By Alexandra Slavet
On January 8, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Andrew E. Lelling, noted in an official statement that he “cannot provide assurances that certain categories of participants in the state-level marijuana trade will be immune from federal prosecution.” This appears to be the strongest negative statement yet from a federal prosecutor following US Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recent rescission of a series of memoranda which had suggested low prioritization of prosecution of those in the cannabis industry. Sessions is offering each local US Attorney the discretion to pursue prosecutions of state-legal actors as long as they follow long established Department of Justice guidelines for all prosecutions. Other US Attorneys have, for the most part, stayed silent on the issue, confirmed no change in approach, or said they would study the issue. Continue reading “Massachusetts US Attorney Issues Warning to Cannabis Actors”