Federal prosecutor threatens law-breaking pot businesses

DENVER — Colorado’s top federal prosecutor says his office may take legal action against licensed marijuana businesses that violate state law or use their status under state law “as a shield” while selling their product on the black market.

U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer acknowledged that until now, federal officials in Colorado have largely focused on prosecuting the people running entirely illegal marijuana grows. The operations are often concealed on federal forest land or inside houses, spurring regular complaints from local law enforcement in some parts of the state.

“Now that federal enforcement has shot down marijuana grows on federal lands, the crosshairs may appropriately shift to the public harms caused by licensed businesses and their investors, particularly those who are not complying with state law or trying to use purported state compliance as a shield,” Troyer wrote in an op-ed published late Friday.

After voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2012, Colorado became the first state to broadly allow the sale of marijuana to adults alongside its existing medical marijuana industry. State-tracked sales now total more than $1 billion per year.

The industry has only grown since, with a total of eight states and Washington, D.C., permitting adult use. Marijuana also is allowed for some form of medical use in 31 states. The trade publication Marijuana Business Daily estimates legal marijuana sales topped $5.8 billion last year in the U.S.

But pot remains illegal under federal law, and Troyer suggested even Colorado businesses operating within state law could face federal action.