Weed is winning in the polls, with a solid majority of Americans saying marijuana should be legal. But does that mean the federal government will let dozens of state pot experiments play out? Not by a long shot.
The government still has many means to slow or stop the marijuana train. And President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions to be the next attorney general has raised fears that the new administration could crack down on weed-tolerant states 20 years after California became the first to legalize medical marijuana.
"We need grown-ups in charge in Washington to say marijuana is not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized. It ought not to be minimized, that it's in fact a very real danger," Sessions said during an April Senate hearing.
The Controlled Substances Act bans pot even for medical purposes. A closer look at some of the government's options for enforcing it.
Take 'Em To Court
The government rarely invokes its authority to sue states, but it's the quickest path to compliance. The Justice Department could file lawsuits on the grounds that state laws regulating pot are unconstitutional because they are preempted by federal law. Something similar happened in 2010, when the Justice Department successfully sued Arizona to block an immigration law that conflicted with federal immigration law. Federal courts can also compel action, not just block it, as in Kentucky last year, when a county clerk was ordered to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples following a landmark Supreme Court ruling. Twenty-eight states and Washington, D.C., allow marijuana for medical or recreational purposes. The government has yet to sue any of them.Raid Pot Businesses
The government could avoid court entirely if it doesn't mind a more expensive option: law-enforcement raids. The Drug Enforcement Administration retains the legal ability to shut down anyone selling or growing pot, but there has been no coordinated federal attempt to close pot producers in multiple states. The agency has said repeatedly that it does not have the resources to pursue ordinary pot users. Any change in that approach would likely require more money from Congress, which just saw many of its constituents vote in favor of legalization. And a former U.S. attorney in Washington state, John McKay, said a federal agency probably would not spend limited resources busting people growing pot for personal use."Who is going to stop people from smoking pot in a residence in Denver? Federal agents?" McKay asked. "They are going to stop doing terrorism investigations and start arresting people for pot? That, to me, is crazy."
Still, a series of raids could upend the marijuana landscape and chill investment in the fledgling industry.