The Attorney General has reversed Obama Administration policy and is now allowing prosecutors to go after so-called 'legal marijuana' in States like Colorado and California where local law has been changed.
“U.S. attorneys need to make decisions in these cases as they do in other drugs cases,” a senior DOJ official told Fox News.
There was Obama Administration guidance issued in 2009 and then a memo in 2013 which said it would not obstruct states that legalized marijuana, on the condition the drug was regulated so as not to hinder key federal enforcement priorities. This included preventing the drug from being distributed to minors, preventing its movement to other states, and preventing it from being used as a cover for the trafficking of other drugs.
"Given the Department's well-established general principles, previous nationwide guidance specific to marijuana enforcement is unnecessary and is rescinded, effective immediately," Sessions said in a new memo.