview, the prosecutor stressed the importance of local context.
I want to find out what’s going on. I think—look, my instinct is that it shouldn’t be in the community based on what I saw from the parents,” Martin continued. But I do think that people and businesses should have the chance of looking at it and interacting.”
The President sent mixed messages about the way he would prosecute alleged violations by marijuana-related businesses of federal laws. On one hand, prohibitions must “be abided by”, but he also said cannabis operators that did not adhere to local laws could be subjected to enforcement action.
He said: “Anyone who sells marijuana should have the proper license and all other requirements in place, or we’ll take action.”
Green Theory, the cannabis dispensary the prosecutor targeted with his letter, is complying with D.C. Laws, but Martin also made it clear that they are in violation with a federal law that forbids shops to sell marijuana within 1,000 feet from schools. This is exactly what the company in question is doing.
“We should expect federal law to be abided by, and we’ll take a look at any situation where there’s questions,” Martin said. We’ll look into it if the law has been broken.
He said that Green Theory was a “referred to me by citizen” and, after he looked into it, “I felt the parents and families of this community were not heard enough so I decided I’d go and take a closer look.”
“It was referred to me by a citizen who said: ‘Have you seen this?'” Martin told the reporter. When I investigated it, I felt that the parents and families of the community in question had not been adequately heard, so I decided to go have a closer look.
The office’s future is unclear under Pirro, Trump’s nominee for the U.S. Attorney role.
Pirro, in contrast to her predecessor in 2019, told MEDCAN24 that she “was curious about CBD after hearing how people had benefited so much from CBD.”
Pirro said that, having previously worked as both a New York district attorney and judge, she was excited to “be a part” of the chance for people to have access to fantastic wellness options, which are natural, and also physically and emotionally helpful.
She said, “I was initially a skeptic but now I understand that there are enormous benefits beyond the assembly-line of traditional medical and pharmaceutic dictates.”
Pirro—on her CW show “Judge Jeanine Pirro” from 2008-2011—also took on several marijuana-related cases, but she didn’t appear to weigh in on substantive policy issues around cannabis.
The announcement that Pirro was joining a CBD company’s board came shortly after the host’s show was suspended by Fox News, a move that reportedly stemmed from her suggestion that the Muslim faith of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was “antithetical” to the U.S. Constitution. Fox subsequently condemned the remarks, but her show was reinstated about two weeks after the controversy.
Pirro, who has indicated that she would not advocate for an end to cannabis prohibition generally in the past, is saying the same thing now.
White House officials called District of Columbia’s decriminalization policy on marijuana a “failed ” one that had “opened up the door for 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. This is despite President Trump having previously expressed his support for states’ rights in 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. It says, however, that the directive involves “a greater Federal presence” and “coordinating with local authorities to ensure a larger local presence is deployed as necessary in and around Washington D.C.,” and will include “drug sale and possession.”
Under a ballot initiative approved by voters, recreational cannabis cultivation and possession is now legal in D.C. Commercial sales of marijuana are still illegal.
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 President Joe Biden.
Recently, 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.
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Philip Steffan is the photographer.