DOJ Cannot Prosecute Medical Marijuana Cases Following Appeals Court Ruling

August 18, 2016
AggregatedNews
Policy & Legal
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The Justice Department can’t interfere with states’ medical pot laws.

A federal appeals court told the U.S. Department of Justice this week that it can no longer prosecute cases against medical marijuana businesses where the defendants are compliant with relevant state laws.

The ruling on Tuesday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco comes despite the fact that marijuana remains illegal in any form on the federal level. Last week, DOJ agency the Drug Enforcement Administration declined to change marijuana’s classification as a Schedule 1 drug—the category reserved for the most dangerous drugs, such as heroin, that the federal government claims have no known medical application. [Read more at Fortune]

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