Pubdate: Sat, 15 Dec 2012
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2012 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Christine Clarridge
Page: B1

OBAMA SHRUGS OFF STATE'S LEGAL POT

TV INTERVIEW LEAVES PROPONENTS HOPEFUL

No Quick Crackdown, but Federal Policy Still Unknown

For backers of legalized marijuana in Washington and Colorado, it
isn't what President Obama said - it's what he didn't say.

In an interview with ABC News, Obama said that recreational pot
smoking in the two states that have legalized it is not a major
concern for his administration.

"We've got bigger fish to fry," Obama said. "It would not make sense
for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in
states that have determined that it's legal."

Proponents of recreational marijuana use welcomed the president's
comments, but they stress that he didn't address the bigger question:
Will federal prosecutors and drug agents also look the other way?

Pot advocates say they are leery, since previous statements from the
administration that it wouldn't go after individual medical-marijuana
users were followed by crackdowns on dispensaries and others who grew
and sold the pot. The Justice Department has declined to say whether
it would file a lawsuit to block the laws, but has said marijuana is
still illegal under federal law.

Alison Holcomb, who led Washington's legalization drive, said that
while Obama's statements did not specifically address many concerns,
they do offer signs of hope.

"He did not say that the federal government is going to crack down on
production or rush in to stop what's happening, and that's good news,"
she said.

Further, she said, Obama acknowledged the need for congressional
action to resolve the tension between state and federal law.

"The fact that more than a month has passed (since the election) and
the federal government is still talking about how to respond is good
news," she said. "It sounds like they are going to take their time and
remain open to options that will not frustrate Washington voters."

Tom Angell, leader of the group Marijuana Majority, which ran the
legalization campaign in Colorado, agreed that Obama's comment's did
not address the most pressing matters.

"The question that remains is whether the consumers should purchase
marijuana in state-regulated, taxpaying businesses, or from cartels
and gangs in the underground market."

Angell said Obama need not wait for Congress to act but could use his
executive power to reclassify marijuana as a legal drug.

Obama, who has admitted to regularly smoking pot in high school, told
ABC News' Barbara Walters that he does not support general
legalization "at this point." It's the same position he's taken
throughout his political career, despite his own history.

Holcomb said the words Obama chose in his ABC News interview could
indicate he is open to a change in position.

Joe Megyesy, a spokesman for a marijuana-legalization group in
Colorado, said Obama's comments left unanswered many questions about
how pot regulation in the two states will work. Even if individual
users aren't charged with crimes, pot producers and sellers could be
subject to prosecution, civil forfeiture and other legal roadblocks,
he said.

Marijuana is a crop that can't be insured, and federal drug law
prevents banks from knowingly serving the industry, leaving it a cash
only business that's difficult to regulate, Megyesy said.

Under Washington's new law, adults 21 and over can possess as much as
1 ounce of marijuana legally, and the state has been directed to begin
licensing marijuana grow farms and retail stores next year. The law
does not affect medical marijuana.

Colorado's marijuana measure requires lawmakers to allow commercial
pot sales, and a state task force that will write those regulations
meets Monday.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, in a speech Wednesday, said he
would announce a policy on the new state laws "relatively soon."

That policy will be far more important than Obama's comments, said a
spokesman for the state agency charged with creating a legal marijuana
market in Washington.

"They could have stepped up with an injunction or waited until we
issued licenses to go in and do a seize," said Brian Smith, a
spokesman for the Washington State Liquor Control Board. "It appears
now from the president's remarks that they are going to provide
clarification and guidelines to the states, and we are looking forward
to that."

The Liquor Control Board, which has been regulating alcohol for 78
years, now has a year to adopt rules for the fledgling pot industry.

Law-enforcement officials in Washington and Colorado have also been
awaiting word on how the federal government might proceed now that the
states have approved recreational marijuana.

"After the passage of I-502, we were all looking to the federal
government as to which direction they were leaning for enforcement or
other actions," King County Sheriff John Urquhart said Friday. "It's
good to get an indication earlier rather than later."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt