This story was updated Tuesday afternoon with a statement from The National District Attorney's Association.
Boulder's District Attorney, Stan Garnett, is among a small group of legal experts that could shape how Donald Trump's administration handles marijuana.
Garnett is the only active prosecutor from Colorado on the 14-person committee put together by The National District Attorney's Association. The executive director of the Colorado District Attorney's Council, Tom Raynes, is also a member of the group created this month, The Boulder Daily Camera reports.
Garnett told The Daily Camera he's taken a "liberal position" on groups like these, advocating for the multi-million dollar marijuana industry, legalization's popularity and states' rights.
Not everyone in the group shares his opinions. Garnett told the Camera that at the group's first meeting some of the DAs wanted to write the governor of any state with recreational or medical marijuana telling them to shut those businesses down within 90 days.
"I thought that was a particularly unrealistic and ill-advised idea, and I was not shy about saying that," Garnett is quoted saying.
The group's recommendations for handling marijuana will ultimately make their way to the next U.S. attorney general, Garnett said. Right now, that's shaping up to be Jeff Sessions, an outspoken opponent of marijuana legalization.
The National District Attorney's Association said policy positions would be released at the completion of the working group, but denied Tuesday having any affiliation with Trump or his incoming cabinet.
"Recently, the National District Attorneys Association formed an internal working group made up of prosecutors from around the country to develop association policy on the subject of marijuana. Contrary to other reporting, the working group is not affiliated with any other organization or entity, including the incoming administration," said Nelson O. Bunn Jr., director of policy and government affairs for the attorneys association, in a statement to Denverite.
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Business & data reporter Adrian D. Garcia can be reached via email at [email protected] or twitter.com/adriandgarcia.
