Pubdate: Sat, 15 Mar 2014
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.mercurynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Gene Johnson, Associated Press

POT BUSINESS APPLICANTS BLOCKED

FBI Refuses to Do Background Checks for Washington

SEATTLE (AP) - The FBI is refusing to run nationwide background 
checks on people applying to run legal marijuana businesses in 
Washington state, even though it has conducted similar checks in 
Colorado - a discrepancy that illustrates the quandary the Justice 
Department faces as it allows the states to experiment with 
regulating a drug that's long been illegal under federal law.

Washington state has been asking for nearly a year if the FBI would 
conduct background checks on its applicants, to no avail. The 
bureau's refusal raises the possibility that people with troublesome 
criminal histories could wind up with pot licenses in the state - 
undermining the department's own priorities in ensuring that states 
keep a tight rein on the nascent industry.

It's a strange jam for the feds, who announced last summer that they 
wouldn't sue to prevent Washington and Colorado from regulating 
marijuana after 75 years of prohibition.

The Obama administration has said it wants the states to make sure 
pot revenue doesn't go to organized crime and that state marijuana 
industries don't become a cover for the trafficking of other illegal 
drugs. At the same time, it might be tough for the FBI to stomach 
conducting such background checks - essentially helping the states 
violate federal law.

The Justice Department declined to explain why it isn't conducting 
the checks in Washington when it has in Colorado. Stephen Fischer, a 
spokesman for the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services 
Division, referred an Associated Press inquiry to DOJ headquarters, 
which would only issue a written statement.

"To ensure a consistent national approach, the department has been 
reviewing its background check policies, and we hope to have guidance 
for states in the near term," it said in its entirety.

In Washington, three people so far have received licenses to grow 
marijuana - without going through a national background check, even 
though the state Liquor Control Board's rules require that they do so 
before a license is issued.

"The federal government has not stated why it has not yet agreed to 
conduct national background checks on our behalf," Washington state 
Liquor Control Board spokesman Brian Smith said in an email. 
"However, the Liquor Control Board is ready to deliver fingerprints 
as soon as DOJ is ready."

In the meantime, officials are relying on background checks by the 
Washington State Patrol to catch any instate arrests or convictions. 
Applicants must have lived in Washington state for three months 
before applying, and many are longtime Washington residents whose 
criminal history would likely turn up on a State Patrol check. But 
others specifically moved to the state in hopes of joining the new industry.

"Both Washington state and Washington, D. C., have been unequivocal 
that they want organized crime out of the marijuana business," said 
Alison Holcomb, the Seattle lawyer who authored the legal pot law.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom