"After 75 years of federal laws prohibiting marijuana use, the Justice Department has announced it will not prevent states from legalizing the use, production, distribution and sale of recreational marijuana. The changes were prompted by marijuana legalization votes last year in Colorado and Washington state, and were announced in a memo from U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole, who also cited "limited prosecutorial resources" as the reason for the decision. He stressed that marijuana remains illegal under federal law, and made clear the Justice Department still expects states to regulate marijuana sales to minors, interstate trafficking, and accidents involving drivers under the influence of the drug. "There is so much cultural momentum with respect to marijuana, there is a significant shift in place that the politicians are now starting to catch up to it," says Martin Lee, longtime investigative reporter and author of several books, including "Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana — Medical, Recreational and Scientific." He also notes that "the guidance issue made by the Department of Justice yesterday is kind of littered with caveats and red flags." - Democracy Now!

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/8/30/feds_say_they_wont_try_to