Pubdate: Sat, 31 Aug 2013
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Copyright: 2013 The Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.timesdispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365

POT CRUSADERS GET THEIR CHANCE

In Colorado and Wash. State, They Aim to Show Legalization Is Best Path

SEATTLE (AP) - For generations, pot crusaders have called for an end 
to the nation's prohibition of marijuana, citing everything from what 
they say are the government's exaggerated claims about its dangers to 
the racial disparities in who gets busted for drug possession.

Now, they will get their chance in Colorado and Washington to show 
that legalizing pot is better, less costly and more humane than the 
last 75 years of prohibition - all with the federal government's blessing.

The Justice Department said Thursday it will not stand in the way of 
states that want to legalize marijuana, as voters in Washington and 
Colorado did last fall, as long as there are effective controls to 
keep marijuana away from kids, the black market and federal property.

"It's nothing short of historic," said Dan Riffle of the Marijuana 
Policy Project, which backed Colorado's new law. "It's a very big 
deal for the DOJ to say that if the states want to legalize 
marijuana, that's fine. Everybody in this movement should be thrilled."

It won't just be the White House watching to make sure Washington and 
Colorado get it right. Voters in Oregon and Alaska could weigh 
marijuana legalization measures next year, and several states could 
face ballot questions in 2016, activists say.

The DOJ's decision came nearly 10 months after the votes in 
Washington and Colorado, and officials in those states had been 
forging ahead to make rules for their new industries without knowing 
whether the federal government would sue to block sales from ever 
taking place on the grounds that they conflict with federal law.

Peter Bensinger, a former head of the Drug Enforcement 
Administration, criticized the announcement, saying the conflict 
between federal and state law can't be reconciled. Federal law is 
paramount, and Attorney General Eric Holder is "not only abandoning 
the law, he's breaking the law," Bensinger said.

Some in the marijuana-reform community also criticized the memo, 
noting it did not represent a fundamental change in the law, which 
would require the approval of Congress.

"It's like, 'We're going to be tolerant of this as long as we feel 
like it,'" argued Seattle marijuana defense attorney Douglas Hiatt. 
"Is a new administration just going to come in and shut it down?"
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