The top U.S. Justice Department official in Colorado said there will not be an increase in marijuana prosecutions in the wake of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions' move to rescind previous guidelines on marijuana enforcement.
U.S. Attorney for Colorado Robert Troyer told the state's delegates to Congress Thursday during a conference call that the recently-issued federal guidelines regarding marijuana laws will not lead to an increase in marijuana prosecutions at the expense of other high-priority law enforcement issues.
On Jan. 4, Sessions announced that he rescinded the Obama-era Justice Department policy that paved the way for a hands-off approach to states that have legalized marijuana. In his memo, Sessions said that federal law prohibits the possession and sale of marijuana.
"Given the Department's well-established general principles, previous nationwide guidance specific to marijuana enforcement is unnecessary and is rescinded, effective immediately," Sessions said in a one-page memo sent to federal prosecutors nationwide.
