Obama will not go after states where pot is legal

US President Barack Obama. AFP FILE PHOTO

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says he won’t go after Washington state and Colorado for legalizing marijuana.

In a Barbara Walters interview airing Friday on ABC, Obama is asked whether he supports making pot legal. He says, “I wouldn’t go that far.”

But the president won’t pursue the issue in the states where voters in November legalized the use of marijuana. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

Obama says, “It does not make sense from a prioritization point of view” to focus on drug use in states where it is now legal.

Marijuana officially became legal in Washington state last week. It becomes legal in Colorado next month.