It has been six months since Attorney
General Eric Holder told us that the Justice Department's response to Colorado
and Washington's legalization of marijuana was coming soon. No word has been received yet, so the State
of Washington is preparing for the worst-case scenario: a federal lawsuit.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson
has said that they are preparing for a federal lawsuit while at the same time
moving forward with implementing the new legalized marijuana law. The
regulatory framework is being finalized and should be finished by the end of
the year. Rules are being worked out and everyone has been hard at work
determining when and how to issue licenses to growers, distributors, and
sellers.
The police in Seattle even got in on the
mix when they handed out bags of Doritos to thousands of citizens who attended
Hempfest this past weekend.
"We
have a legal team, and I've asked them to prepare for a worst-case scenario,
which would be a lawsuit. Again, we want to avoid that. I communicated that to
Eric Holder earlier in the year, but we want to prepare for whatever
eventuality may come along."
---Bob
Ferguson, Washington Attorney General
Until the federal government responds to
Washington's legalized marijuana law, the state will continue moving forward to
uphold the will of the voters. Will Washington D.C. respect states' rights to
legalize marijuana or will they dig their heels in and continue to fight? While
no one knows for sure—we'll be prepared just in case.
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