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.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom