Over the last week, I have had water cooler-type conversations about President-elect Trump’s nominations to his would-be cabinet. Most of them have been policy-based and levelheaded. The nomination of Matt Gaetz as attorney general had people running into my office asking if I had heard the news.
This is probably a good time to reiterate that we at Budding Trends try very hard not to engage in partisanship. To paraphrase the GOAT, Republicans and Democrats buy cannabis. But if you are serious about advising clients in the constantly evolving political landscape of cannabis law, it would be almost impossible to advise clients how (and even if) to conduct operations without a close understanding of the political forces and calculus at play at any given moment.
Because this is a cannabis-focused blog, we’re going to avoid addressing the partisanship involved with this nomination and the myriad issues surrounding Gaetz’s alleged wrongdoings. In reviewing various social media sources, it appears many of our readers despise the notion of an Attorney General Gaetz, no matter the impact his tenure may have on the cannabis industry. Others seem to think that his prior support of the cannabis industry, even if it doesn’t outweigh concerns about him personally, are a net positive. And others I suppose take the George Costanza approach to the nomination: Let’s Get Nuts!
For this particular post, we are going to focus on what an Attorney General Gaetz would mean for federal cannabis policy and enforcement and avoid all other Gaetz-related topics.
Gaetz Is Widely Viewed as Being “Pro Cannabis”
Our friends at Marijuana Moment have been on this from the jump:
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to serve as the next U.S. attorney general—a selection that would put one of the only GOP members of Congress who actively supports and voted for marijuana legalization into the nation’s top law enforcement position.
As Trump works to put together his cabinet, the choice of Gaetz stands out as one of the most positive signals that the state-level cannabis marketplace will not be impeded under his administration. And it also bodes well for the ongoing Biden administration-led marijuana rescheduling effort that Trump has endorsed. That’s assuming, however, that Gaetz is confirmed by the Senate to assume the position.
Gaetz was one of three Republican members of the House to approve a Democratic-led bill to federally legalize marijuana, titled the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act in 2022. He also supported a prior version of the legislation despite his concerns with equity-focused provisions.
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In Congress, Gaetz has on two occasions voted in favor of a bipartisan marijuana banking bill to ensure that financial institutions are protected from being penalized by federal regulators simply for working with state-legal cannabis businesses.
He further sponsored amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would have eliminated language preventing military branches for testing recruits for cannabis for enlistment or commission.
On the rescheduling front, which is sure to be of great interest to the attorney general during the first part of 2025, Gaetz has expressed concern that the proposed rescheduling of marijuana to Schedule III does not go far enough towards making marijuana legal, available, and affordable to Americans:
A Republican congressman says he’s concerned that if the federal government doesn’t “go further” than simply moving marijuana to a lower drug schedule—as the top health agency has recommended—large pharmaceutical companies might be able to overtake the cannabis industry.
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“Well, I totally concur with the assessment that marijuana reform is often blocked by Big Pharma because they want the opportunity to control it,” Gaetz, who also pressed the DEA administrator on the status of the scheduling review last month, said. “My concern is that if we don’t go any further than moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, that could potentially allow Big Pharma to control it.”
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The idea that reclassifying cannabis could inadvertently disrupt state cannabis programs isn’t new. Some advocates have long argued that a modest rescheduling action could lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take a hands-on regulatory approach to cannabis and embolden DEA to crack down on state marijuana markets. But neither agency has signaled that’s the plan, and predictions about the potential enforcement implications of a Schedule III designation run the gamut, as this would be unchartered policy territory.
To that end, he recently posted on X (formerly Twitter – did I do that right?) that cannabis should be descheduled entirely.
Perhaps somewhat curiously, Gaetz advocated against the recently failed referendum in Florida that would have enshrined adult-use marijuana in the Florida constitution. Gaetz argued at the time that he believed the law should be enacted by statute through the state legislature – rather than in the constitution – because it would be much easier for the legislature to make necessary changes to the law over time as opposed to the more time-consuming amendment by ballot measure. So, it appears he only opposed the mechanism the referendum proposed for legalizing adult use in Florida, not the concept of a Florida adult-use program.
Conclusion
Gaetz has a steep hill to climb if he is going to be attorney general, and there’s a decent chance that by the time you read this, there will be a different nominee. Given that possibility, I think it’s appropriate to dust off a truly wonderful scene from a great film where the protagonist also learned a message after flying a bit too close to the sun. Don’t stray too far.