Washington (CNN) - Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Wednesday that the Justice Department is examining ways to work toward a "rational" marijuana policy, though he did not provide details, including whether the DOJ will crack down on states where the drug has been legalized.
"We're looking very hard on that right now. In fact, we had meetings yesterday and talked about it at some length," Sessions said about the department's stance toward marijuana during an announcement on new funding and tools the agency will use to combat the opioid crisis. He did not elaborate further.
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The attorney general added that he views marijuana as "detrimental" and noted that consumption is still a federal violation.
"I don't want to suggest in any way that this department in any way believes that marijuana is harmless ... people should avoid it," he said.
The marijuana industry currently benefits from a legal memorandum issued by the Justice Department in 2013 that essentially adopted a policy of non-interference with marijuana-friendly state laws, so long as they don't threaten other federal priorities, such as preventing the distribution of the drug to minors and supporting cartels. But a Justice Department with Sessions at the helm has the ability to rip this up and simply issue a new memo.
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