A New Jersey Congressman has confronted the attorney general over marijuana, urging him to keep federal law out of the state's debate on legalizing weed.

Rep. Frank Pallone, a New Jersey Democrat, sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday, saying the state had spoken when it picked a governor who supported marijuana legalization.

"In New Jersey, a majority of voters strongly support a campaign proposal by Governor Phil Murphy to legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use," Pallone wrote. "New Jerseyans understand the important implications legalizing marijuana would have for our state."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks during a news conference announcing new tools to combat the opioid crisis at the Department of Justice in Washington D.C., on November 29, 2017.

Pallone's letter comes a couple of weeks after Sessions rescinded a Justice Department policy that had advised federal prosecutors not to interfere with states that have legalized marijuana, as long as the activity was lawful within the state.

That policy change opens the door for U.S. attorneys to prosecute people for marijuana crimes that are legal on the state level, since federal law prohibits cannabis.

"Residents of states like Colorado, California, Oregon, and others that have moved to legalize marijuana should have the peace of mind to know that they can engage in legal intrastate commerce without the threat of federal enforcement actions," Pallone wrote.

New Jersey could soon find itself among those states, as lawmakers are working to pass a bill that would legalize marijuana in the state. Murphy campaigned on legalization and has said he would sign such a bill.

State Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, has reintroduced a legalization bill and state Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer, is expected to introduce a separate bill in the coming days. Both would legalize the possession and personal use of small amounts of marijuana, while also creating a taxed and regulated commercial weed market.

It's unclear how the Justice Department policy reversal would affect New Jersey, mostly because Craig Carpenito, the U.S. attorney in the state, has been vague about it.

"As was the case before and after the Cole Memo, the cultivation, distribution, and possession of marijuana continues to be generally prohibited by the Controlled Substances Act," Carpenito's office wrote in a statement to NJ Advance Media. "We will use our prosecutorial discretion in evaluating all cases and making determinations as we do with all controlled substance cases."

Pallone hasn't been New Jersey's only federal lawmaker to rebuke Sessions over the marijuana policy change. Democratic Sen. Cory Booker said Tuesday the state should keep pushing for legalization.

"New Jersey should move ahead and we should not only legalize, but we should expunge records," Booker said, adding that Congress also has to act in response to Sessions.

"We've just got to do a lot of work here in Congress to not only hold our attorney general accountable, but to allow states to move forward with medical marijuana and other things that states are doing to exercise their states' rights."

Earlier this month, Booker called the Sessions move "unjust" and "backwards" in a tweet.

Sessions' determination to revive the failed War on Drugs is fiscally wasteful, morally bankrupt, unjust—and won't make us safer. This backwards policy is wrong for America, and on the wrong side of history. https://t.co/KgoEtz3MrK — Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) January 4, 2018

Pallone echoed Booker's sentiments in his letter, saying, "Reinstating the failed policies of the past is not the way forward."

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Payton Guion may be reached at PGuion@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @PaytonGuion. Find NJ.com on Facebook.