Pubdate: Mon, 03 Jun 2013
Source: Albany Democrat-Herald (OR)
Copyright: 2013 Lee Enterprises
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/HPOp5PfB
Website: http://www.democratherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/7

AMERICANS SEE POT WAR AS FUTILE FIGHT

It could happen as early as 2014.

In the wake of ballot measures legalizing marijuana in Washington 
state and Colorado, it's not at all out of the question that Oregon 
voters will have another shot at legalizing marijuana in this state.

Now, it's true that Oregon voters just last November rejected another 
initiative, Ballot Measure 80, which would have legalized marijuana. 
But our sense is that voters were reluctant to ratify that particular 
measure because -- well, because it was loony.

If there's a pot-legalization measure on the Oregon ballot in 2014 -- 
and if the measure appears to have been crafted with somewhat more 
care than went into Measure 80 -- our hunch is that the measure will pass.

And Oregon state law on marijuana will lurch into head-on conflict 
with federal law.

The Obama administration hasn't given much guidance on this matter to 
its federal attorneys in Washington state and Colorado after the 
marijuana votes in those states. In fact, Obama himself said that his 
administration had "bigger fish to fry" than figuring out strategies 
to help cut through the thicket of contradictions between state and 
federal drug laws.

Now, though, it's likely that the fish Obama famously blew off is 
just going to get bigger -- and there's the sense, as U.S. Rep. Earl 
Blumenauer told our editorial board last week, that the U.S. public 
is ahead of Congress on this issue. Recent national polls have 
suggested that, for the first time, a majority of Americans favor 
legalization of marijuana -- and younger Americans are heavily in 
favor of legalization.

Congress has a bit of a window to try to unravel the growing conflict 
between state and federal law, but the window is starting to close. 
Blumenauer, who represents Oregon's Third District in Multnomah 
County, pointed to a variety of legislation pending before Congress 
that could help cut through the bramble.

Some of those measures, such as a bill to clarify that farmers 
legally can grow industrial hemp, enjoy at least a measure of 
bipartisan support and frankly are long overdue.

Other measures pending before Congress, such as bills to legalize 
marijuana at the federal level to the extent it's legal in each 
state, obviously are more controversial.

But the bottom line seems increasingly clear: Americans are growing 
weary of what they see as an increasingly futile war against 
marijuana. If Congress doesn't take advantage of this opportunity to 
lead, Americans will take matters into their own hands, one state at a time.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom