BOSTON — The top federal prosecutor for Massachusetts says the number one drug enforcement priority for his office is the opioid crisis, not marijuana.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said again on Wednesday that he cannot offer any guarantees that people involved in the state-legalized recreational pot industry would be immune from federal prosecution.
"Marijuana cultivation and trafficking is unambiguously illegal under federal law. It just is," said Lelling.
But Lelling told reporters that his resources are focused on the opioid crisis, noting that 2,100 people in Massachusetts died from opioid overdoses last year.
"2,100 people in Massachusetts were killed by opioid overdoses last year, not marijuana overdoses, so that is where my resources are going right now," said Lelling.
MORE: Q&A: What does Sessions' policy mean for the future of weed?
Marijuana industry officials have sought clarity from Lelling after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions moved to rescind an Obama-era Justice Department policy that called for non-interference with legal marijuana operations in states.
MORE: Marijuana investors skittish after Sessions' shot at pot
Lelling says the marijuana cases federal prosecutors have historically pursued are bulk importation cases from Canada or Mexico, accompanied with money laundering.
MORE: Federal prosecutor: No immunity in Mass. for legal marijuana businesses
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