Washington Marijuana Law won’t be blocked by the Feds!

Today, Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed that the Federal Government will not (at least for now) challenge Washington State's recreational marijuana law.

The Attorney General has instructed U.S. Attorneys to use prosecutorial discretion to focus on prosecuting individuals or entities engaged in the following types of activity:

• Preventing the distribution of marijuana to minors;
• Preventing revenue from the sale of marijuana from going to criminal enterprises, gangs, and cartels;
• Preventing the diversion of marijuana from states where it is legal under state law in some form to other states;
• Preventing state-authorized marijuana activity from being used as a cover or pretext for the trafficking of other illegal drugs or other illegal activity;
• Preventing violence and the use of firearms in the cultivation and distribution of marijuana;
• Preventing drugged driving and the exacerbation of other adverse public health consequences associated with marijuana use;
• Preventing the growing of marijuana on public lands and the attendant public safety and environmental dangers posed by marijuana production on public lands; and
• Preventing marijuana possession or use on federal property.

This from a Memo to U.S. Attorneys from James M. Cole, Deputy Attorney General.

Presumably, therefore, Federal Prosecutors will focus on prosecuting individuals/entities engaged in the above activities, but not recreational use. Although the Federal government could jump back in to enforce federal law at any time, the Attorney General's guidance on prosecutorial discretion should be welcome news to those in support of recreational marijuana in Washington State.

For more information, see the Seattle Times here.