Sessions Says Obama Marijuana Memo Is 'Valid'
by Tom Angell
March 15th, 2017
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is indicating that he might keep Obama-era marijuana enforcement guidelines in place, perhaps with some modifications.
"The Cole Memorandum set up some policies under President Obama's Department of Justice about how cases should be selected in those states and what would be appropriate for federal prosecution, much of which I think is valid," he said in a question-and-answer session with reporters on Wednesday following a speech in Richmond, Virginia.
That memo, adopted in 2013, lays out guidelines for how states can avoid federal interference with their marijuana laws.
Sessions added that he "may have some different ideas myself in addition to that" but indicated that the federal government would not be able to enforce its remaining marijuana prohibition laws across the board in states with legalization.
"Essentially we’re not able to go into a state and pick up the work that the police and sheriffs have been doing for decades," he said.
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