Commissioner Kay Doyle and Director Shawn Collins fielded comments from those attending the hearing at UMASS Dartmouth on Tuesday, one of ten in the state.
Federal law supersedes state law, therefore, it is illegal to buy, sell, and manufacture recreational marijuana in any of the states of the United States.
Opioid crimes are his top drug enforcement priority, but U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling told reporters Wednesday that his enforcement of federal marijuana laws could ensnare anyone from an hourly wage employee at a marijuana dispensary to a bank that opens an account for a pot shop.
Three constitutional officers who each opposed marijuana legalization are now defending the newly-legal pot industry and pushing back against U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling, whose statements have sewn anxiety and uncertainty in the fledgling industry.
With the Attorney General of the United States rescinding the Obama-era "hands off" approach to marijuana, Mayor Jon Mitchell says New Bedford won't alter its plans to allow the industry in the city.