Pubdate: Fri, 23 Aug 2013
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2013 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Bob Young

POT CONSULTANT: FEDS SHOULD CONTRACT WITH WASH., COLO.

'Law Provides for Such a Bargain'

Could Help Limit Illegal Growing, Exporting

The state's top pot consultant says the federal government should 
sign contracts with Washington and Colorado that would allow their 
legal marijuana systems if the two states agree to clamp down on 
illegal growers and exporters.

Mark Kleiman, a UCLA professor, suggested the contracts as a solution 
to the lingering tension between new recreational-pot laws in the two 
states and the federal government, which considers all marijuana illegal.

State Attorney General Bob Ferguson did not dismiss Kleiman's idea. 
Ferguson said the AG's office has done its own examination of 
Kleiman's proposal and "It's too soon to say" if it has traction with 
decision-makers in Olympia and Washington, D.C.

Ferguson did not want to say more about the state's ongoing 
discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice. "I'm not ready to 
get into more detail about what communication is going on with the 
feds," Ferguson said.

In an article published Wednesday in the Journal of Drug Policy 
Analysis, Kleiman said the federal government now seems to have three 
options: cracking down on legalized pot in Washington and Colorado, 
acquiescing to legalization or "muddling through" with its current 
policy of saying only that it continues to review new laws in those two states.

Kleiman sees two better alternatives.

One is for the federal government to grant pot-policy waivers to 
Washington and Colorado, as it did with states experimenting with 
welfare reform in the 1990s. But that would require congressional 
approval, which Kleiman believes is unlikely in the short-term.

The other is for the feds to sign contractual agreements with 
Colorado and Washington calling for the states to help the feds crack 
down on illegal growers and exporters. In exchange, the feds would 
allow the two states' legal systems to move ahead. Kleiman said such 
contracts are allowed under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

Kleiman contends that the Drug Enforcement Administration lacks the 
resources to enforce pot laws across the country; it needs help from 
state and local law enforcement.

"When two parties can help each other, there's the basis for a 
bargain. And the law provides for precisely such a bargain," said 
Kleiman, coauthor of "Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know."

While Kleiman believes his contractual idea would be the best way for 
the feds to allow legal pot in Washington and Colorado, he predicted 
they will continue with the "waffling option."

He said he did not speak with Ferguson or the state Liquor Control 
Board, the agency implementing a regulated recreational-marijuana 
system, about his proposals. A spokesman for the Liquor Control Board 
declined to comment.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom