Pubdate: Fri, 19 Apr 2013
Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Copyright: 2013 The Commercial Appeal
Contact: http://web.commercialappeal.com/newgo/forms/letters.htm
Website: http://www.commercialappeal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/95
Author: Bartholomew Sullivan
Page: 10B

COHEN BILL ASKS COMMISSION TO STUDY MARIJUANA LAWS

WASHINGTON - With a recent Pew Research Center poll finding for the 
first time that a majority of Americans agree marijuana should be 
legal, Congressman Steve Cohen introduced a bill Thursday to create a 
commission to study federal cannabis laws.

The Memphis Democrat said the commission is needed to clarify the 
federal approach to the drug in light of state laws that have 
legalized it for either medical or personal use.

In a February gathering of the House Democratic Caucus, Cohen asked 
President Barack Obama to reconsider pursuing the decades-old war on 
drugs, which Cohen maintains is a waste of resources. Cohen commended 
the president for making prosecution of recreational drug use a low 
priority. Obama told him that he planned to study the issue in his 
second term but was obligated to enforce the laws.

R. Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control 
Policy - sometimes called the drug czar - has said he opposes 
legalizing marijuana use for both public health and safety reasons. 
He has said the federal government can make enforcing marijuana laws 
a low priority, but he said he opposes both legalization and the "War 
on Drugs" approach.

Cohen has been a longtime critic of the expense of the war on drugs 
and the damage to lives caught up in it. He has written letters 
asking both the Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement 
Administration to respect the decisions of voters in states that have 
legalized the substance and in 2011 introduced legislation that would 
permit states to legalize it. It remains illegal to possess marijuana 
under federal law.

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws spokesman Erik 
Altieri on Thursday applauded the introduction of the bill and said 
the organization was "pleased to support it." Altieri said his 
organization worked with Cohen's staff in drafting the legislation, 
which is reminiscent of the Shafter Commission of 1971, created by 
President Richard Nixon. That commission recommended discouraging the 
use of marijuana by means other than the criminal laws.

Lee D. Hoffer, a professor of anthropology at Case Western Reserve 
University in Cleveland and an expert in drug addiction and public 
policy regarding drugs, applauded Cohen's commission idea but 
questioned whether it will move in a Republican-controlled House. 
"This would be a nice way to break the ice and get a discussion going 
about how federal law associated with marijuana needs to think about 
what states are doing and what people actually want," Hoffer said.

"Once again, the people would probably be behind it - as they are 
with gun control, and that doesn't go anywhere," Hoffer added. "It 
may be one of these things where there's a lot of support at the 
grass roots, community level, but it's hard to tell what kind of 
traction it will get in the Senate or the House."

Cohen's office noted that, since 1996, 18 states and the District of 
Columbia have legalized marijuana for medical use and that Colorado 
and Washington state legalized possession by adults last year.

"Regardless of your views on marijuana, it's important that we 
understand the impact of current federal policy and address the 
conflict with those state laws that allow for medicinal or personal 
use of marijuana," Cohen said in a prepared statement. "This conflict 
is only going to continue to grow over the next few years and we must 
provide certainty to the millions of individuals and businesses that 
remain caught in a web of incompatible laws. A national commission 
would provide us with the information we need to create sensible 
policy going forward."

Asked what he expected to come from such a commission, Altieri said 
he hoped to see a recommendation, "at a minimum (of) 
decriminalization." But he said he hoped to see recommendations 
leading to marijuana being taxed and regulated.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom