Pubdate: Fri, 30 Aug 2013
Source: Pottstown Mercury (PA)
Copyright: 2013 The Mercury, a Journal Register Property
Contact:  http://www.pottstownmercury.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2287
Author: Pete Yost and Gene Johnson, Associated Press
Page: C9

FEDS WON'T SUE TO STOP MARIJUANA USE IN 2 STATES

WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite 75 years of federal marijuana prohibition,
the Justice Department said Thursday that states can let people use
the drug, license people to grow it and even allow adults to stroll
into stores and buy it - as long as the weed is kept away from kids,
the black market and federal property.

In a sweeping new policy statement prompted by pot legalization votes
in Washington and Colorado last fall, the department gave the green
light to states to adopt tight regulatory schemes to oversee the
medical and recreational marijuana industries burgeoning across the
country.

The action, welcomed by supporters of legalization, could set the
stage for more states to legalize marijuana. Alaska is scheduled to
vote on the question next year, and a few other states plan similar
votes in 2016.

The policy change embraces what Justice Department officials called a
"trust but verify" approach between the federal government and states
that enact recreational drug use.

In a memo to all 94 U.S. attorneys' offices around the country, Deputy
Attorney General James Cole said the federal government expects that
states and local governments authorizing "marijuana-related conduct"
will implement strong and effective regulatory and enforcement systems
that address the threat those state laws could pose to public health
and safety.

"If state enforcement efforts are not sufficiently robust ... the
federal government may seek to challenge the regulatory structure
itself," the memo stated.

The U.S. attorney in Colorado, John Walsh, said he will continue to
focus on whether Colorado's system has the resources and tools
necessary to protect key federal public safety interests.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said the state is working to improve
education and prevention efforts directed at young people and on
enforcement tools to prevent access to marijuana by those under age
21. Colorado also is determined to keep marijuana businesses from
being fronts for criminal enterprises or other illegal activity, he
said, and the state is committed to preventing the export of marijuana
while also enhancing efforts to keep state roads safe from impaired
drivers.

Under the policy, the federal government's top investigative
priorities range from preventing the distribution of marijuana to
minors to preventing sales revenue from going to criminal enterprises,
gangs and cartels and preventing the diversion of marijuana outside of
states where it is legal under state law.

Other top-priority enforcement areas include stopping state-authorized
marijuana activity from being used as a cover for trafficking other
illegal drugs and preventing violence and the use of firearms in the
cultivation and distribution of marijuana. The top areas also include
preventing drugged driving, preventing growing marijuana on public
land and preventing marijuana possession on federal property.

The Justice Department memo says it will take a broad view of the
federal priorities. For example, in preventing the distribution of
marijuana to minors, enforcement could take place when marijuana
trafficking takes place near an area associated with minors, or when
marijuana is marketed in a manner appealing to minors or diverted to
minors.

Following the votes in Colorado and Washington last year, Attorney
General Eric Holder launched a review of marijuana enforcement policy
that included an examination of the two states. The issue was whether
they should be blocked from operating marijuana markets on the grounds
that actively regulating an illegal substance conflicts with federal
drug law that bans it.

Last December, President Barack Obama said it doesn't make sense for
the federal government to go after recreational drug users in a state
that has legalized it. Last week, the White House said that
prosecution of drug traffickers remains an important priority.

A Pew Research Center poll in March found that 60 percent of Americans
think the federal government shouldn't enforce federal anti-marijuana
laws in states where its use has been approved. Younger people, who
tend to vote more Democratic, are especially prone to that view. But
opponents are worried these moves will lead to more use by young
people. Colorado and Washington were states that helped reelect Obama.

"Today's announcement demonstrates the sort of political vision and
foresight from the White House we've been seeking for a long time,"
said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance,
a New Yorkbased group. "The White House is basically saying to
Washington and Colorado: Proceed with caution."

Dan Riffle of the Marijuana Policy Project, the nation's largest
marijuana policy organization, called the policy change "a major and
historic step toward ending marijuana prohibition" and "a clear signal
that states are free to determine their own policies."

Kevin Sabet, the director of Project Smart Approaches to Marijuana, an
anti-legalization group, predicted the new Justice Department policy
will accelerate a national discussion about legalization because
people will see its harms - including more drugged driving and higher
high school dropout rates.
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