Colorado’s top law enforcement official has invited U.S. Attorney General and noted prohibition enthusiast Jeff Sessions to check out the state’s recreational cannabis industry before making any hasty legal decisions.
Colorado’s own Attorney General, Cynthia Coffman (R), told The Denver Post that the offer was made during a meeting yesterday in Washington with Sessions’ top advisors.
“I had a meeting there this morning and told them that I thought it was important to come to the states that have legalized marijuana, particularly Colorado since we have the longest history, and to see what we have done,” Coffman said. “They indicated an interest in doing that.”
The invite comes after a suggestion from Sessions that an increase in federal law enforcement could be looming on the horizon for recreational pot businesses.
Coffman’s believes is the Trump administration is unsure about how to handle the cannabis industry and the disconnect between state and federal laws, but that the Department of Justice is leaning toward preventing illegal diversion to the black market and illicit interstate trafficking.
“I don’t think they’ve decided how they are going to approach it or what they might do legally that would be different than the previous administration,” Coffman told the Post. “I just think they are still figuring it out.”
Coffman added that she is committed to defending Colorado’s cannabis laws, should it come to a court fight with the DOJ. Colorado became one of the first states to legalize adult-use cannabis after voters passed Amendment 64 in 2012.
The flow of cannabis to other states has been a major focus of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in recent years. The DEA has been working with local authorities to clamp down on cannabis being grown in homes for out-of-state distribution, serving search warrants and seizing large quantities of pot.