Jeff Sessions is reversing the policies that let legal weed flourish in the U.S.

January 8, 2018 10:02 PM

The attorney general announced Thursday that he's rescinding the Obama-era marijuana rules.

Attorney General

Sessions is “rescinding a trio of memos from the Obama administration that adopted a policy of non-interference with marijuana-friendly state laws, according to a source with knowledge of the decision,” CNN reported Thursday.

Marijuana use is illegal under federal law, but the 2013 memo gave states the right to make their own decisions about weed use, and many have decriminalized or legalized it for medical and recreational use.

The memo will be rescinded, but it's not clear yet whether Sessions will issue new rules or revert to older policies.

“The move will leave it to U.S. attorneys where pot is legal to decide whether to aggressively enforce federal marijuana law,” a CBS/APNews report said.

The decision comes only a few days after California—the country’s most populous state—legalized pot for recreational use for adults 21 and older. And individuals in the state can grow as many as six plants and possess up to one ounce of weed.

Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize recreational marijuana, and since then, five more states have passed recreational marijuana laws, including Massachusetts, where retail sales are set to roll out in July, according to the CBS/AP story.

Currently, 29 states have medical marijuana laws.

Marijuana proponents are condemning Sessions’ decision, saying it’s a throwback to outdated drug-war policies that unfairly affected minorities, the Associated Press reported.