http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jmEa2xDWW1TDUIbXePgvduMiFYXg?docId=CNG.2359350161909d4884414102c04d4943.51 US will continue to jail pot dealers 'in all states' WASHINGTON, District of Columbia - The White House has pledged to continue to jail those who traffick in marijuana or sell it to minors -- even in two US states where its recreational use is now legal. At a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Deputy Attorney General James Cole defended the federal decision not to challenge new laws legalizing marijuana in Colorado and Washington states, approved by voters in November 2012. Those law clash with federal laws which classify marijuana as a Schedule One controlled substance, on par with heroin. The US administration has been criticized in some quarters for taking a hands-off position to prosecuting pot users in the two states since the passage of the laws legalizing cannabis. Coles vowed however that the federal government would continue to go after those seeking to profit from selling marijuana, or those who would seek to traffick the drug to children. "We're not giving impunity" to drug traffickers, he insisted. Cole pledged that in addition to blocking cannabis cultivation and distribution, US authorities would work to prevent the export of marijuana to places where the substance is still illegal, "whether the state has legalized it or not." And he added that Justice Department officials "reserve the right... to challenge the state laws at a later time." In the US, 21 states have authorized the use of cannabis for medical purposes. Of these, 16 states have decriminalized possession of the drug in small quantities for personal use. Colorado and Washington went even further, legalizing recreational consumption of the drug. Colorado even allows limited at-home cultivation of the plants. Drug policy expert Kevin Sabet -- a former official in the administrations of presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush -- said legalizing pot was dangerous, because it could lead to the "creation of a Starbucks of marijuana." "Why would we open the floodgates?" he asked. But John Urquhart, a sheriff in Washington, denied that that US west coast state was going to become a drug haven. "What we have in Washington is not the wild, wild West," he said, adding he doesn't see a "conflict" between the federal and state laws. "We all agree we don't want our children using marijuana. We all agree we don't want impaired drivers. We all agree we don't want to continue enriching criminals," he said. "Washington's law honors these values by separating consumers from gangs," he said.
The DoJ admitting that a regulated market would be better than a black market tied Sabet's and Grassley's ass in a knot,,Grassley even asked the DoJ why they were allowing CO to continue setting up a legal recreational market when he had just pointed out how CO had failed to control their MMJ program because MMJ was already being transported out of the state,,loved it when Cole told him removing the legal market would still leave legalized marijuana with no legal market which would mean more black market. The one liner by the Senator from CT about moving marijuana to schedule 2 so doctors could write prescriptions didn't prompt a response from Grassley,,,that was surprising.
Yeah the DOJ basically admitted that blocking the state laws would lead to a worse scenario than not. This will definitely cause other states to follow suit.
Grassley is a typical right wing old fart who is well paid to defend prohibition. His questioning showed his true understanding of the situation which amounts to nil. One of his points was that allowing Wa. and Co. to adopt a legalization scheme will create a diversion channel from these legal states where legally grown MJ will be diverted to states like...OMG...Iowa. I would like Grassley to ask any high school student in Iowa where their current supply of black market, street corner dealer MJ comes from.
^^^Grassley didn't mention that Iowa had already moved cannabis too schedule 2 in their states version of the CSA,,,noticed he wasn't asking the DoJ why they weren't going after Iowa for changing a federal policy,,,I have "high hopes" that his display of prohibitionism at the hearing was now seen by his constituents and the cannaphiles in Iowa,,,that man has shot down every reform bill that ever hit the Senate Judiciary committee for decades. I expect him to retire this time,,his fire has died down and if you have seen him speak on the dangers of marijuana 10 or 12 years back you would have seen him grasping the microphone and leaning forward in an aggressive manner as if daring anyone to challenge his opinion,,now he sat there and sounded like he was just reading a statement about the corn crop.
Yeah that old fart sounded like a cranky old man who just had his pruin juice spilt. I heard him start to speak and just laughed.
Iowa gets BILLIONS for corn ethanol subsidies. Anything that touches pot laws potentially touches industrial hemp laws for this nation, so no way is Sen. Grassley cutting off the very lucrative corn subsidy gravy train to allow potential competition in his state. Not until there could be assurances the same people that control the corn ethanol production have an "in" to control any potential hemp market and subsidies.
Does anyone seriously think it won't? Probably will be worse in the border states but it will get out.
The point is Iowa is already flooded with MJ, mostly from Mexico. It is insane to argue legalizing in one state will lead to another state being inundated with illegal MJ when that state already is innundated with illegal MJ. If a state is going to be innundated with illegal MJ it may as well be from an American source rather than a drug cartel.
I agree. But prohibitionists will care more and make a point that it is crossing state lines in an effort to derail the train.
Too late to derail this train. Even the DOJ knows it. That's why they didn't prempt the state initiatives. Allowing states to decriminalize cannabis AND creating a regulatory system to grow and distribute is really the best option for the feds despite their reluctance to do so because as Cole stated in his testimony that the federal government would have a very hard time overturning the decriminalization portion of the conflicting cannabis laws. This will apply to all states attempting to create a regulatory system that allows for medical or recreational distribution, therefore, this really does indeed give a legal green light to other states.
I love me some E85 nothing beats a high-horsepower cornfed car.. But other than using it for RACE GAS ethanol is a fucking JOKE and fuck president Bush for even thinking that was remotely even a half-good idea. As soon as the ethanol craze started, grocery prices rose 30% or more easily.
I live in iowa. And grassley needs the boot and so does branstad!!! Freaking farts will never legalize shit
It was to him. Snagged some typical DFL votes for himself with some good ol corn biofuel cashola opportunities. As to environment, yeah, pretty much everyone knows its a sham by now. Europe I understand is working to rid themselves of it. Sooner the better.