Letter to Trump Calls for Ending Federal Cannabis Arrests to Save Government Money

In a letter to President Donald Trump (R), U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren
(D-MA) and Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) have called on the administration
to end arrests for cannabis, which they say – along with the enactment of
other policies – could help the government save trillions of dollars.

The lawmakers note that ending unnecessary federal arrests and reducing
waste in federal detention programs alone could save the government
billions of dollars.

“The government spends billions of dollars each year on unnecessary federal
enforcement actions and detention, like costly marijuana arrests despite
the fact that almost half of states have legalized recreational marijuana,
imprisoning elderly and terminally ill patients who pose little risk to
public safety, and incarcerating people for minor technical violations of
probation and parole.” — Warren and Stansbury in the letter

The letter, which focuses on what the lawmakers describe as the failures of
the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, notes that
Warren had included the policy suggestion to Musk in January, but that he
and DOGE had “ignored” them.

In addition to the criminal justice reforms, Warren and Stansbury call on
the Trump Administration to crack down on healthcare profiteering,
negotiating better Department of Defense contracts, cutting wasteful
spending on education programs, closing federal loopholes in the tax code,
and ending so-called “vendor-lock” in government IT contracts.