Pubdate: Tue, 03 Sep 2013
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Copyright: 2013 PG Publishing Co., Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/pm4R4dI4
Website: http://www.post-gazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/341
Page: B6

REEFER SANITY

The DOJ Won't Sue States on Marijuana Laws

Last week, the Justice Department sent a memo to federal prosecutors 
in 20 states and the District of Columbia saying that it would no 
longer sue to block laws decriminalizing marijuana possession at the 
state level.

Although voters in Colorado and Washington approved laws last year 
that decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana for 
personal use and 18 states made the medicinal use of the drug legal, 
it remains a federal crime that has carried with it the threat of 
federal action. It has been an untenable situation with ordinary 
Americans caught in the middle.

The department's memo to federal prosecutors cited "limited 
prosecutorial resources" as the reason to no longer argue with states 
that have decriminalized pot possession. It was also an 
acknowledgment that it is past time to prioritize the kinds of 
drug-related crimes that the federal government will continue to 
pursue zealously.

The Justice Department is clear about what it expects from states now 
that once-threatened lawsuits won't be forthcoming. The federal 
government is insisting that regulations aimed at preventing sales to 
minors must be a priority. Further, robust and practical plans to 
deal with the interstate movement of marijuana, gangs, cartels, turf 
wars and illicit profit must be in place. Few will argue with that.

Advocates of more liberalized marijuana laws are encouraged by the 
Justice Department's latest moves. Expect a long, strange trip as 
reefer madness is cautiously set aside, and in socially conservative 
Pennsylvania that trip will be longer still.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom