Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is urging Elon Musk, chair of the Trump administration’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to target “unnecessary” federal enforcement against marijuana consumers and businesses as a key way to reduce spending by the federal government.
In a letter sent to Musk on Thursday, Warren laid out a series of recommendations for DOGE that she said would translate into upwards of $2 trillion in savings over the next decade. One of those recommendations concerned the federal government’s spending on cannabis enforcement.
“The United States could save hundreds of millions of dollars each year by reducing wasteful spending on unnecessary federal enforcement actions and detention,” Warren wrote. “For example, almost half of states have legalized recreational marijuana, yet federal arrests for marijuana possession account for roughly a quarter of all drug possession arrests, even though federal sentences for marijuana possession are rare.”
The senator also pointed out that “the Drug Enforcement Administration [DEA] and Customs and Border Patrol [CBP] continue to raid marijuana businesses and seize marijuana plants, including in states where marijuana is legal.”
“These arrests and seizures unnecessarily drain federal resources,” Warren said.
Warren cited reporting from Marijuana Moment and other outlets on DEA’s ongoing cannabis seizures, with the agency reporting that it eradicated more than 5.7 million marijuana plants in 2022, for example.
However, DEA has faced more recent criticism after failing to release updated annual data on marijuana-related arrests and seizures in 2024 as it has done in prior years.
With respect to CBP, the agency recently implored a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit from licensed New Mexico marijuana businesses that claimed the agencies have been unconstitutionally seizing state-regulated marijuana products and detaining industry workers at interior checkpoints.
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