The issue focused on court rulings that banned medical marijuana laws in Washington and Colorado. The Justice Department said it would sue to block the laws.

The Justice Department also asked the court to force the federal government to approve federal medical marijuana laws in states where it has passed laws that legalize medical marijuana.

The Justice Department said that states "have provided legal medical marijuana to thousands of seriously ill patients and many medical marijuana patients have legally obtained medical marijuana from states that have legalized medical marijuana."

The Justice Department