Murkowski calls DOJ pot decision 'regrettable' | Myrtle Beach Sun News

Alaska's senior U.S. senator is calling the Department of Justice's decision to rescind an Obama-era policy that help pave the way for legalized marijuana to flourish in states across the country as "regrettable."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the change Thursday.

The new stance replaces a more lenient enforcement policy and will let federal prosecutors where marijuana is legal decide how aggressively to enforce longstanding federal law prohibiting it.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, says over the past year she repeatedly discouraged Sessions from changing the policy and asked him to work with states and Congress instead if he thought changes were needed.

She called the announcement "disruptive" and "regrettable."

The office of Alaska's U.S. attorney referred reporters to the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.