State Marijuana Legalization: Doj Should Document Its Approach to Monitoring the Effects of Legalization
- ISBN-10
- 1977540406
- ISBN-13
- 9781977540409
- Pages
- 50
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2017-09-22
- Publisher
- Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
- Author
- United States Government Accountability Office
Description
An increasing number of states have adopted laws that legalize marijuana for medical or recreational purposes under state law, yet federal penalties remain. In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes. In 2013, DOJ updated its marijuana enforcement policy by issuing guidance clarifying federal marijuana enforcement priorities and stating that DOJ may challenge those state marijuana legalization systems that threaten these priorities. GAO was asked to review issues related to Colorado's and Washington's actions to regulate recreational marijuana and DOJ's mechanisms to monitor the effects of state legalization. This report examines, among other issues, (1) DOJ's efforts to monitor the effects of state marijuana legalization relative to DOJ's 2013 guidance and (2) factors DOJ field officials reported affecting their marijuana enforcement in selected states with medical marijuana laws. GAO analyzed DOJ marijuana enforcement guidance and drug threat assessments, and evaluated DOJ's monitoring efforts against internal control standards. GAO also interviewed cognizant DOJ officials, including U.S. Attorneys and DEA officials in six states.
