Jeff Sessions and the Trump administration continue their war on the GOP's future; this time attacking marijuana, just as Trump's Attorney General Jeff Sessions promised he would from the start.
The former Senator from Alabama revoked an Obama rule that left states with legalized recreational marijuana alone, allowing the states to operate the way they are meant to. Obama's rule was actually a big win for states' rights, as it prevented the federal government from interfering with legal marijuana industries in the United States.
Despite candidate Trump agreeing that the legalization of marijuana should be left up to the states, his appointment for Attorney General has never agreed and constantly appears afraid of marijuana.
While marijuana is not harmless, policing it the way Sessions wants to is inefficient, wasteful, and at the end of the day, unconstitutional.
Sessions has yet to call for any outrageous directions against the legal products, but removing the protections is one step in the completely wrong direction for him, the Trump administration, and the Republican party.
The constitutionality of the federal government attacking states with legal marijuana is not really up for debate. If Sessions decides to crack down on legal marijuana, it will be the wrong and unconstitutional decision.
More than that though, this revamped possible war on pot is not a battle Republicans need to be fighting.
Marijuana is something that should be legal in the country, and it inevitably will be - so long as the federal government ends its war on its legalization.
Colorado was the first state to legalize marijuana in the United States, and the tax revenue from the legal product has not stopped increasing.
Even more than tax revenue, there are numerous positive benefits to legalizing marijuana recreationally. A plant that can be grown on a window sill would allow people to use it medicinally. It would allow people to self-medicate if need-be.
Veterans are a big proponent of it. Realistically, marijuana can help our nation's veterans, and legalizing it recreationally would allow the most disciplined people in our country to self-medicate; avoiding the mess that is the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
The pros definitely outweigh the cons in terms of legalized marijuana. However, this is not the only reason that top Republicans should, at the very least, leave this topic up to the states.
The current Republican party does not exactly have a great image under Trump, and openly attacking marijuana while contradicting the Constitution is quite possibly the worst idea this administration could have, specifically for its future.
A survey taken in 2015 stated that 60% of polled young Republicans favor legalized marijuana. On top of that, millennials in general support marijuana legalization, and becoming bipartisan on this issue can paint a better picture for the Republican party.
The GOP is going backward if it actually decides to impede the progress that legal marijuana is making across the country. While alcohol and cigarettes remain legal, Sessions paints a party that wants to attack something that could positively impact society.
Young voters were not kind to Trump in this last presidential election and were a big reason for Doug Jones' upset of Roy Moore in the Alabama special election.
The GOP can appeal to its future by simply leaving pot alone. That is all they have to do to win on this subject. Leave it up to the states, and you are not pushing young conservatives away, but rather embracing the reality of widespread support for marijuana.
The battle against marijuana is one that Republicans will inevitably lose, but the loss could be worse if they try to go down with a fight. Federally intervening against an inevitable positive change in the United States is dead last on the list of things the GOP needs.
Leaving marijuana legalization up to the states is not only the right thing but also the smart thing for Republicans to do.