Proponents of New Jersey’s medical marijuana law had been miffed that the current administration's has been dragging its feet in its effort to enact regulations to advance the state’s medical marijuana law that was put into place in January 2010.  Recent developments have further confounded the progress of the statute.

Specifically, in April 2011 New Jersey’s Attorney General wrote to the United States Attorney General to obtain some instruction as to whether state employees who would administer the medical marijuana program would be subjected to criminal prosecutions. This letter was the product of statements made by other United States Attorneys in California and Washington, who indicated that, notwithstanding those states’ decisions to implement medical marijuana laws, anyone involved with the growing or dispensing of marijuana would be prosecuted, including state employees.

In June, the United States Attorney General responded to New Jersey’s Attorney General’s letter by advising that his office was not inclined to prosecute registered patients or employees of the government who were participating in the supervision and regulation of the distribution process under the statute. He also said that his office’s focus would be on large-scale commercial marijuana operations.

Although some people complain that the federal government's response is not as clear as they wanted it to be, others take a different view and contend that any further delay by the state’s head law enforcement official is merely an excuse to further stultified the program.