While Spicer was more circumspect when discussing medical marijuana, his comments about a stronger federal response to recreational marijuana — as well as his specious comparisons between marijuana and opioids — have elicited criticism from officials in states were recreational marijuana has been approved by voters.
"I opposed the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado. I spoke openly against it, but it passed in Colorado by 55% to 45%. It is now part of our constitution," Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said during an MSNBC interview on Friday.
"I think it's the wrong time to pull back from this experiment, and if the federal government's going to come and begin closing in and arresting people that are doing what's legal in different states, my god, it creates a level of conflict that's going to be very difficult," Hickenlooper said. "So we're, we are trying to regulate and enforce public safety around both medical marijuana and recreational marijuana as aggressively as we possibly can."
