By Pete Williams - NBC News
Clarence Thomas, one of the most conservative justices on the United States Supreme Court, said Monday that, due to the entanglement of federal policies around marijuana,
federal laws prohibiting its use or cultivation may no longer make sense.
.
"A prohibition on the interstate use or cultivation of marijuana would no longer be necessary or appropriate to support the fragmented approach of the federal government," the magistrate wrote.
His opinion came when the court refused to hear an appeal from a Colorado medical marijuana dispensary that
was denied federal tax breaks that other businesses are allowed.
[New York legalizes recreational marijuana use and expunges criminal records for that reason]
Thomas noted that the 2005 Supreme Court ruling upholding federal laws that make possession of marijuana illegal may be out of date.
"Federal policies of the last 16 years have greatly weakened that reasoning," he said.
Clarence Thomas, Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
AP
"The current focus of the federal government is a half-hearted regime that simultaneously tolerates and prohibits the local use of marijuana," added Thomas.
A total of 36 states allow medical marijuana and 18 allow its recreational use
.
But federal laws prevent marijuana businesses from deducting their business expenses on their tax returns.
[Marijuana is legalized in four states. In consultations with the citizens, they also vote on abortion and the police]
The Justice Department has instructed the nation's federal prosecutors
not to bring cases against marijuana businesses that abide by state laws
.
And since 2015, Congress has directed the Justice Department to refrain from spending federal money to prevent states from making their own laws.
But the Internal Revenue Service or IRS continues to enforce its own regulations against marijuana businesses and growers.
The government's "inclination" "to turn a blind eye to marijuana is more anecdotal than consistent," Thomas concluded.
