Following on the statewide crackdown by the Justice Department on medical marijuana in California, the Obama Administration is signaling that they're not going to sit by and watch while the entire states of Colorado and Washington spark up bowls either. Voters in both states just passed ballot initiatives legalizing marijuana possession and use regardless of medical purpose something California failed to do in 2010 and now senior White House officials are trying to figure out what to do about it.
Via the NYT:
“It’s a sticky wicket for Obama,” said Bruce Buchanan, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Austin, saying any aggressive move on such a high-profile question would be seen as “a slap in the face to his base right after they’ve just handed him a chance to realize his presidential dreams.”Federal officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. Several cautioned that the issue had raised complex legal and policy considerations including enforcement priorities, litigation strategy and the impact of international antidrug treaties that remain unresolved, and that no decision was imminent.
So, basically, Obama still doesn't have the chutzpah or political capital to ignore the issue or take a pro-pot stand, but we suppose that, legally, that might be awkward for a sitting President to flout federal law.
The options are a) the feds can sue the two states for trying to regulate a substance that's illegal under federal law, or b) take low-level marijuana users to court and wait for one to file a motion to dismiss the case because marijuana is legal under state law. They could then get a ruling on the books that federal law trumps state law. Or they could just punish the states by withholding federal grants until they change the laws.
Anyhow, the next couple years should get pretty interesting, especially as cases involving dispensaries and such make it, potentially, to the Supreme Court.
[NYT]
