It’s been more than a couple months since Colorado and Washington state legalized the recreational use of marijuana. During this time these state enacted laws have been in direct conflict with Federal law regarding the use, distribution and sale of cannabis. Normal everyday people abiding by local law technically are breaking federal law everyday. This ambiguity in the laws is confusing, risky and dangerous. It looks like a verdict from the powerful Federal Government is coming soon.

Attorney General Erich Holder was recently speaking at the National Association of Attorney Generals meeting in Washington DC. There he got a chance to speak with the attorney generals of both Colorado and Washington State. He promised a verdict on their recent statewide marijuana legalization. According to thehill.com, Holder quoted “You will hear soon. We’re in the last stages of that review and we’re trying to make a determination as to what the policy ramifications are going to be, what our international obligations are — there are a whole variety of things that go into this determination — but the people of [Colorado] and Washington deserve an answer and you will have one soon.”

Defiant of Federal laws, Colorado and Washington have moved forward with the process of implementing their marijuana legalization program. A task force has begun talks of how to implement the program. All aspects from growing to distribution at the retail level is slowly being worked on and expected to be in place soon. Even more so, recently legalization initiatives in Maryland and Pennsylvania pave the way for more statewide legalization.

We figured with the election over, the fiscal cliff solved, and hopefully this sequestration resolved; the Feds have the opportunity to weigh in on the conflict between state and federal marijuana laws. Our hope is that with more and more councilman, delegates and state representatives asking for marijuana legalization, the Federal government will finally put an end to this silly prohibition. A safe, well regulated system similar to the way alcohol is treated will be a windfall for both state and local governments.