Washington Prepares for Federal Lawsuit Over Marijuana Legalization

The feds aren't ready to let go

WASHINGTON—Nearly six months after Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department's response to the legalization of marijuana in the states of Washington and Colorado was coming "relatively soon," the top legal official in Washington said his office is prepared should the feds decide to sue over its new law.

"Obviously I want to avoid a lawsuit if at all possible, but we'll just see where this goes," Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson told The Huffington Post. "We have a legal team, and I've asked them to prepare for a worst-case scenario, which would be a lawsuit. Again, we want to avoid that. I communicated that to Eric Holder earlier in the year, but we want to prepare for whatever eventuality may come along."