Nevada lawmaker: Crackdown could kill legal cannabis business
Published: Jan 4, 2018, 3:38 pm • Updated: Jan 4, 2018, 3:38 pm
By Ken Ritter, The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — Some Nevada lawmakers say millions of dollars and thousands of jobs could go up in smoke if federal authorities crack down on marijuana sales and possession in the state where recreational pot became legal last July.
Others took a wait-and-see approach Thursday to a policy shift announced by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions ahead of the arrival of a new interim U.S. attorney who would decide enforcement issues.
Sessions says top federal prosecutors should decide in their own districts whether to devote resources to marijuana cases.
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State Sen. Richard “Tick” Segerblom, a Democrat, says a federal crackdown could kill a budding business on which the state now depends.
Republican U.S. Sen. Dean Heller says Justice Department officials should meet with Gov. Brian Sandoval and state Attorney General Adam Laxalt, both Republicans, about how the policy change might affect Nevada.