Washington: Just a day before marijuana becoming legal in Washington state, the Justice Department warned that the possession, growing or use of the drug remains illegal under federal law.
“Regardless of any changes in state law, including the change that will go into effect on Dec. 6 in Washington state, growing, selling or possessing any amount of marijuana remains illegal under federal law,” said a statement issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle on Wednesday evening.
Earlier in last month voters in Washington and Colorado approved that decriminalized the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by adults. The Washington state law goes into effect Thursday and Colorado’s law will change in the coming weeks.
Local media says that the Justice Department position sets up a potential court fight between the federal government and the states.
Authorities in both states have already started dismissing hundreds of misdemeanor cases and retraining state and local police for dealing with the change.
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