WASHINGTON, D.C. – A leading opponent of marijuana legalization on Friday criticized U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado for his defense of the state’s laws legalizing the sale and use of cannabis.

“Let’s put it this way: He’s no profile in courage,” former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy told Colorado Politics after a press conference in the nation’s capital, name-checking his late uncle President John F. Kennedy’s best-selling book.

In addition to being a member of the famed Kennedy political family – he is the youngest son of the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy – Patrick Kennedy is the honorary chair of the advocacy group Smart Approaches to Marijuana.

The group held a press conference Friday – the unofficial “4/20” marijuana holiday – at the National Press Club to warn about the dangers of marijuana and the rising number of state laws that legalize it.

Colorado was one of the first to legalize recreational marijuana in 2014 after voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2012. Several states have done so since then.

But recreational use of pot remains illegal under federal law. And while federal authorities took a hands-off approach to pot use in states that legalized it under the Obama administration, the picture has changed under President Donald Trump.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in January told federal prosecutors that state laws should not deter them in prosecuting violations of federal marijuana statutes.

Gardner, a Republican, has treated the matter as a states-rights issue. The Colorado senator responded to Sessions’ stance by saying he would use his authority to block further high-level Justice Department appointments until he was given assurances Colorado would be exempt from the federal prosecutions.

Last week, President Donald Trump made a concession when he told Gardner the U.S. attorneys would not pursue federal marijuana law violations in Colorado.

“There are certain things you go to the mat for,” Kennedy said about the Colorado senator’s effort to block Justice Department appointments. “Rarely is it going to the mat for an industry that is going to have such deleterious effect on our youth.”

During the press conference, Kennedy criticized the president’s exception on federal prosecutions for Colorado.

“It makes it more difficult to have a clear, consistent policy,” he said. He called the exception “disassembling.”

A spokesman for Gardner defended the Republican senator by saying he is trying to protect Coloradans’ rights.

“Senator Gardner’s bipartisan leadership on protecting Colorado has helped get President Trump on board with his legislative approach and that leadership will continue,” said spokesman Casey Contres. “He’s about to introduce bipartisan legislation that will protect states’ rights to determine for themselves how best to address marijuana.”

Also speaking at the press conference were experts in medicine and law who said marijuana is a first step toward addiction, psychosis and crime.

“The gradual normalization and commercialization of marijuana in Colorado and other states means people become accustomed to the rise in THC-impaired driving fatalities or to witnessing psychosis induced by marijuana,” said Dr. Christine Miller, a former Johns Hopkins School of Medicine instructor.

THC is the main psychoactive component of marijuana.

The recreational use of cannabis is now legal in nine states and the District of Columbia. It is decriminalized in another 13 states. Many other states allow pot use for medicinal purposes.

Kevin Sabet, an Obama administration advisor and now president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, accused state and federal lawmakers who support legalization of caving in to industry executives seeking to profit from sales of the weed.

“This is members of Congress hearing from very loud voices in special interest groups,” Sabet said.

Colorado’s marijuana industry reportedly sold $1.31 billion worth of cannabis in 2016. The state earned tax, fee and license revenue of $194 million in 2016 on legal marijuana sales.

The advocacy group warned about marijuana legalization and addictions on the same day that CNN posted an interview with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper in which he said he wouldn’t rule out a move to make marijuana illegal again in the state if it were shown to have caused an increase in crime.

Also Friday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Colorado would receive a $7.8 million grant to fight opioid abuse and addiction.

Opioids are powerful painkillers. Health officials report a rising number of opioid addictions and health crises from persons who like the euphoria the drug creates for them.

“The main concern I hear from impacted communities is that they need more resources for treatment, education and prevention programs to end abuse and save lives,” said Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez. “These funds will help meet those needs.”

Nationwide, Health and Human Services is distributing $485 million for opioid addiction programs.