FARGO (KFGO) – Federal prosecutors from around the nation are meeting in Portland, Oregon for what’s being called a “Marijuana Summit.”
North Dakota U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley says among the issues discussed is the development of a “cohesive federal approach and strategy” for enforcing federal marijuana laws.
“It’s an important time to figure out the methods and approach for federal law enforcement in the arena of marijuana prosecutions when you have, developing across the United States, sort of a patchwork of state laws that are altering, quite significantly, that landscape of enforcement” Wrigley said.
Wrigley says that although the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause gives federal authority precedence over state laws, the issue is complicated because marijuana laws vary widely from state to state.
“We want to make sure that we are pursuing our federal objectives and priorities” Wrigley said. “Our state, local and tribal partners are centrally important to law enforcement in the country, so we’ve got to be sensitive to, respect and to some degree, be deferential on public policy preferences being expressed by the states as well, so it is a patchwork.”
The agenda includes discussions about hemp, CBD, impaired drving, teenage use of marijuana and “current marijuana threats and trends.”
The summit is being hosted by Oregon U.S. Attorney Bill Williams.
