Pubdate: Sat, 10 Nov 2012
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2012 The Washington Post Company
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Sari Horwitz

MARIJUANA LEGALITY ELICITS CONFUSION

Washington, Colorado Unsure How to Proceed

Senior administration officials acknowledged Friday that they are
wrestling with how to respond to the legalization of marijuana in
Colorado and Washington, which directly violates federal drug law and
is sparking a broad debate about the direction of U.S. drug policy.

The most likely outcome will be that the Justice Department will
prevent the laws from going into effect by announcing that federal law
preempts the state initiatives, which would make marijuana legal for
recreational use, law enforcement sources said. But the White House
and the Justice Department have not made a decision yet, senior
officials said.

"I really don't know what we're going to do," said one high-ranking
law enforcement official involved in the decision who was not
authorized to speak publicly.

Washington state and Colorado approved initiatives on Tuesday to
decriminalize the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana.
Oregon defeated a similar measure. Up to this point, the Justice
Department and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
have been mute about the ballot initiatives. Before the election, the
Justice Department did not respond to nine former administrators of
the Drug Enforcement Administration who wrote a letter urging the
administration to take a stance on the ballot proposals in all three
states.

One administration official Friday suggested that the administration's
silence was a deliberate strategy to avoid antagonizing liberal voters
in Colorado, a crucial swing state.

"It was a battleground state," said the administration official, who
spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to
talk publicly.

In similar instances, officials have made the administration stance
clear ahead of votes. In 2010, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.
said that the administration opposed a pending California measure to
legalize marijuana. That same year, the Justice Department sued
Arizona to block its law cracking down on illegal immigrants because
the administration said it violated federal statutes and was
unconstitutional.

Rafael Lemaitre, spokesman for the Office of National Drug Control
Policy, said he could not comment on the marijuana initiatives or
discuss how the administration will respond. He deferred questions to
the Justice Department. Jay Carney, the White House press secretary,
said at the press briefing Friday only that the Justice Department was
reviewing both initiatives. Justice spokeswoman Nanda Chitre would not
comment except to say that the department is "reviewing the ballot
initiatives."

The Colorado and Washington laws go beyond provisions for the medical
use of marijuana. The District and 18 states have passed laws making
it legal to manufacture, distribute and possess marijuana for
medicinal purposes.

While the Justice Department figures out how to respond, state and
local officials in Colorado, Washington - and Mexico - are confused
about how to proceed. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) and the
state's attorney general spoke to Holder on Friday.

"They emphasized the need for the federal government to articulate
what its position will be related to Amendment 64," said Eric Brown,
the governor's spokesman. "Everyone shared a sense of urgency and
agreed to continue talking about the issue."

Washington state Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) has not scheduled a call with
Holder but said her state is "entering uncharted waters."

The law there goes into effect Dec. 9. Gregoire's spokesman, Cory
Curtis, said the governor has questions about what Washington should
do in the next month.

Colorado Amendment 64 would take effect 30 days after the secretary of
state certifies the initiative, which will be Jan. 5, according to
Brown.

Marijuana distribution is the largest source of revenue for the
Mexican cartels, according to law enforcement officials.

Lawrence Payne, DEA spokesman, said that more marijuana is seized at
the southwest border than any other illegal drug from Mexico. Last
year, 1,962,285 kilos of marijuana were seized compared with 23 ,797
kilos of cocaine and 1,308 kilos of heroin.

Supporters of the measures argue that hundreds of millions of dollars
have been wasted on a failed war against marijuana. They contend that
decriminalization would bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in
tax revenue, with the funds used for education, health care and other
government services.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy strongly opposes the
legalization of marijuana and the federal Controlled Substances Act
prohibits the production, possession and sale of marijuana.

"According to scientists at the National Institutes of Health, the
world's largest source of drug abuse research, marijuana use is
associated with addiction, respiratory disease and cognitive
impairment," ONDCP director Gil Kerlikowske wrote in a White House
document.

"Studies also reveal that marijuana potency has almost tripled over
the last 20 years, raising serious concerns about what this means for
public health," wrote Kerlikowske, who is often referred to as the
country's "drug czar."

The president's 2012 National Drug Control Strategy also states that
"the legalization of drugs will not be considered."

"Making drugs more available and more accessible will not reduce drug
use and its adverse consequences for public health and safety,"
according to the 61-page policy. "We will continue to educate young
people and all Americans about the science on the harmful health
effects of marijuana use."
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