Is This The Federal Marijuana Crackdown Sessions Has Alluded To?
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So, the rumor is that sometime today the Department of Justice is going to change a policy started by the Obama administration which has kept the federal government from bringing charges against state legal marijuana operations. The new policy would leave the decision to pursue state legal cannabis businesses to local federal authorities.
What this policy change will ultimately lead to is not understood right now. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made clear his bias against legalized marijuana and has threatened policy changes in the DOJ’s pursuit of marijuana operations.
The Justice Department is expected to rescind an Obama-era policy of discouraging federal prosecutors from bringing charges of marijuana-related crimes in states that had legalized sales of the drug.
It was not immediately clear whether the administration intends to carry out a federal crackdown on marijuana dispensaries, or is merely rattling its saber. The Associated Press first reported the announcement, and a government official familiar with the matter confirmed that the change would be announced later on Thursday.
Ultimately, the Obama administration decided not to sue such states, and the Justice Department issued a policy memo instructing federal prosecutors to de-prioritize marijuana-related prosecutions in those states — except in certain cases, such as when there were sales to children or gang-related activity.
The marijuana industry is already a massive business in the United States and many states are coming to depend on the tax revenue sales are generating. Do you think we are about to see federal authorities raid a number of marijuana businesses they have been eyeing?
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