Pubdate: Sat, 16 Mar 2013
Source: Fort Collins Coloradoan (CO)
Copyright: 2013 The Fort Collins Coloradoan
Contact: http://www.coloradoan.com/customerservice/contactus.html
Website: http://www.coloradoan.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1580
Author: Raju Chebium, Gannett Washington Bureau

DEMS LOOK TO FUTURE WITH NATIONAL MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION BILLS

Colorado Rep. Jared Polis and Oregon's Blumenauer know their bills are
unlikely to pass this year, but they could provide guideposts to
legalization down the road.

WASHINGTON - A few House members have begun a broad effort to overturn
a 43-year-old federal ban on marijuana and say they're prepared to
keep up the pressure - even if it takes years.

About 10 lawmakers, mostly liberal Democrats, are writing bills that
will serve as legislative guideposts for the future if the
GOP-controlled House, as expected, ignores their proposals during this
Congress.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said it's time to end the federal
marijuana ban because 18 states and the District of Columbia have
legalized marijuana, and many others are exploring that option in
response to growing public pressure.

"Maybe next year, maybe next Congress, but this is going to change.
And the federal government will get out of the way," he said. "I'm
very patient. I've been working on this one way or another for 40
years, and I think the likelihood of something happening in the next
four or five years is greater than ever."

Peter Bensinger, a former head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration, urged lawmakers to keep the ban despite pressure to
legalize pot.

Advocacy groups, which have spent a lot of money over the years to
push legalization, gloss over the negative effects of marijuana though
studies show people do get hooked and smoking pot impairs judgment and
could cause cancer like cigarettes, he said.

A number of lawmakers share that view, which is why previous
congressional attempts to decriminalize marijuana went nowhere.

Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., acknowledged getting any marijuana bill
through a bitterly divided Congress - which is consumed by debates
over spending, gun regulations and other matters - won't be easy.

"It will take more states moving in the direction Washington and
Colorado have before there's a sufficient pressure on (Congress) to
change the law," he said. "It's harder to get the attention of members
of Congress from states where the legal status has not been changed
because it's simply not a relevant issue for their
constituents."

In February, Polis and Blumenauer introduced bills bucking federal
marijuana policy, which makes it illegal to grow, use, possess or
distribute pot.

Polis' measure seeks to remove marijuana from the Controlled
Substances Act. Blumenauer's bill would allow the government to tax
marijuana like tobacco and alcohol. If both bills become law, states -
and not Uncle Sam - would decide whether to legalize marijuana, and
state lawmakers would have Washington's blessing to impose taxes on
pot.

More proposals are likely in the coming months.

The legalization push in the House has little bipartisan
support.

The 10 lawmakers co-sponsoring Polis' bill include California Democrat
Barbara Lee, who represents San Francisco, New York Democrat Jerrold
Nadler, whose district includes Manhattan, and one Republican,
Californian Dana Rohrabacher, a Tea Party libertarian from
conservative Orange County. Blumenauer's bill has six
co-sponsors.

Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said if the federal ban is overturned in
this Congress, liberal states are likely to adopt legalization laws
within a decade.

Legalization will take years to become reality in conservative
America, just as it took states such as Oklahoma a long time to allow
alcohol sales after Prohibition was repealed in 1933, St. Pierre said.

Unless the federal ban is lifted, all current and future state laws
will violate the Controlled Substances Act, a 1970 U.S. statute that
classifies marijuana as a dangerous, addictive drug with no medicinal
value.

The broad push in the House comes as the Obama administration grapples
with how to respond to the state pot laws.

Attorney General Eric Holder is likely to announce the
administration's plan soon.
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MAP posted-by: Matt