Just days after California ushered in a new era for marijuana legalization by introducing a recreational market to the sixth largest economy on Earth, the Trump administration has positioned itself to undo years of progress by rescinding the integral federal protections that allow states to establish their own marijuana legislation.
Two anonymous sources with direct knowledge of the decision informed The Associated Press early Thursday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions would nix the Cole Memo, an Obama-era provision that ensured federal funds would not be used to enforce marijuana prohibition in states that had passed legalization. The sources added that, from this point forward, federal prosecutors in states with legal marijuana “will have deference to enforce U.S. laws on marijuana as they see fit in their own districts.”
This news complicates business operations for countless compliant entrepreneurs across the country who now must weigh the possible federal repercussions of following their respective state’s laws. In states where business owners could legally grow, process, sell, and possess cannabis products, the Cole Memo offered a layer of protection from federal scrutiny.
Read More: https://www.marijuana.com/news/2018/01/jeff-sessions-is-rescinding-federal-medical-marijuana-protections/