Trump Administration Takes Aim at Marijuana in States Where It's LegalTop of Mind with Julie Rose • Season 1, Episode 723, Segment 1
Jan 11, 2018 • 17m
Guest: Daniel McConkie, JD, Assistant Professor of Law, Northern Illinois University
Voters in eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana use – most recently California, where the law took effect just last week. More than a dozen other states allow marijuana use for medical purposes in a fairly broad fashion.
The problem is that federal law still says it’s illegal to grow, sell or use marijuana. And last week, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions gave federal prosecutors a green light to go after marijuana businesses in states that have legalized its use. This is a shift from the Obama Administration, which had federal prosecutors generally defer to state marijuana laws.