Policy that allowed legal pot nixed

Sessions pulls plug on Obama-era directive that feds would not interfere with states legalizing pot

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Jeff Sessions has rescinded an Obama-era policy that paved the way for states to legalize marijuana. Instead, Sessions will allow federal prosecutors in states where pot is legal to decide how to enforce the federal ban on marijuana sale or possession.

Sessions made the announcement Thursday, just days after the recreational marijuana market opened in California. Many states have legalized some form of medical marijuana, and a handful have legalized recreational use of the drug. Under former president Barack Obama, the Department of Justice indicated to states in 2013 that while marijuana remained illegal under U.S. law, federal law enforcement officials would not interfere in states that chose to legalize cannabis as long as they hewed to certain restrictions such as barring minors from being able to buy it and prohibiting transport of the drug into states where it wasn’t legal. That memo is what Sessions rescinded Thursday.

“It is the mission of the Department of Justice to enforce the laws of the United States, and the previous issuance of guidance undermines the rule of law and the ability of our local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement partners to carry out this mission,” Sessions said in a statement. “Therefore, today’s memo on federal marijuana enforcement simply directs all U.S. Attorneys to use previously established prosecutorial principles that provide them all the necessary tools to disrupt criminal organizations, tackle the growing drug crisis, and thwart violent crime across our country.”

It’s still too early to predict the practical impact of the announcement on the industry, said Ames Grawert, an attorney in the Brennan Center’s Justice Program, but “this is going to have a significant chilling effect,” he ventured.