"Ex-DEA leaders press US to nullify states’ pot laws" by Michael Tarm | Associated Press, March 06, 2013
CHICAGO — Eight former US drug chiefs warned the federal government Tuesday that time is running out to nullify Colorado and Washington’s new laws legalizing recreational marijuana use, and a United Nations agency also urged challenges to the measures it said violate international treaties.
Related: Colorado Shooting Sequel
The Winds of Washington State
Stinks, huh?
The former Drug Enforcement Administration chiefs criticized the Obama administration for moving too slowly to file a lawsuit that would force the states to rescind the legislation. Marijuana is illegal under federal law.
Yeah, to hell with how people voted, to hell with democracy.
‘‘My fear is that the Justice Department will do what they are doing now: do nothing and say nothing,’’ former DEA administrator Peter Bensinger said in an interview Monday. ‘‘If they don’t act now, these laws will be fully implemented in a matter of months.’’
For once they would be doing the right thing.
Bensinger, who lives in the Chicago area, said that if the federal government doesn’t immediately sue the states it’ll risk creating ‘‘a domino effect’’ in which other states legalize marijuana, too.
That didn't happen with the communists, and if it does here, $o what?
The statement from the DEA chiefs came the same day the International Narcotics Control Board, a UN agency, made its appeal in an annual drug report, calling on federal officials to act to ‘‘ensure full compliance with the international drug control treaties on its entire territory.’’
Related: Drug money saved banks in global crisis, claims UN advisor
But Brian Vicente, coauthor of the Colorado marijuana legalization law, said a handful of North American countries have expressed support for legalization.
A lawyer who led Washington’s legalization campaign said the focus should be on reconciling the Colorado and Washington votes with federal law and treaty obligations.
‘‘Ultimately, we do need to see these laws and treaties change,’’ Alison Holcomb said Tuesday. ‘‘We’re not going to get resolution overnight.’’
US Attorney General Eric Holder told a meeting of state attorneys general last week that he is still reviewing the laws but that his review is winding down. Asked Monday for a comment on the criticism from the former DEA administrators, Holder spokeswoman Allison Price would only say, ‘‘The Department of Justice is in the process of reviewing those initiatives.’’
After he signed off on running guns to Mexican drug cartels, validated waterboarding, and said banks were too big to jail, he better do nothing here.
The department’s review has been underway since shortly after last fall’s elections. It could sue to block the states from issuing licenses to marijuana growers, processors, and retail stores, on the grounds that doing so conflicts with federal drug law. Alternatively, Holder could decide not to mount a court challenge.
The ex-DEA heads issued their statements through the Florida-based Save Our Society from Drugs. One of its spokesmen is based in Chicago.
Related:
MI-6 Are The Lords of The Global Drug Trade
Mexican official: CIA 'manages' drug trade
The CIA and Drugs
Our $aviors.
The former DEA administrators are Bensinger, John Bartels, Robert Bonner, Thomas Constantine, Asa Hutchinson, John Lawn, Donnie Marshall, and Francis Mullen. They served for both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Holder is scheduled to appear Wednesday before a Senate judiciary committee hearing. The former DEA chiefs want senators to question Holder on the legalization issue.
--more--"
Other dicks:
"Legalizing marijuana in two states will put federal law, DEA to the test" by David Crary | Associated Press, November 08, 2012
NEW YORK — Washington state and Colorado set up a showdown with federal authorities by legalizing recreational use of marijuana in votes on Tuesday.
The outcomes for those ballot measures were a milestone for persistent, but often thwarted, activists who for decades have pressed the causes of drug decriminalization.
‘‘Today, the state of Washington looked at 70 years of marijuana prohibition and said it’s time for a new approach,’’ said Alison Holcomb, manager of the campaign that won passage of Initiative 502 in Washington.
Governor John Hickenlooper of Colorado, a Democrat who opposed legalization, was less enthused. ‘‘Federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don’t break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly,’’ he said.
Ha, ha, ha. Insults are so funny.
Among other ballot questions nationwide, California voters backed a plan to raise income taxes on the wealthy and sales taxes to alleviate a budget crisis, and Maryland voters approved a measure allowing illegal immigrants to pay in-state college tuition.
Also see: California Vote Leaves Bad Taste in My Mouth
So does that Maryland vote.
The measures on marijuana will probably pose a headache for the Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration, which consider pot an illegal drug. The Department of Justice has declined to say how it would respond if the measures were approved.
Then they shouldn't smoke so much.
Related: U.S. Government Brings Drug War to U.S. Cities
Yeah, what a headache.
Colorado’s Amendment 64 will allow adults over 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana, though using the drug publicly would be banned. The amendment would allow people to grow up to six marijuana plants in a private, secure area.
Washington’s measure establishes a system of state-licensed marijuana growers, processors, and stores, where adults can buy up to an ounce. It also establishes a standard blood test limit for driving under the influence.
The Washington measure was notable for its sponsors and supporters, who ranged from public health experts and wealthy high-tech executives to two former top Justice Department’s officials in Seattle, US Attorneys John McKay and Kate Pflaumer.
‘‘Marijuana policy reform remains an issue where the people lead and the politicians follow,’’ said Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, which opposes the so-called ‘‘war on drugs.’’ “But Washington state shows that many politicians are beginning to catch up.’’
We are way out in front on this one.
Estimates show pot taxes could bring in hundreds of millions of dollars a year, but the sales won’t start until state officials make rules to govern the industry.
Other intere$t$ can do the same.
The Washington measure was opposed by Derek Franklin, president of the Washington Association for Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention.
‘‘Legalizing is going to increase marijuana use among kids and really create a mess with the federal government,’’ Franklin said. ‘‘It’s a bit of a tragedy for the state.’’
In Oregon, a marijuana-legalization measure was defeated. In Massachusetts, voters approved a measure to allow marijuana use for medical reasons, joining 17 other states. Arkansas voters rejected a similar measure....
--more--"
Related: Massachusetts Lets the Joint Go Out
And about Arkansas:
"Legalizing marijuana in two states will put federal law, DEA to the test" by David Crary | Associated Press, November 08, 2012
NEW YORK — Washington state and Colorado set up a showdown with federal authorities by legalizing recreational use of marijuana in votes on Tuesday.
The outcomes for those ballot measures were a milestone for persistent, but often thwarted, activists who for decades have pressed the causes of drug decriminalization.
‘‘Today, the state of Washington looked at 70 years of marijuana prohibition and said it’s time for a new approach,’’ said Alison Holcomb, manager of the campaign that won passage of Initiative 502 in Washington.
Governor John Hickenlooper of Colorado, a Democrat who opposed legalization, was less enthused. ‘‘Federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don’t break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly,’’ he said.
Ha, ha, ha. Insults are so funny.
Among other ballot questions nationwide, California voters backed a plan to raise income taxes on the wealthy and sales taxes to alleviate a budget crisis, and Maryland voters approved a measure allowing illegal immigrants to pay in-state college tuition.
Also see: California Vote Leaves Bad Taste in My Mouth
So does that Maryland vote.
The measures on marijuana will probably pose a headache for the Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration, which consider pot an illegal drug. The Department of Justice has declined to say how it would respond if the measures were approved.
Then they shouldn't smoke so much.
Related: U.S. Government Brings Drug War to U.S. Cities
Yeah, what a headache.
Colorado’s Amendment 64 will allow adults over 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana, though using the drug publicly would be banned. The amendment would allow people to grow up to six marijuana plants in a private, secure area.
Washington’s measure establishes a system of state-licensed marijuana growers, processors, and stores, where adults can buy up to an ounce. It also establishes a standard blood test limit for driving under the influence.
The Washington measure was notable for its sponsors and supporters, who ranged from public health experts and wealthy high-tech executives to two former top Justice Department’s officials in Seattle, US Attorneys John McKay and Kate Pflaumer.
‘‘Marijuana policy reform remains an issue where the people lead and the politicians follow,’’ said Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, which opposes the so-called ‘‘war on drugs.’’ “But Washington state shows that many politicians are beginning to catch up.’’
We are way out in front on this one.
Estimates show pot taxes could bring in hundreds of millions of dollars a year, but the sales won’t start until state officials make rules to govern the industry.
Other intere$t$ can do the same.
The Washington measure was opposed by Derek Franklin, president of the Washington Association for Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention.
‘‘Legalizing is going to increase marijuana use among kids and really create a mess with the federal government,’’ Franklin said. ‘‘It’s a bit of a tragedy for the state.’’
In Oregon, a marijuana-legalization measure was defeated. In Massachusetts, voters approved a measure to allow marijuana use for medical reasons, joining 17 other states. Arkansas voters rejected a similar measure....
--more--"
Related: Massachusetts Lets the Joint Go Out
And about Arkansas:
"Arkansas will vote on medical marijuana use; First Southern state to address legalization" by Andrew DeMillo | Associated Press, September 04, 2012
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The home state of the president who didn’t inhale has become an unlikely front in the battle over medical marijuana.
This fall, Arkansas will be the first Southern state to ask voters whether to legalize medical uses for pot, a move that offers supporters a rare chance to make inroads in a region that has resisted easing any restrictions on the drug.
The state’s top elected officials and law enforcement agencies oppose the idea, but legalization groups hope the referendum shows that medical marijuana is no longer solely the domain of East Coast or Western states.
‘‘This is an issue that hasn’t been ready for prime time yet in the South,’’ said Jill Harris, managing director of Drug Policy Action, the political arm of the Drug Policy Alliance. “It may be that it’s starting to be, and that’s a good thing.’’
The South and Midwest have remained mostly on the sidelines in the nation’s marijuana-reform movement, which will also put proposals for full-scale legalization before voters this year in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington state.
So far, 17 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana in some form.
Massachusetts voters are expected to vote on it in November, and another measure could appear on North Dakota’s ballot.
Past efforts to put medical marijuana on the ballot in Arkansas have faltered, though voters in two cities in the state have approved referendums that encourage police to regard arrests for small amounts of marijuana as a low priority.
Supporters of the current proposal mounted an organized and well-funded campaign that surprised many political observers....
Medical marijuana has never come before voters in the South partly because of the difficulty of getting such initiatives on the ballot. And conservative legislators throughout the region have not backed the efforts. That’s why the Marijuana Policy Project, based in Washington, spent more than $246,000 on the Arkansas initiative and is expected to spend more.
The national group stepped in after polling showed strong Arkansas support for the measure. Group leaders also cite a symbolic value in passing medical marijuana in the South.
‘‘For some reason, public officials have been way behind public opinion on this issue,’’ said Morgan Fox, communications manager for the agency. ‘‘Politicians are starting to realize that they don’t have to worry about backlash.’’
Backlash over marijuana is nothing new for Arkansas public figures. The state’s most famous political son, Bill Clinton, was ridiculed during his 1992 presidential campaign for admitting that he used marijuana in college but insisting he didn’t inhale.
And Joycelyn Elders, the Arkansas doctor who was named by Clinton to be surgeon general, drew criticism in office for suggesting that drug legalization should be studied. Elders is now an outspoken advocate of marijuana legalization....
She also said you could touch yourself, kids.
--more--"
What are they smoking?
This fall, Arkansas will be the first Southern state to ask voters whether to legalize medical uses for pot, a move that offers supporters a rare chance to make inroads in a region that has resisted easing any restrictions on the drug.
The state’s top elected officials and law enforcement agencies oppose the idea, but legalization groups hope the referendum shows that medical marijuana is no longer solely the domain of East Coast or Western states.
‘‘This is an issue that hasn’t been ready for prime time yet in the South,’’ said Jill Harris, managing director of Drug Policy Action, the political arm of the Drug Policy Alliance. “It may be that it’s starting to be, and that’s a good thing.’’
The South and Midwest have remained mostly on the sidelines in the nation’s marijuana-reform movement, which will also put proposals for full-scale legalization before voters this year in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington state.
So far, 17 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana in some form.
Massachusetts voters are expected to vote on it in November, and another measure could appear on North Dakota’s ballot.
Past efforts to put medical marijuana on the ballot in Arkansas have faltered, though voters in two cities in the state have approved referendums that encourage police to regard arrests for small amounts of marijuana as a low priority.
Supporters of the current proposal mounted an organized and well-funded campaign that surprised many political observers....
Medical marijuana has never come before voters in the South partly because of the difficulty of getting such initiatives on the ballot. And conservative legislators throughout the region have not backed the efforts. That’s why the Marijuana Policy Project, based in Washington, spent more than $246,000 on the Arkansas initiative and is expected to spend more.
The national group stepped in after polling showed strong Arkansas support for the measure. Group leaders also cite a symbolic value in passing medical marijuana in the South.
‘‘For some reason, public officials have been way behind public opinion on this issue,’’ said Morgan Fox, communications manager for the agency. ‘‘Politicians are starting to realize that they don’t have to worry about backlash.’’
Backlash over marijuana is nothing new for Arkansas public figures. The state’s most famous political son, Bill Clinton, was ridiculed during his 1992 presidential campaign for admitting that he used marijuana in college but insisting he didn’t inhale.
And Joycelyn Elders, the Arkansas doctor who was named by Clinton to be surgeon general, drew criticism in office for suggesting that drug legalization should be studied. Elders is now an outspoken advocate of marijuana legalization....
She also said you could touch yourself, kids.
--more--"
What are they smoking?
"Conservatives joining the push to legalize marijuana; Votes upcoming in Colo., Oregon, Washington state" by Kristen Wyatt | Associated Press, October 17, 2012
DENVER — It’s not all hippies backing November’s marijuana legalization votes in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington.
Appealing to Western individualism and a mistrust of federal government, activists have lined up some prominent conservatives, including onetime presidential hopefuls Tom Tancredo and Ron Paul, and Gary Johnson, a Republican-turned-Libertarian presidential candidate and former New Mexico governor.
‘‘This is truly a nonpartisan issue,’’ said Mark Slaugh, a volunteer for the Colorado initiative who is based in Colorado Springs, which has more Republicans than anywhere else in the state....
‘‘It’s fiscally prudent. It would be taxed, regulated, monitored. It makes a lot of sense to Republicans,’’ he said.
Still, most Republicans oppose legalization....
That's one reason among many as to why their party is in the toilet.
When activists make their appeal, it goes like this: States should dictate drug law. Decades of prohibition have failed where personal responsibility and old-fashioned parenting will succeed. Politicians back East have no business dictating what the states do.
‘‘What is the law against marijuana if it isn’t the Nanny State telling you what you can do and what you can’t do to your body and with your body?’’ asked Tancredo, a former Republican congressman from suburban Denver who briefly ran for president in 2008 and endorsed the measure on the steps of the state capitol. He compared federal law to New York City’s ban on sugary sodas.
See: Judge Gives Bloomberg the Burps
Related: Large-soda bans may not curb consumption
Tancredo launched a radio ad this week in which he compares marijuana prohibition to alcohol prohibition as a ‘‘failed government program’’ that, in this case, ‘‘steers Colorado money to criminals in Mexico.’’
‘‘Proponents of big government have duped us into supporting a similar prohibition of marijuana — even though it can be used safely and responsibly by adults,’’ Tancredo said.
Supporters of legalization have lined up other surprising allies this year, even as many Democrats oppose the measures.
A**HOLES!
Conservative stalwart Pat Robertson, for example, said marijuana should be legal.
Related: Pat Robertson Smokes Pot
In Washington state, Republican US Senate hopeful Michael Baumgartner is running a longshot bid to unseat Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell, who opposes legalization.
‘‘It’s taking a different approach to a very expensive drug war, and potentially a better approach,’’ he said.
In Oregon, at least one Republican state Senate candidate backs legalization. Cliff Hutchison reasoned that legalizing the drug would ‘‘cut wasteful government spending on corrections and reduce drug gang violence.’’
Johnson, the Libertarian candidate, is fiscally conservative but supports such liberal causes as legalizing marijuana, immigration reform, and abortion rights. He has said that if elected he would pardon all nonviolent prisoners convicted of marijuana-related offenses in federal court.
Pro-legalization conservatives have counterparts on the other side — Democrats who say marijuana shouldn’t be legal without a doctor’s recommendation. Democratic governors in Colorado and Washington oppose legalization. Oregon’s Democratic governor has not taken a stand.
:-(
President Obama’s administration has shut down medical marijuana dispensaries in California and Colorado.
Related: Obama Administration Goes to Pot
And it is starting to stink.
GOP state Senator Steve King of Colorado is a critic of the state’s medical marijuana law.
Conservatives abhor government, but they also fear legalization would increase children’s drug use.
Please stop waving the children you pump full of pharmaceuticals and send off to wars based on lies in front of and at us.
‘‘It’s pretty easy to come in and say, ‘Let’s decrease government.’ And I’m all for that. This just isn’t the place to start,’’ King said. ‘‘We have a next generation to protect.’’
Unreal after they all f***ing smoked!
--more--"
And the government makes it difficult to do research?
Appealing to Western individualism and a mistrust of federal government, activists have lined up some prominent conservatives, including onetime presidential hopefuls Tom Tancredo and Ron Paul, and Gary Johnson, a Republican-turned-Libertarian presidential candidate and former New Mexico governor.
‘‘This is truly a nonpartisan issue,’’ said Mark Slaugh, a volunteer for the Colorado initiative who is based in Colorado Springs, which has more Republicans than anywhere else in the state....
‘‘It’s fiscally prudent. It would be taxed, regulated, monitored. It makes a lot of sense to Republicans,’’ he said.
Still, most Republicans oppose legalization....
That's one reason among many as to why their party is in the toilet.
When activists make their appeal, it goes like this: States should dictate drug law. Decades of prohibition have failed where personal responsibility and old-fashioned parenting will succeed. Politicians back East have no business dictating what the states do.
‘‘What is the law against marijuana if it isn’t the Nanny State telling you what you can do and what you can’t do to your body and with your body?’’ asked Tancredo, a former Republican congressman from suburban Denver who briefly ran for president in 2008 and endorsed the measure on the steps of the state capitol. He compared federal law to New York City’s ban on sugary sodas.
See: Judge Gives Bloomberg the Burps
Related: Large-soda bans may not curb consumption
Tancredo launched a radio ad this week in which he compares marijuana prohibition to alcohol prohibition as a ‘‘failed government program’’ that, in this case, ‘‘steers Colorado money to criminals in Mexico.’’
‘‘Proponents of big government have duped us into supporting a similar prohibition of marijuana — even though it can be used safely and responsibly by adults,’’ Tancredo said.
Supporters of legalization have lined up other surprising allies this year, even as many Democrats oppose the measures.
A**HOLES!
Conservative stalwart Pat Robertson, for example, said marijuana should be legal.
Related: Pat Robertson Smokes Pot
In Washington state, Republican US Senate hopeful Michael Baumgartner is running a longshot bid to unseat Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell, who opposes legalization.
‘‘It’s taking a different approach to a very expensive drug war, and potentially a better approach,’’ he said.
In Oregon, at least one Republican state Senate candidate backs legalization. Cliff Hutchison reasoned that legalizing the drug would ‘‘cut wasteful government spending on corrections and reduce drug gang violence.’’
Johnson, the Libertarian candidate, is fiscally conservative but supports such liberal causes as legalizing marijuana, immigration reform, and abortion rights. He has said that if elected he would pardon all nonviolent prisoners convicted of marijuana-related offenses in federal court.
Pro-legalization conservatives have counterparts on the other side — Democrats who say marijuana shouldn’t be legal without a doctor’s recommendation. Democratic governors in Colorado and Washington oppose legalization. Oregon’s Democratic governor has not taken a stand.
:-(
President Obama’s administration has shut down medical marijuana dispensaries in California and Colorado.
Related: Obama Administration Goes to Pot
And it is starting to stink.
GOP state Senator Steve King of Colorado is a critic of the state’s medical marijuana law.
Conservatives abhor government, but they also fear legalization would increase children’s drug use.
Please stop waving the children you pump full of pharmaceuticals and send off to wars based on lies in front of and at us.
‘‘It’s pretty easy to come in and say, ‘Let’s decrease government.’ And I’m all for that. This just isn’t the place to start,’’ King said. ‘‘We have a next generation to protect.’’
Unreal after they all f***ing smoked!
--more--"
And the government makes it difficult to do research?
"Law, policy thwart research on marijuana" by Chelsea Conaboy | Globe Staff, October 19, 2012
To study marijuana, researchers must be licensed by the US Drug Enforcement Administration and get access to marijuana grown at the University of Mississippi, which contracts with the National Institute on Drug Abuse to produce the only federally sanctioned supply. That process can prove onerous, if not impossible, acting as a deterrent for those who might want to study marijuana’s benefits, some researchers said.
In 2000, the University of California created the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, with $9 million from the state. The state’s blessing and the university’s reputation helped to secure federal approvals, said Dr. Igor Grant, the center’s director, who is based in San Diego. In the past decade, he and colleagues have completed the most comprehensive research to date of the effects of marijuana in patients, including studies that were randomized and double-blind, gold standards in research.
Four studies found the drug to be useful in treating pain. Three were in patients with HIV who had pain resulting from damage to their nervous system. Another study found that marijuana reduced muscle stiffness in patients with multiple sclerosis. But the studies were small, each involving dozens of patients rather than the hundreds or thousands needed to advance the drug toward federal approval.
“What’s surprised us, actually, was the consistency of the evidence,” Grant said.
The next step would be to pursue large trials and to compare smoked and vaporized marijuana with approved drugs. But Grant’s center has reached the end of its funding, with no more promised from the state....
The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a nonprofit focused largely on medical use of ecstasy and marijuana, latest application to study the effects of marijuana in a small group of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder, was turned down by a federal Health and Human Services review panel that evaluates privately funded studies of marijuana....
Yeah, much better to hook the troops up to pharmaceuticals.
While he expects pharmaceutical companies to develop medications related to marijuana, Steven Gust, special assistant to the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said the smoked drug has little chance of gaining approval from federal regulators....
That's when the government will stop dragging it's feet -- for the obviou$ rea$ons.
--more--"
As for the rest of the world, they are complaining about the smoke:
"US marijuana votes irk Latin leaders" November 13, 2012
In 2000, the University of California created the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, with $9 million from the state. The state’s blessing and the university’s reputation helped to secure federal approvals, said Dr. Igor Grant, the center’s director, who is based in San Diego. In the past decade, he and colleagues have completed the most comprehensive research to date of the effects of marijuana in patients, including studies that were randomized and double-blind, gold standards in research.
Four studies found the drug to be useful in treating pain. Three were in patients with HIV who had pain resulting from damage to their nervous system. Another study found that marijuana reduced muscle stiffness in patients with multiple sclerosis. But the studies were small, each involving dozens of patients rather than the hundreds or thousands needed to advance the drug toward federal approval.
“What’s surprised us, actually, was the consistency of the evidence,” Grant said.
The next step would be to pursue large trials and to compare smoked and vaporized marijuana with approved drugs. But Grant’s center has reached the end of its funding, with no more promised from the state....
The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a nonprofit focused largely on medical use of ecstasy and marijuana, latest application to study the effects of marijuana in a small group of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder, was turned down by a federal Health and Human Services review panel that evaluates privately funded studies of marijuana....
Yeah, much better to hook the troops up to pharmaceuticals.
While he expects pharmaceutical companies to develop medications related to marijuana, Steven Gust, special assistant to the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said the smoked drug has little chance of gaining approval from federal regulators....
That's when the government will stop dragging it's feet -- for the obviou$ rea$ons.
--more--"
As for the rest of the world, they are complaining about the smoke:
"US marijuana votes irk Latin leaders" November 13, 2012
A group of Latin American leaders declared Monday that votes by two US states to legalize marijuana have important implications for efforts to quash drug smuggling, offering the first government reaction from a region increasingly frustrated with the US-backed war on drugs.
The declaration by the leaders of Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and Costa Rica did not explicitly say they were considering weakening their governments’ efforts against marijuana smuggling, but it strongly implied the votes last week in Colorado and Washington would make enforcement of marijuana bans more difficult.
The four called for the Organization of American States to study the impact of the Colorado and Washington votes and said the United Nations’ General Assembly should hold a special session on the prohibition of drugs by 2015 at the latest.
Last week, the most influential adviser to Mexico’s president-elect, who takes office Dec. 1, questioned how the country will enforce a ban on growing and smuggling a drug that is now legal under some US state laws.
The Obama administration has yet to make clear how strongly it will enforce a federal ban on marijuana that is not affected by the Colorado and Washington votes.
‘‘It has become necessary to analyze in depth the implications for public policy and health in our nations emerging from the state and local moves to allow the legal production, consumption and distribution of marijuana in some countries of our continent,’’ President Felipe Calderon of Mexico said Monday after a meeting with President Porfirio Lobo of Honduras, President Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica, and Prime Minister Dean Barrow of Belize.
Marijuana legalization by US states is ‘‘a paradigm change on the part of those entities in respect to the current international system,’’ Calderon said.
Mexico has seen tens of thousands of people killed over the last six years during a militarized government campaign against the country’s drug cartels.
President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto has promised to shift Mexico’s focus to preventing violence against ordinary citizens, although he says he intends to keep battling cartels and is opposed to drug legalization. Guatemala’s president has advocated the international legalization of drugs.
Related: Mexico's Sore Loser
Also see: Tourists hike to Guatemala volcano
No one has a match?
Monday’s statement by the four leaders ‘‘is an important indicator of the desire to engage in a more robust discussion of policy,’’ said Eric Olson, associate director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.
The call by the four presidents was welcomed by marijuana activists in the United States.
Then they hardly seem "irked."
‘‘Marijuana prohibition in this country has been detrimental — but it’s been absolutely catastrophic to our southern neighbors,’’ said Dan Riffle, an analyst and lobbying for the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington advocacy group that largely financed the two campaigns.
Mexico is one of the primary suppliers of marijuana to the United States, while Honduras and Belize are important stops on the northward passage of cocaine from South America. Costa Rica is seeing increasing use of its territory by drug traffickers.
Luis Videgaray, head of Peña Nieto’s transition team, told Radio Formula on Wednesday that the votes in the two states complicated Mexico’s commitment to stopping the growing and smuggling of marijuana.
--more--"
The declaration by the leaders of Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and Costa Rica did not explicitly say they were considering weakening their governments’ efforts against marijuana smuggling, but it strongly implied the votes last week in Colorado and Washington would make enforcement of marijuana bans more difficult.
The four called for the Organization of American States to study the impact of the Colorado and Washington votes and said the United Nations’ General Assembly should hold a special session on the prohibition of drugs by 2015 at the latest.
Last week, the most influential adviser to Mexico’s president-elect, who takes office Dec. 1, questioned how the country will enforce a ban on growing and smuggling a drug that is now legal under some US state laws.
The Obama administration has yet to make clear how strongly it will enforce a federal ban on marijuana that is not affected by the Colorado and Washington votes.
‘‘It has become necessary to analyze in depth the implications for public policy and health in our nations emerging from the state and local moves to allow the legal production, consumption and distribution of marijuana in some countries of our continent,’’ President Felipe Calderon of Mexico said Monday after a meeting with President Porfirio Lobo of Honduras, President Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica, and Prime Minister Dean Barrow of Belize.
Marijuana legalization by US states is ‘‘a paradigm change on the part of those entities in respect to the current international system,’’ Calderon said.
Mexico has seen tens of thousands of people killed over the last six years during a militarized government campaign against the country’s drug cartels.
President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto has promised to shift Mexico’s focus to preventing violence against ordinary citizens, although he says he intends to keep battling cartels and is opposed to drug legalization. Guatemala’s president has advocated the international legalization of drugs.
Related: Mexico's Sore Loser
Also see: Tourists hike to Guatemala volcano
No one has a match?
Monday’s statement by the four leaders ‘‘is an important indicator of the desire to engage in a more robust discussion of policy,’’ said Eric Olson, associate director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.
The call by the four presidents was welcomed by marijuana activists in the United States.
Then they hardly seem "irked."
‘‘Marijuana prohibition in this country has been detrimental — but it’s been absolutely catastrophic to our southern neighbors,’’ said Dan Riffle, an analyst and lobbying for the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington advocacy group that largely financed the two campaigns.
Mexico is one of the primary suppliers of marijuana to the United States, while Honduras and Belize are important stops on the northward passage of cocaine from South America. Costa Rica is seeing increasing use of its territory by drug traffickers.
Luis Videgaray, head of Peña Nieto’s transition team, told Radio Formula on Wednesday that the votes in the two states complicated Mexico’s commitment to stopping the growing and smuggling of marijuana.
--more--"
Others it irked: Medical marijuana raises too many unanswered issues
Then let's smoke a joint and talk about them.
"Frank, Paul ask US to respect Colo., Wash. marijuana laws
WASHINGTON — US Representatives Barney Frank, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Ron Paul, a Texas Republican, polar opposites on many issues, joined Wednesday in asking the White House to refrain from acting against marijuana users in Colorado and Washington, which became the first states last week to legalize recreational use of the drug.
In a letter to President Obama, the duo asked the White House to “respect the wishes of the voters of Colorado and Washington and refrain from federal prosecution of the inhabitants of those states who will be following their states’ laws with regard to the use of marijuana.”
Paul, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for president, is widely considered a leading libertarian in Congress, while Frank is an unabashed liberal. Citing “individual freedom,” both are coauthors of legislation that would legalize marijuana across the nation.
Also see:
Barney Frank Banks on Marijuana
Boston Globe Censored Briefs: Barney Frank Exhales Fart Mist
Why did he have to lie?
“We believe there are many strong reasons for your administration to allow the states of Colorado and Washington to set the policies they believe appropriate in this regard, without the federal government overriding the choices made by the voters of these states,” the letter said, noting a state’s right to set policies that affect their own residents and the potential cost for enforcing federal laws prohibiting the recreational use of marijuana. Other states permit medicinal use of marijuana. Last week, Massachusetts became the latest state to do so.
But Colorado and Washington broke new ground in the movement to decriminalize use of the drug, when voters in those two states legalized the possession and growing of the substance.
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"Frank, Paul ask US to respect Colo., Wash. marijuana laws
WASHINGTON — US Representatives Barney Frank, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Ron Paul, a Texas Republican, polar opposites on many issues, joined Wednesday in asking the White House to refrain from acting against marijuana users in Colorado and Washington, which became the first states last week to legalize recreational use of the drug.
In a letter to President Obama, the duo asked the White House to “respect the wishes of the voters of Colorado and Washington and refrain from federal prosecution of the inhabitants of those states who will be following their states’ laws with regard to the use of marijuana.”
Paul, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for president, is widely considered a leading libertarian in Congress, while Frank is an unabashed liberal. Citing “individual freedom,” both are coauthors of legislation that would legalize marijuana across the nation.
Also see:
Barney Frank Banks on Marijuana
Boston Globe Censored Briefs: Barney Frank Exhales Fart Mist
Why did he have to lie?
“We believe there are many strong reasons for your administration to allow the states of Colorado and Washington to set the policies they believe appropriate in this regard, without the federal government overriding the choices made by the voters of these states,” the letter said, noting a state’s right to set policies that affect their own residents and the potential cost for enforcing federal laws prohibiting the recreational use of marijuana. Other states permit medicinal use of marijuana. Last week, Massachusetts became the latest state to do so.
But Colorado and Washington broke new ground in the movement to decriminalize use of the drug, when voters in those two states legalized the possession and growing of the substance.
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"Obama won’t go after marijuana use in 2 states" Associated Press, December 15, 2012
WASHINGTON — President Obama said the federal government won’t go after recreational marijuana users in Washington state and Colorado, where voters have legalized it.
The Justice Department hasn’t targeted recreational marijuana users for decades. With limited resources, its focus has been to go after major drug traffickers instead....
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