Former Colorado Chief Justice and Colleagues Examine Broader Implications Of Sessions’ Marijuana Move

There will be little debate that this has been a bad day for the state-sanctioned (and regulated) marijuana industry.  

The Obama-era directives that significantly fettered the discretion of U.S. attorneys to bring federal narcotics charges against marijuana growers, distributors and possessors in states that "legalized" marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes are now a thing of the past. This change in federal enforcement approach is significant considering the fact that more than half of the states in the nation have, in one form or another, legalized marijuana, and that the marijuana industry is serviced by many banks, landlords, law firms and others. But, contrary to some initial reactions concerning the implications on states' rights, the authors suggest that this move by Attorney General Jeff Sessions may actually signal a new era of increasingly decentralized federal law enforcement decision-making. To continue reading, click here.