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Lelling responded Monday that he couldn’t assure “certain categories of participants in the state-level marijuana trade will be immune from federal prosecution.”
“This is a straightforward rule of law issue,” he said in a statement. “Congress has unambiguously made it a federal crime to cultivate, distribute and/or possess marijuana. As a law enforcement officer in the Executive Branch, it is my sworn responsibility to enforce that law, guided by the Principles of Federal Prosecution.”
That said, Lelling added that he would “proceed on a case-by-case basis” and noted that he’s working with “limited federal resources.” Explicitly stating that a certain group was safe from prosecution, he said, would mean he would be effectively changing federal laws passed by Congress.
“That I will not do,” Lelling said.