A Fox News host who has experience in the marijuana industry was named by President Donald Trump to replace an U.S. Attorney, who had threatened federal prosecution against a Washington, D.C., medical marijuana dispensary.
Jeanine Pirro will assume Jean Martin’s role on a temporary basis after the President removed Ed Martin as a candidate for the job. She’s been involved in CBD companies, but has indicated previously that she is not supportive of broader legalization for recreational marijuana.
Pirro was named as a director of HeavenlyRx in 2019. Pirro hosts “Justice with Judge Jeanine.”
This could be welcome news for cannabis advocates and stakeholders, as the prior nominee—whom Trump still spoke glowingly about after non-marijuana-related controversies derailed his nomination—made headlines after warning a D.C. medical cannabis dispensary about potential violations of federal law.
Pirro said in 2019, that unlike her predecessors, she “was curious about CBD because I heard people talk about how CBD has helped them.”
Pirro was a New York District Attorney and former judge. She said she “was excited” to help people access natural wellness solutions that were both physically and mentally beneficial.
She stated, “Although I was at first sceptical about the potential benefits that can be gained by stepping outside of the traditional pharmaceutical and medical assembly line,”
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 the repeal of the cannabis prohibition generally, had previously said that hemp and derivatives such as hemp oil were included in the 2018 Farm Bill signed by Trump during his first tenure.
In 2012 she responded to a comment on Twitter (now X), saying “Medical cannabis is different from legalizing”.
Martin, whom Trump originally selected to be the U.S. Attorney in D.C. appeared more hostile towards marijuana in comparison.
But he also recently gave 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 also specifying that cannabis operators who are not in compliance with local laws are most at risk of enforcement action.
At the time, he stated that “anyone selling marijuana must have a valid license with everything done correctly. If not, we will take legal action.”
Green Theory, the marijuana dispensary targeted by the D.C. prosecutor in his letter is fully compliant to D.C. legislation, although Martin has made it clear that this business is also in violation of another federal law that forbids the sale of cannabis within 1000 feet of schools.
In an interview late last month, Martin 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.”
He said, “You must apply facts to law in context with what is happening within the community at the time.”
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. The White House is taking issue with cannabis reform despite Trump’s previous support of a state’s rights approach on 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 “deploying a robust Federal law-enforcement presence” and “coordinating with local authorities to facilitate the deployment a robust local law-enforcement presence where appropriate, in and around D.C.,” and will include “drug sale and use.”
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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.
Trump’s VA Sec. Meets with Advocate for Psychedelic Therapies to Discuss Expanding Access To Military Veterans
Side Pocket Images. Photo by Chris Wallis.
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