Why, you may ask? It all started with Attorney General Jeff Session rescinding the Cole Memo, or a memo which outlined federal protections for businesses or persons abiding by their own state laws when it comes to cannabis, last month.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) confirmed in an interview Wednesday if the Trump administration were to go after those abiding by state laws, he would take action.

“In my view, we’ve got a legitimate business, playing by our rules here in Washington State and [if] the federal government comes in to try to shut that down, we’d be interested in [a lawsuit] or any step that’s taken to adversely impact the system as a state that we have going forward,” Ferguson said. “That would be something we would be paying close attention to. My job is to defend state law, including initiatives.”

Ferguson added he is ready to defend cannabis businesses that are in strict compliance with state law, on a case-by-case basis of course.

“Hypothetically speaking, there could be a business that’s licensed in Washington State selling marijuana that’s all in state law. Let’s assume they’re following state law to a T — that’s important — and the feds go in and try to shut that business down, they seize the marijuana or the proceeds,” he said. “If it’s a business just following our rules and they’re a business minding their own business selling marijuana, yes, that would get our attention for sure… In general if there was a threat to our industry, that would have our attention.”

Last month, Ferguson issued a notice asking cannabis industry operators to reach out if they feel they have been harmed by the federal enforcement policy changes. He said he’s already started conversations with some in the industry about just that. These harms could include banks refusing to work with industry operators.

He confirmed he is “prepared if there needs to be a legal fight on the future of marijuana legalization in Washington State. We hope it doesn’t come to that, but we’ve always felt that way.”

Ferguson also criticized Sessions for refusing to discuss cannabis with himself and Washington state’s governor, and Sessions’ statements about cannabis which Ferguson feels are “riddled with factual mistakes.”

“There’s no way to sugarcoat that,” he said.