Jeff Sessions suggests DOJ will crack down on marijuana growers, even in states that legalized weed

Attorney General Jeff Sessions suggested that the Department of Justice may crack down on marijuana growers, even in the 29 states that legalized the drug in some form.

Sessions made the comments on conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt’s show Thursday morning, after Hewitt asked whether the Department of Justice would be prosecuting marijuana growers for being criminal enterprises.

“A lot of states are just simply breaking the law and a lot of money is being made and banked,” Hewitt said to Sessions of marijuana growers and sellers. “One [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations] prosecution of one producer and the banks that service them would shut this all down. Is such a prosecution going to happen?”

Sessions told Hewitt that he didn’t think “one [RICO] prosecution would be quite as effective as that,” but said he doesn’t think states that legalized the drug had the right to ignore current federal laws that ban the sale of marijuana.

“I do not believe there’s any argument that because a state legalizes marijuana, that the federal law against marijuana is no longer in existence,” Sessions said. “I do believe that the federal laws clearly are in effect in all 50 states and we will do our best to enforce the laws as we’re required to do so.”