Fate Of Mass. Recreational Marijuana Sales Unclear After Federal Decision

The change will reportedly free USA attorneys in individual states to decide how to enforce federal marijuana laws, reversing a 2013 policy preventing the federal government from interfering with states that legalize marijuana.

If the Justice Department, either through the DEA or the FBI, were to challenge Florida voters on the subject by prosecuting distributors of medical marijuana, it could become a major legal battle between the state and the federal government.

“I don’t see that any federal prosecutions of marijuana establishments is going to take place, I’ll be shocked”, Sheriff Elder said.

Sessions, however, compares marijuana to heroin and blames it for spikes in violence.

In California-which was the first state to legalize medical marijuana-state officials have, according to the Los Angeles Times, “issued dozens of permits for retailers to begin recreational sales this week, expanding a market that is expected to grow to $7 billion annually by 2020”.

A provision buried in the federal budget, plus a safety valve in what Arizona voters enacted in 2010, should protect individual medical-marijuana users here unless the Drug Enforcement Administration starts targeting individual users, which is considered extremely unlikely.

Ryan Tarkowski, a Pennsylvania State Police spokesman, said that based on a 2011 directive from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the state police are warning gun-buyers that they will not pass their background checks if they indicate they are medical marijuana patients. “It really is because I think Jeff Sessions is one of the most honorable men in Washington, D.C., and I mean that sincerely”, Stewart said in an interview on CNN.

“I’m just incredibly grateful for this natural medicine that has been very effective at managing my symptoms”, said Schuster.

But this protection expires January 19 unless Congress includes it in the new spending bill – or at least adopts another “continuing resolution” to keep the government operating while a budget deal is being negotiated.

It is not immediately clear how the new DOJ policy will be implemented, particularly in light of the fact that President Trump publicly supported medical marijuana in the past, and stated that marijuana legalization should be addressed by the states. “Today’s announcement is disruptive to state regulatory regimes and regrettable”.

Sessions’ action is a departure from the Obama administration’s policy, which issued guidance in 2013 that it would not interfere in state and local initiatives to legalize marijuana, as long as they didn’t interfere with federal law enforcement priorities.

In 2012, voters in Colorado passed a ballot initiative legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

Jeff Sessions has stated that it is up to Congress to change federal law regarding marijuana, and until such a change occurs, it is up to him as Attorney General to enforce federal laws as they are.

Q: How will this affect states that have legalized recreational marijuana?

Sessions told reporters Thursday that the Obama guidance in the Cole memo – written by then-Deputy Attorney General James Cole – wasn’t consistent with federal law. Inslee called it “the wrong direction for our state”.

“Only because I went to the best colleges, or college”.

“It’s going to be up to the new USA attorney, but we don’t know what her position is on this yet”.

Sessions has long vowed to crack down on marijuana, claiming in March a year ago that it was only “slightly less terrible than heroin”.