Does the federal government generally refrain from interfering with state-level marijuana policies?
The federal government has generally left most marijuana enforcement decisions to state and local authorities. While marijuana remains an illegal drug under federal law, classed along with heroin or ecstasy as a drug with a high potential for abuse, the majority of states have now legalized it for medical or recreational use.
When the first U.S. states legalized the substance in 2013, the Justice Department said it would continue to refrain from interfering with state legalization as long as an ability to regulate the market was demonstrated. The Justice Department instead focuses on its own enforcement priorities, which range from things like "drugged driving" under the influence of marijuana to violence arising from its cultivation or distribution.
Voters in five more states legalized marijuana for either medical or recreational use in the Nov. 3 election.
