The city council in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday voted to become a “sanctuary city” for marijuana users.
The council’s vote means that city agencies and employees will not be allowed to provide information regarding legal marijuana use by adults, SFGate reported.
The council’s vote, likely a first, also prohibits agencies and employees from helping to enforce federal marijuana laws.
“I believe we can balance public safety and resisting the Trump administration,” Mayor Jesse Arreguin (D) said at the council meeting Tuesday, according to the publication.
“We’re keeping with the strong position Berkeley is a sanctuary for people in our community.”
The move to become a sanctuary city for marijuana users comes after Attorney General Jeff Sessions earlier this year rescinded Obama-era guidance that deprioritized marijuana-related prosecutions in states that have legalized the substance.
Sessions moved to rescind the so-called Cole memo — written by former Deputy Attorney General James Cole during the Obama administration — which discouraged U.S. attorneys from bringing charges for marijuana-related offenses in states that have legalized recreational use of the substance.
Sessions’s memo said, however, that federal prosecutors could decide how aggressively to pursue marijuana-related cases.
credit:thehill.com
