While many states have either legalized or decriminalized marijuana to a certain degree, even possession of a small amount of marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Thus, although it is unlikely, federal prosecutors could charge you with possession of marijuana in federal court. The more likely scenario arises if you have been caught trafficking marijuana across state lines or were arrested with a large quantity of the drug. While federal marijuana prosecutions have dropped 67 percent since 2016, this is likely due less to federal prosecutors' willingness to tolerate marijuana trafficking and more likely due to the fact that people no longer need to transport drugs across state lines.  Still, according to the most recent data, there were more than 1,100 people prosecuted for marijuana trafficking. A somewhat shocking 88 percent of those convicted of marijuana trafficking were sentenced to federal prison, with an average sentence length of 29 months.
If you face federal marijuana trafficking charges, take no solace in the fact that marijuana is legal in your state; federal prosecutors can—and do—continue to throw the book at marijuana traffickers. At The Criminal Defense Firm, our federal drug crime lawyers aggressively represent clients facing marijuana and other drug trafficking offenses.