As people in Montana and beyond struggle to come to grips with a massive federal raid of Montana medical marijuana businesses, the question that comes up is Were these businesses violating state law that allows medical marijuana, or were they raided because they are in violation of federal law, which prohibits the use and possession of marijuana.

This memo from a U.S. Attorney, shared with the Colorado Independent may shed some light on that question.

The memo was sent to the Independent by the Cannabis Therapy Institute, and can be seen here (pdf).

The “Haag Memo” was written on Feb. 1, 2011 by United States Attorney Melinda Haag (Northern District of California) to John A. Russo, Esq., Oakland City Attorney, in response to an Oakland City Council request for guidance regarding medical marijuana and federal law. Haag writes that the memo was written with consultation and approval from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

Holder had previously said the feds would not interfere with states that legalized medical marijuana.

From the memo: