--- title: Marijuana: White House Promises 'Greater Enforcement' description: The Trump Administration will step up enforcement of federal laws on recreational marijuana. canonical: https://time.com/4681109/white-house-recreational-marijuana-laws/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-23T21:17:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:37.174Z article:section: Politics og:title: The Coming War on Pot og:description: White House to enforce federal laws despite support for legalized weed og:url: https://time.com/4681109/white-house-recreational-marijuana-laws/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54b8cdd017e71b9e/6988bbb38fd2ee007f355e72/gettyimages-607549396.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Kentucky State Police And National Guard Harvest And Burn Illegally Grown Marijuana og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Coming War on Pot twitter:description: White House to enforce federal laws despite support for legalized weed twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54b8cdd017e71b9e/6988bbb38fd2ee007f355e72/gettyimages-607549396.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House Promises 'Greater Enforcement' of Federal Marijuana Laws > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=6b295d03-4363-4694-800f-f84c88b21c9a&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Which Teens Are Most Likely to Smoke Pot? The Smart Ones, Study Finds [Watch (HLS stream): Which Teens Are Most Likely to Smoke Pot? The Smart Ones, Study Finds](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/V85O88B7.m3u8) (1:08)  _Published 2017-02-22. Brainy teens are more likely to drink and smoke pot than their less clever peers_ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Feb 23, 2017 9:17 PM UTC  Members of the Kentucky State Police Cannabis Suppression Branch search for a patch of illegal marijuana after rappelling from a Kentucky National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter in Midway, Kentucky, U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016. Members of the Kentucky State Police Cannabis Suppression Branch search for a patch of illegal marijuana after rappelling from a Kentucky National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter in Midway, Kentucky, U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016. Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Feb 23, 2017 9:17 PM UTC The Trump Administration will step up enforcement of federal laws barring recreational marijuana in states where its use is legalized, the White House said Thursday. Asked about the conflict between federal laws barring recreational marijuana and the handful of states that allow it, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the Administration would change direction from the more permissive approach under President Obama. “I do believe you’ll see greater enforcement of it,” Spicer told reporters Thursday during the White House briefing. It would represent the latest policy shift from the Obama Administration, which declined to enforce federal laws in states that legalized weed, such as Colorado and Washington, as long as the states regulated the marketplace. As he prepared to leave office, former President Obama [came out in favor](http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/obama-on-his-legacy-trumps-win-and-the-path-forward-w452527) of legalizing marijuana. He added that the Trump Administration would not seek to enforce federal statutes against those using marijuana for medical purposes. Spicer repeatedly linked the use of marijuana to the [nationwide opioid abuse epidemic](http://time.com/4675325/doctors-opioid-epidemic/), suggesting without offering proof that marijuana is a gateway drug to more serious substances. Earlier in the briefing, Spicer touted the president and the GOP’s commitment to deferring to the states over the federal government on controversial issues. “We are a states’ rights party,” he said while discussing a reversal of Obama-era guidance on [transgender student bathroom use](http://time.com/4679063/donald-trump-transgender-bathroom/). ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4681109/white-house-recreational-marijuana-laws/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4681109/white-house-recreational-marijuana-laws/"},"headline":"White House Promises 'Greater Enforcement' of Federal Marijuana Laws","datePublished":"2017-02-23T21:17:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:54:37.174Z","description":"The majority of Americans support legalized marijuana","url":"https://time.com/4681109/white-house-recreational-marijuana-laws/","keywords":["Marijuana","White House","Marijuana legalization"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54b8cdd017e71b9e/6988bbb38fd2ee007f355e72/gettyimages-607549396.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54b8cdd017e71b9e/6988bbb38fd2ee007f355e72/gettyimages-607549396.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Kentucky State Police And National Guard Harvest And Burn Illegally Grown Marijuana","caption":"Kentucky State Police And National Guard Harvest And Burn Illegally Grown Marijuana","creditText":"Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/marijuana/","name":"Marijuana"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4681109/white-house-recreational-marijuana-laws/","name":"White House Promises 'Greater Enforcement' of Federal Marijuana Laws"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Which Teens Are Most Likely to Smoke Pot? 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