Under U.S. law, marijuana possession and distribution is illegal, but just how Sen. Jeff Sessions would enforce that law as the nation’s attorney general was not immediately clear Tuesday when the topic was broached in his Senate confirmation hearing.

“I won’t commit to never enforcing federal law,” Sessions said in response to Sen. Patrick Leahy’s question about conflicting federal and state marijuana laws, adding: “But absolutely, it’s a problem of resources for the federal government.

“The Department of Justice under (AG Loretta) Lynch and (Eric) Holder set forth some policies that they thought were appropriate to define what cases should be prosecuted in states that have legalized at least in some fashion some parts of marijuana.”

Sessions, a Republican senator from Alabama elected to his fourth term in 2014, has taken public stances opposing marijuana legalization and has criticized the Obama administration for its laissez-faire approach to cannabis laws in states such as Colorado, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana.

Read the full story at thecannabist.co.