“There’s the old saying that ‘when someone shows you who they are, believe them.’ Mike Bloomberg has shown that he is no ally to marijuana reform or criminal justice reform more broadly,” Altieri said.
Presidents can also shape marijuana policy through their budget requests and through leadership of the Department of Justice. For example, President Donald Trump’s first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, was a staunch opponent of marijuana and temporarily revoked the Cole memorandum, an Obama administration guidance memo that eased federal crackdowns on marijuana sales in states that have approved them.
Meanwhile, opponents of marijuana legalization with Smart Approaches to Marijuana, or SAM, applauded Bloomberg’s approach. The group supports state decriminalization legislation. They say the national decriminalization of marijuana possession would be a meaningful break from the status quo.
“It is refreshing to see a candidate for president take the science-based approach to marijuana policy, rather than tout talking points prepared by Big Marijuana’s lobbyists,” said SAM President Kevin Sabet in a statement.
SAM has been in touch with Bloomberg. The group’s former director of state and local affairs joined Bloomberg’s campaign’s operation in Pennsylvania in January.