Pubdate: Sun, 09 Dec 2012
Source: Meridian Star, The (MS)
Copyright: 2012 Meridian Star
Contact: http://www.meridianstar.com/letters/local_story_039175519.html
Website: http://www.meridianstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1698
Author: Sid Salter
Page: A6

ADMINISTRATION FACES FIGHT OVER FEDERAL DRUG ENFORCEMENT

STARKVILLE  - After a recent column on the election results that made 
marijuana use and possession legal in two U. S. states, a thoughtful 
reader responded with a dissenting view.

My column pointed out that now that voters in the states of Colorado 
and Washington have approved legalizing the sale of marijuana in 
their states, there is the inevitable showdown between these new 
state laws and current federal law that makes marijuana sales illegal 
in all states.

The laws passed in Colorado and Washington allow the recreational use 
of marijuana and require that the states set up a bureaucracy to 
license, regulate and tax those sales. That regulatory system is 
expected to be very similar to the bureaucracies that exist in states 
to license, regulate and tax the sales of liquor, wine and beer. The 
reader wrote: "The federal government has no authority to regulate 
marijuana, and certainly none to ban it. It occurred to me recently 
that it took an amendment to the Constitution to ban alcohol, and the 
stroke of a pen to ban marijuana. What changed in the Constitution in 
the meantime? Nothing.

"The war on drugs is dangerous, more dangerous than the drugs. The 
war on drugs is costly, more costly than the drugs. It is a violation 
of the concept of self-ownership and an assault on liber ty. Also, 
it's a failure. It doesn't work. Prohibition never does," the reader concluded.

While I don't agree with the reader's contention that the federal 
government can't regulate marijuana possession and use, the fact is 
that the vote in Colorado and Washington is being played out over 
just the questions raised in my column and by my reader.

The Obama administration and the Justice Department is debating just 
what action will be taken by the federal government over enforcement 
of federal drug laws while the two states engage in their marijuana 
decriminalization efforts.

 From the standpoint of the law, marijuana is illegal under the 
Controlled Substances Act. A federal court battle over the conflict 
between state laws and the CSA would be the most ready basis for 
federal government legal action challenging the new state laws.

The day before the Washington state law became effective; the U. S. 
Justice Department released the following preemptive strike: "Justice 
Department issued on Wednesday - the day before the initiative took 
effect in Washington warning state residents that the drug remained illegal.

"In enacting the Controlled Substances Act, Congress determined that 
marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance. Regardless of any 
changes in state law, including the change that will go into ef fect 
on December 6 in Washington State, growing, selling or possessing any 
amount of marijuana remains illegal under federal law."

What is clear at this point is that the Obama administration will 
have to choose between the pressure from law enforcement for strict 
enforcement of existing federal laws and pressure from within the 
Democratic Par ty to strongly consider these decriminalization 
efforts. Decriminalizing marijuana has long been a policy sought by 
more liberal Democrats.

It is ironic, however, that the far Left may find ready allies among 
more libertarian conservatives who see the effort to decriminalize 
pot as a question of state's rights and constitutional freedom.

Bottom line, it will be a long time before the smoke clears on this issue.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom