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In a decision that buoyed advocates pushing for a marijuana legalization initiative in Oregon, the federal government said Thursday it isn't likely to interfere with Colorado and Washington as they move to offer the drug for recreational use next year.
The U.S. Department of Justice, however, said its longstanding marijuana prosecution priorities remain unchanged. Those include keeping marijuana from minors, preventing revenue from marijuana sales from going to gangs and cartels, and cracking down on the trafficking of cannabis from states where it's legal to those where it's not.
At the same time, states with strong marijuana regulatory and enforcement systems are "less likely to threaten" federal priorities, said U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole, who drafted the memo.
"Indeed, a robust system may affirmatively address those priorities by, for example, implementing effective measures to prevent diversion of marijuana outside of the regulated system and to other states," he wrote.
To Amanda Marshall, Oregon's top federal law enforcement official, the memo changes little for marijuana prosecutions in the state. Pending federal marijuana prosecutions in Oregon involve guns or drug trafficking and will continue, she said.
"We haven't been going after low-level offenders or people who are operating in compliance with the Oregon medical marijuana law," she said. "It just kind of takes that and expands it in terms of applying that same principle to those two states who now have legalized marijuana for recreational use."
The announcement gives momentum to legalization efforts across the country.
"This will only help Oregon and other states move forward with ending cannabis prohibition," said Anthony Johnson, director of New Approach Oregon, a group working to put an initiative on the ballot here in 2014.
"It shows that ending prohibition has become inevitable," he said.
Advocates in Oregon rejected a plea last year by the influential Marijuana Policy Project to defer an initiative until 2016. That decision meant the Washington, D.C.-based group, which helped make marijuana legal in Colorado, won't be underwriting Oregon's effort. The group had pledged an infusion of $700,000.
Roy Kaufmann, a Portland marijuana policy reform advocate and consultant, said the Marijuana Policy Project's advice was based on stronger voter turnout during presidential election years.
But Kaufmann said plans to get a marriage equality initiative on the 2014 ballot changed that equation for Oregon's marijuana activists. The marriage equality measure, he said, is expected to draw a large voter turnout, which works to marijuana advocates' advantage.
"I think that was a real turning point in recognizing that a lot of the voters who might normally sit at home in a non-presidential election year would be willing to engage."
Paul Stanford, who owns a chain of medical marijuana clinics and was the chief backer of Measure 80, the legalization measure rejected by Oregon voters last year, said he's encouraged by the feds' stance on Colorado and Washington. He, too, is moving ahead with two marijuana legalization initiatives.
"The fact that the federal government has said that as long as you have a well-regulated cannabis industry, they won't interfere, that supports us and encourages people to enact such a system," he said.
But Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis said cautioned against reading too much into the feds' decision. He said the conflict between federal and state law over marijuana's legal status remains fundamentally unchanged and future presidential administrations may view cannabis differently.
"Individuals who want to smoke their doobies in Washington and Colorado probably have nothing to worry about," said Marquis. "But businesses constructing business models for long-terms marijuana consumption and distribution would be well advised to be a little cautious."
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: oregonlive.com
Author: Noelle Crombie
Contact: Contact OregonLive.com or The Oregonian
Website: Marijuana legalization decision foreshadows end to pot prohibition in Oregon, elsewhere, backers say | OregonLive.com
The U.S. Department of Justice, however, said its longstanding marijuana prosecution priorities remain unchanged. Those include keeping marijuana from minors, preventing revenue from marijuana sales from going to gangs and cartels, and cracking down on the trafficking of cannabis from states where it's legal to those where it's not.
At the same time, states with strong marijuana regulatory and enforcement systems are "less likely to threaten" federal priorities, said U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole, who drafted the memo.
"Indeed, a robust system may affirmatively address those priorities by, for example, implementing effective measures to prevent diversion of marijuana outside of the regulated system and to other states," he wrote.
To Amanda Marshall, Oregon's top federal law enforcement official, the memo changes little for marijuana prosecutions in the state. Pending federal marijuana prosecutions in Oregon involve guns or drug trafficking and will continue, she said.
"We haven't been going after low-level offenders or people who are operating in compliance with the Oregon medical marijuana law," she said. "It just kind of takes that and expands it in terms of applying that same principle to those two states who now have legalized marijuana for recreational use."
The announcement gives momentum to legalization efforts across the country.
"This will only help Oregon and other states move forward with ending cannabis prohibition," said Anthony Johnson, director of New Approach Oregon, a group working to put an initiative on the ballot here in 2014.
"It shows that ending prohibition has become inevitable," he said.
Advocates in Oregon rejected a plea last year by the influential Marijuana Policy Project to defer an initiative until 2016. That decision meant the Washington, D.C.-based group, which helped make marijuana legal in Colorado, won't be underwriting Oregon's effort. The group had pledged an infusion of $700,000.
Roy Kaufmann, a Portland marijuana policy reform advocate and consultant, said the Marijuana Policy Project's advice was based on stronger voter turnout during presidential election years.
But Kaufmann said plans to get a marriage equality initiative on the 2014 ballot changed that equation for Oregon's marijuana activists. The marriage equality measure, he said, is expected to draw a large voter turnout, which works to marijuana advocates' advantage.
"I think that was a real turning point in recognizing that a lot of the voters who might normally sit at home in a non-presidential election year would be willing to engage."
Paul Stanford, who owns a chain of medical marijuana clinics and was the chief backer of Measure 80, the legalization measure rejected by Oregon voters last year, said he's encouraged by the feds' stance on Colorado and Washington. He, too, is moving ahead with two marijuana legalization initiatives.
"The fact that the federal government has said that as long as you have a well-regulated cannabis industry, they won't interfere, that supports us and encourages people to enact such a system," he said.
But Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis said cautioned against reading too much into the feds' decision. He said the conflict between federal and state law over marijuana's legal status remains fundamentally unchanged and future presidential administrations may view cannabis differently.
"Individuals who want to smoke their doobies in Washington and Colorado probably have nothing to worry about," said Marquis. "But businesses constructing business models for long-terms marijuana consumption and distribution would be well advised to be a little cautious."
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: oregonlive.com
Author: Noelle Crombie
Contact: Contact OregonLive.com or The Oregonian
Website: Marijuana legalization decision foreshadows end to pot prohibition in Oregon, elsewhere, backers say | OregonLive.com
