President Trump’s attorney general nominee said Tuesday he would “not go after” marijuana companies in states where the drug has been legalized.
William Barr said at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee he would not “go after companies that have relied on the Cole Memorandum,” referring to a 2013 Justice Department advisory to U.S. attorneys against focusing on federal prosecution of marijuana offenses in states where it is legalized. In January 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Cole Memo.
Federal law currently makes the possession and sale of marijuana illegal. However, recreational marijuana is legal in 10 states, and medicinal marijuana is legal in 33 states.
Barr’s statement came during questioning by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.
Barr later told Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., that the Justice Department won’t go after cannabis businesses operating legally under state law.
“I thought I answered that … to the extent people are complying with state laws … we are not going to go after that,” Barr said.
Barr did add that it is “incumbent on the Congress to make a decision as to whether we are going to have a federal system.”
“This is breeding disrespect for the federal law,” he adding that the “current system is untenable.”
[Also read: Barr vows independence: ‘I will not be bullied into doing anything I think is wrong’]
