Senator: Got pot pledge from Trump

DENVER — Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado said Friday President Donald Trump has pledged to support legislation protecting the marijuana industry in states that have legalized the drug, a move that could lift a threat to the industry made by the U.S. attorney general just three months ago.

Gardner of Colorado said Friday Trump made the pledge to him in a Wednesday night conversation.

Gardner has been pushing to reverse a decision made by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in January that removed prohibitions that kept federal prosecutors from pursuing cases against people who were following pot laws in states such as Colorado that have legalized the drug.

Marijuana has been fully legalized in eight states, and 24 states allow some form of marijuana use, including Arkansas, which is currently setting up a system for medical-marijuana use.

“President Trump has assured me that he will support a federalism-based legislative solution to fix this states’ rights issue once and for all,” Gardner said in a statement.

White House spokesman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Gardner’s account was accurate and the president supported states’ rights in the matter.

“This is one more step toward ending the irrational policy of marijuana prohibition, not only in Colorado but throughout the country, ” said Mason Tvert, who spearheaded a 2012 ballot measure legalizing recreational marijuana in Colorado.