WASHINGTON - Attorney General Eric Holder has signaled a change in policy on medical marijuana.

The top U.S. law-enforcement officer has told reporters that federal agents will target marijuana distributors that violate both federal and state law - a departure from the Bush administration, which targeted medical marijuana dispensaries in California even if they complied with that state's law.

In the conversation Wednesday, Holder did not spell out exactly who would no longer face the prospect of raids by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

But he says cases in which pot dispensaries were believed to be adhering to California law were not a priority of the new Obama administration.