Nancy Pelosi wants the federal government to move forward with marijuana legalization. Pelosi: End feds pot action in Colo.

The Justice Department should stop enforcing federal marijuana laws in Washington state and Colorado, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says.

“The state (Colorado) has spoken,” Pelosi told The Denver Post’s editorial board on Monday. “The law has been passed. There are issues with taxation and regulation, and we need to get on with it.”


Washington and Colorado both voted in November to legalize recreational use of pot, and to allow state-regulated stores to sell the drug. Both states are in the process of implementing their laws, but are waiting for the Justice Department to announce how it will enforce federal laws against possessing and selling pot in two states where voters overwhelmingly chose to legalize the drug.

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Attorney General Eric Holder said last month the Justice Department would announce a response “relatively soon.” President Barack Obama said last year Americans shouldn’t expect a crackdown on Colorado and Washington because the federal government has “bigger fish to fry.”

Pelosi appeared before the board alongside Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), one of the two major sponsors of a plan to remove the federal ban on marijuana and set up a process for taxing it.

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Nancy Pelosi