Justice Clarence Thomas implies it’s time to give up on federal cannabis bans

Right-wing Justice Clarence Thomas appears to be giving up on the prohibition of cannabis as the states and federal government fight back and forth about the substance still declared a schedule 1 drug by the DEA.

"The federal government's current approach is a half-in, half-out regime that simultaneously tolerates and forbids local use of marijuana," the conservative Supreme Court justice wrote, according to NBC News.

The comments came amid the Supreme Court's decision to decline a Colorado medical marijuana case where a dispensary was denied federal tax breaks while other businesses were granted the funds.

"Thomas said the Supreme Court's ruling in 2005 upholding federal laws making marijuana possession illegal may now be out of date," the report said.

"Federal policies of the past 16 years have greatly undermined its reasoning," he said. "The federal government's current approach is a half-in, half-out regime that simultaneously tolerates and forbids local use of marijuana."

There are 36 states that now allow medical cannabis and 18 that allow recreational use.

"Under this rule, a business that is still in the red after it pays its workers and keeps the lights on might nonetheless owe substantial federal income tax," Thomas wrote. He said that the federal government looking the other way seems inconsistent, "more episodic than coherent."

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) introduced legislation this year that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and end all criminal penalties for it. It overwhelmingly passed the House but has yet to be brought before the Senate.

Read the full report.