Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) on Wednesday said there are “a lot of people” in Congress who smoke marijuana.
TMZ caught up with Omar, the co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, in Washington, D.C., to ask about changes to medical and recreational marijuana research. She was asked if she thought it was odd that no members of Congress were open “stoners.”
“I will say –– advocacy for legalizing doesn’t necessarily mean that you are a user, so everybody can be an advocate to legalizing it because we understand that it is not OK for us to spend the billions of dollars we do now in incarcerating people for smoking a joint,” she said.
After she was pressed further on the point, she smiled, laughed and said, “I think there are a lot of people who smoke cannabis in Congress,” before she raised two fingers to make a peace sign and walked off.
Omar also emphasized legalizing marijuana across the country, given the number of states that have already legalized it. She said she credited President Trump for shifting the GOP’s approach on drugs and for opening more discussions with his allies on the issue.
“I think any step forward is a good step, but we need to go farther than where we are yet,” she said. “We need to continue building the coalition, we need to continue to have people speak to the president. He has the power, Congress has the power, and it’s time for us to come together and get this done.”
The Trump administration has moved to reshape the federal government’s approach to marijuana and psychedelic drugs. Trump last month signed an executive order to loosen research restrictions on psychedelic drugs as medicine to treat mental conditions like depression and substance abuse disorder.
The executive order also directed the Food and Drug Administration to fast-track reviews, leading to the approval of psychedelic medicines. Several GOP lawmakers, including Reps. Morgan Luttrell (Texas) and Jack Bergman (Mich.), have made the case for psychedelics to be accessible for veterans as a treatment option.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche then days later ordered state-licensed medical marijuana to be reclassified as less dangerous, as part of the president’s campaign “promise to expand Americans’ access to medical treatment options.”
The order also lowers the regulation on medical marijuana down to a looser level and gives tax breaks to licensed medical marijuana operators.
“These actions will enable more targeted, rigorous research into marijuana’s safety and efficacy, expanding patients’ access to treatments and empowering doctors to make better-informed healthcare decisions,” Blanche said in his announcement at the time, posted to the social platform X.
These acts did little to change the legality of using these drugs recreationally, but they do show a stark contrast to the “war on drugs” that began during former President Richard Nixon’s administration.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
