Since guidance documents are not law, for the attorney general’s office to be bound to support legal recreational marijuana, Congress would have to pass a law making it so.

“The current federal policy, as outlined by the Cole memo, has respected carefully designed state regulatory programs while maintaining the Justice Department’s commitment to pursuing criminals and prosecuting bad actors. In return, the responsible cannabis industry has helped countless critically ill patients, contributed billions of dollars to the economy and to tax coffers, taken marijuana out of the criminal market and put it behind a regulated counter, and dealt a significant blow to international cartels and traffickers,” said Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association.

Senate hearings do not conclude for another two days, but with the support he has from other Republicans, as well as many in the law enforcement community, Sessions’s confirmation looks likely.

Read more: http://www.westword.com/marijuana/jeff-sessions-skillfully-evasive-during-confirmation-hearing-8675747