As U.S. Senate hearings began on Jan. 10, 2017, for Sen. Jeff Sessions, President-elect Donald Trump’s anti-marijuana nominee for Attorney General, rumors about the Drug Enforcement Agency shutting down dispensaries were already circulating.

“The rumor I’ve heard is that they will be cracking down with D.C. first,” Adam Eidinger, co-founder of the Washington, D.C., pro-legalization group DCMJ, told Forbes for a Jan. 10, 2017, article. “That a large number of dispensaries are going to get shut down straight up, shut down by the DEA six months from now.

“Then all the states that legalized are going to get letters saying ‘No, don’t do it,’” he said.

While eight states and Washington, D.C., now allow adult-use marijuana, the most concerning threat from Sessions seems to be the possibility that his actions will take medicinal pot from those who need it in the 28 states with medical marijuana programs.

Steph Shere, executive director of Americans for Safe Access, said, “Many medical cannabis patients and their families supported his [Trump’s] candidacy because they believed he would be better on this issue than his opponent. However, the nomination of Jeff Sessions as the next Attorney General of the United States is a tremendous cause for concern to medical cannabis patients and their families.”