While President Barack Obama placed new restrictions on legal gun ownership Thursday, the Department of Justice loosened federal restrictions on marijuana “to mark a retreat from guidelines of the past.”
The new guidelines give “recreational users” a pass and instead focus on “keeping marijuana from being sold to minors and preventing marijuana sales from funding criminal operations.”
According to The Hill, “these new standards are beneficial to marijuana users in Washington and Colorado, the two states where recreational marijuana use was legalized by ballot initiative in 2012.”
The move is also expected to relieve pressure on the medical marijuana dispensaries that exist in 22 states.
National Cannabis Industry Association executive director Aaron Smith applauded the reduced standards and requirements, saying, “Now is not the time to push marijuana sales back under ground. The new voter-approved, regulated systems in Colorado and Washington should be allowed to proceed.”
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.
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