Pubdate: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 Source: Tulsa World (OK) Copyright: 2014 World Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.tulsaworld.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/463 Author: Scott Pruitt Note: Scott Pruitt is attorney general of the state of Oklahoma. GOOD FENCES MAKE GOOD NEIGHBORS Last week, Oklahoma and Nebraska sued Colorado over actions Colorado has taken that have resulted in the trafficking of illegal drugs into Oklahoma and Nebraska. We didn't take this action lightly. As you know, I have been an ardent defender of Oklahoma's ability to determine its own policies and laws, free from undue federal intrusion. But that isn't to say that there is no place for federal law. Of course there is - that is precisely why our Founders came together in 1789 to draft a constitution. My battles have been against federal actions that exceed the powers our Founders granted to the federal government in the constitution. The federal Controlled Substances Act is not one of those federal actions. Most agree that the federal law, which creates a uniform, national system of narcotics regulation, is a valid exercise of federal power. The law makes marijuana illegal in all instances, in every state. Colorado has nonetheless chosen to make the possession and use of marijuana legal for purposes of Colorado state law. More power to them. Even if I wholeheartedly disagree with that choice as a matter of policy, I agree that it's Colorado's prerogative to do so - even if the change in state law does nothing to change the fact that possession and use of marijuana remains a federal crime in Colorado. The problem is that Colorado has gone much, much farther than just legalizing the possession and use of marijuana. Colorado has instead legalized and promoted the large-scale commercial growing and selling of marijuana and therein lies the problem. As Colorado's attorney general candidly admitted just a couple of weeks ago, "I think it's pretty safe to say that we are becoming a major exporter of marijuana." If someone in Aspen, Colorado, wants to smoke marijuana, that doesn't affect us in Oklahoma. What does affect us in Oklahoma is Colorado setting up a system where large-scale commercial growers cultivate huge amounts of marijuana and then sell it in retail stores throughout the state, with no effective tracking where the marijuana is ending up. This commercialization promotes the interstate trafficking of Colorado marijuana, marijuana that ends up in Oklahoma and Nebraska, states whose people have overwhelmingly rejected the idea of legalizing marijuana. In Oklahoma, for example, where it's relatively easy to get a state question on the ballot (ask any voter who's had to navigate a host of such questions on Election Day), a recent well-funded and well-organized effort to get a marijuana legalization question on the ballot managed to garner a meager 75,000 signatures - less than half the number needed, and a number that equates to less than 2 percent of Oklahoma's population. In other words, Oklahoma's people have spoken loud and clear: They believe marijuana to be a harmful drug that shouldn't be legal in any circumstance. Colorado's commercialization of marijuana impairs Oklahoma's pursuit of that policy choice. Our law enforcement has intercepted "legally" grown and purchased Colorado marijuana - marijuana of a greater potency than Oklahoma law enforcement has seen before - being trafficked into Oklahoma for resale. Colorado law is failing to ensure that Colorado marijuana stays in Colorado. There is no residency requirement limiting purchases to only Colorado residents, nor is there an adequate system of tracking and limiting the amount of marijuana a single purchaser can buy. In Colorado, it's easier to buy marijuana than it is to buy allergy medicine. As a result, out-of-state buyers can drive into Colorado, buy large quantities of marijuana, and return to their states and sell it. This isn't a possibility; it is a reality, as Oklahoma law enforcement knows all too well. The Obama administration should be enforcing the Controlled Substances Act in Colorado, because that's what Congress has told it to do, but the Obama administration isn't doing so, and that is disappointing. As a result, Oklahoma had no choice but to file this lawsuit to protect the policy choice that its citizens have made. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom