Pubdate: Fri, 23 Aug 2013
Source: Herald, The (Everett, WA)
Copyright: 2013 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.heraldnet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/190

STATE-FEDERAL POT PACT SUGGESTED

OLYMPIA (AP) - A professor who serves as a lead consultant on 
implementing Washington state's marijuana law has suggested that the 
U.S. Department of Justice enter into contracts with both Washington 
and Colorado to avoid a federal crackdown on state licensed 
businesses that will sell marijuana.

The independently released paper written by Mark Kleiman advises a 
partnership between the federal government and the states, both of 
which legalized the recreational use of marijuana last fall.

The paper said that partnership could entail the Justice Department 
promising not to bust state licensed businesses in return for a state 
pledge to crack down on illegal growing, The News Tribune of Tacoma 
reported Thursday.

Kleiman, a professor of public policy at the University of California 
Los Angeles, said the partnership would rely on federal drug laws 
that allow for contracts with states on drug enforcement.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said the idea is worth 
considering.

Kleiman said such a partnership would "prevent flooding the country 
with cheap pot."

He said that because of lack of local and federal law enforcement 
resources, there's currently little incentive for local law 
enforcement to curb black-market growing.

In his paper, written for the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis, 
Kleiman also puts forward an option in which Congress passes a law 
allowing state legalization under certain conditions. However, 
Kleiman acknowledged that's unlikely.

The Department of Justice has stayed silent about what, if anything, 
it will do as Washington and Colorado move forward with implementing their laws.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom