FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, February 23, 2017

Contact: Violet Cavendish
vcavendish@mpp.org

A Quinnipiac poll released earlier today found 71% of U.S. voters — including majorities of Republicans, Democrats, independents, and all age groups — are opposed to the government enforcing federal prohibition laws in states where marijuana is legal for medical or adult use

WASHINGTON — The Marijuana Policy Project has issued the statement below regarding White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s comments about federal marijuana enforcement. A clip of the comments is available at http://bit.ly/2leuCx9.

Earlier today, Quinnipiac University released a poll that found five out of seven U.S. voters (71%) — including majorities of Republicans, Democrats, independents, and every age group polled — oppose the government enforcing federal prohibition laws in states that have made marijuana legal for medical or adult use. It also found that 93% of voters support allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes and 59% support making it legal for all purposes. The full poll results are available at http://bit.ly/2kR4sVh.

Statement from Mason Tvert, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project:

“The vast majority of Americans agree that the federal government has no business interfering in state marijuana laws. This administration is claiming that it values states’ rights, so we hope they will respect the rights of states to determine their own marijuana policies. It is hard to imagine why anyone would want marijuana to be produced and sold by cartels and criminals rather than tightly regulated, taxpaying businesses. Mr. Spicer says there is a difference between medical and recreational marijuana, but the benefits of and need for regulation apply equally to both.

“Mr. Spicer acknowledged that the Justice Department is currently prohibited from using funds to interfere in the implementation of state medical marijuana laws. It is critical that Congress once again includes that provision in the next budget, and we are hopeful that they will also adopt a provision that extends that principle to all state marijuana laws.”

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Founded in 1995, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is the nation’s leading cannabis policy reform organization. MPP has played a central role in passing dozens of cannabis policy reforms in states across the country, including 14 successful cannabis legalization campaigns, and also works to advance federal reforms.

Visit www.mpp.org for more information.