AG Ferguson ready to defend Washington’s pot law

Attorney General Eric Holder and his team have been reviewing the voter approved marijuana legalization laws in Washington and Colorado since they passed in November.

Still, despite the two states moving forward in with their processes to legalize pot and ex-DEA heads coming out of the woodwork to vocalize their dissent, the AG’s office has remained quiet.

In January, Washington’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson, and Governor Jay Inslee met with Holder to specifically address the future of legalized marijuana in Washington.

“It was a real conversation. He was very engaged. He asked a large number of questions about our initiative in Washington state,” Ferguson told Jason Rantz on KIRO Radio’s Andrew Walsh Show.

Ferguson said he and Inslee emphasized their deadlines to Holder, timelines that would allow the legal purchase of marijuana by the end of the year.

“Our goal is to meet those deadlines and that will take a lot of work. It won’t be easy I just want to make sure that he knew things were going to start happening quickly here in Washington state and that’s really why we want to get some feedback from the federal government on what their intentions are.”

But so far – no feedback. Although Holder said their review is “winding down,” no other official statement has been made.

That hasn’t stopped Ferguson from preparing himself and his office in case the federal government sues.

Ferguson said they are prepared to defend the will of the voters, and at their meeting he made sure Holder understood that clearly.