Pubdate: Wed, 17 Dec 2014
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author: Kevin Freking, Associated Press
Page: A10

D.C. POT FIGHT HAS STATES WATCHING FOR OUTCOME

Congress can only control District sales

(AP) - It's easy for Congress to meddle with the District's decision 
to legalize recreational use of marijuana, but taking on the states 
is a different matter.

A catch-all spending bill Congress passed last week would prevent the 
District from using federal and local money to implement any law or 
regulation that repeals or reduces marijuana-related penalties. The 
action is in direct response to a voter initiative passed last month 
that allows possession of up to 2 ounces of pot or up to three mature 
plants for personal use.

The Constitution gives Congress the power to review and possibly 
reject all legislation approved by the District's elected officials 
or its citizens.

Congress has less leverage with the states, and thwarting efforts 
supported by a plurality of voters back home could prove risky at 
election time.

"That's sort of asking for a head-on collision with states' rights," 
said Philip Wallach of the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based 
think tank.

Mr. Wallach said the most ready tool at Congress' disposal in 
persuading states to keep marijuana illegal would be to withhold 
money for certain programs if state marijuana initiatives conflict 
with federal law. That's something Rep. Trent Franks, Arizona 
Republican and chairman of a House panel on the Constitution and 
civil justice, says he's prepared to support.

Mr. Franks said the marijuana legalization movement endangers youth. 
Many other Republican lawmakers don't seem ready to take such 
concrete steps, including Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Sen. Ron 
Johnson of Wisconsin, the likely chairmen of committees that could 
deal with marijuana laws in the next Congress.

Mr. Grassley wasn't prepared to say what issues the Judiciary 
Committee will focus on. Mr. Johnson said he'd like a hearing by the 
Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee on how marijuana 
legalization is working, but that's as far as he would commit.

The Justice Department has said it will not stand in the way of 
states that want to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana as long as 
there are effective controls to keep it away from kids, the black 
market and federal property.

Proponents of marijuana legalization know exactly where they want to 
go next. Their itinerary includes pushes into California, Arizona, 
Nevada, Maine and Massachusetts. There's money to be raised for 
campaign ads, ballot initiatives to write and petition campaigns to 
organize. Four states have voted to legalize marijuana: Washington 
and Colorado first, followed by Oregon and Alaska.

"Republican Senate or not, we're going to keep moving forward," said 
Bill Piper of the Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates an overhaul 
of drug policy.

Republican Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, an anesthesiologist who has 
led the congressional effort to halt the District's marijuana 
initiative through September 2015, said prohibiting recreational 
marijuana use is the right thing to do, whatever the politics.

"If we can educate the public about the hazards, especially given the 
high unemployment rate among D.C. youth, the problems they have in 
the educational systems, I think we can convince people the last 
thing they need in the District of Columbia is legalization," he said.

The effort to legalize marijuana in the District was spurred by 
concerns about racial disparities in marijuana arrests, with black 
people making up about 90 percent of marijuana arrests yet only about 
half of the city's residents.

Asked whether Republican leaders were ready to take on the 
legalization trend elsewhere, Mr. Harris said he would agree the 
issue is not a priority for them.

"The plate of leadership is so full with foreign affairs and economic 
matters in this country, this is just not on their radar screen," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom