Justice Clarence Thomas Praised for Suggesting It's Time to Lift Federal Marijuana Ban

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas received praised on Twitter for his Monday comments stating that the federal government's "contradictory" marijuana laws "may no longer be necessary."

Thomas made his comment in a dissenting opinion that he wrote against the court's decision not to hear a marijuana case. The case involved a Colorado medical marijuana dispensary that believed the federal government had unfairly denied it federal tax breaks given to companies in other industries.

"The Federal Government's current approach is a half-in, half-out regime that simultaneously tolerates and forbids local use of marijuana," Thomas wrote. "This contradictory and unstable state of affairs strains basic principles of federalism and conceals traps for the unwary."

"A prohibition on intrastate use or cultivation of marijuana may no longer be necessary or proper to support the Federal Government's piecemeal approach," he concluded.

"Clarence Thomas" trended on Twitter Monday night with thousands of users weighing in on his remarks.

History professor Liam O'Mara wrote, "Federal prohibition of #cannabis never made any sense, and has led to #MassIncarceration, and even excess logging and plastic use, but at least the tide is turning. Seems even arch-conservative Clarence Thomas is willing to rethink the prohibition laws."

Former Mayor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Steve Marchand, wrote, "When Clarence Thomas is moving to your left on cannabis legalization, you need to re-evaluate your position. If @NHDems want to show that @GovChrisSununu is out of the mainstream, this is a real part of the message."

Marchand's message tagged his state's Democratic party and its Republican governor.

Twitter user @Jeffreyaasen5 wrote, "Apparently we now have Clarence Thomas on our side, if he can help get it legalized on a federal level I'll take it. #LegalizeMarijuana #LegalizeCannabis".

Twitter user @away__kit wrote, "Joe Biden is to the right of Clarence Thomas on pot".

Danya Henninger, an editor at the radio station WHYY, wrote, "Did not realize Clarence Thomas was the legalization justice."

Nick Gillespie, podcaster and editor-at-large for the Libertarian magazine Reason, wrote, "Clarence Thomas is getting real on pot. Better late than never."

Twitter user @AdamG_MB, wrote, "Justice Clarence Thomas.... Welcome to the resistance."

Writer Tara Tublin wrote, "Let's wait until Clarence Thomas gets marijuana decriminalized federally & then he can gtfo along with his insurrectionist wife #LegalizeIt".

Tublin's tweet refers to Thomas' wife, Ginni Thomas, who endorsed Republican former President Donald Trump's January 6 "Stop the Steal" rally. The rally's attendees went on to riot at the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Newsweek contacted the Supreme Court for comment.