http://reason.com/archives/2013/07/29/the-cannabis-is-out-of-the-bag Very interesting read, mostly opinion based, but still interesting.
it brings up a good legal point for everyone to look into: if the state has made it legal for mj or mmj or both..then no state/county/city/town/village can assist or enable the feds in a bust for legal 'stuff' in that state. i.e..local law enforcement, judicial and executive bodies that assist federal enforcement entities in busting anyone for mj/mmj in a legal mj/mmj state, can and should be sued for violating legal rights, liberties and freedoms granted by bills that are CONSTITUTIONAL in that state. check it out with some lawyers, they should really drool over this (think of the big pay off, easily in the millions these days)
I'm not sure this holds true everywhere. I think the states will need to include specific provisions in their MJ or MMJ laws that prohibit local law enforcement from assisting the feds in marijuana busts. CA, for example, has no such provisions in its MMJ laws, and not only do the local LEO agencies cooperate with the feds, they actually ask the feds to assist them in enforcing prohibition. It is simply a matter of ambiguity in the CA laws. WA and CO are different I believe. The article does bring up another good legal point. It is not mentioned often, but the CSA actually provides the feds with an "out" when it comes to enforcement: Section 873. Cooperative arrangements The Attorney General shall cooperate with local, State, and Federal agencies concerning traffic in controlled substances and in suppressing the abuse of controlled substances. To this end, he is authorized to-- ... (6) assist State and local governments in suppressing the diversion of controlled substances from legitimate medical, scientific, and commercial channels by-- (A) making periodic assessments of the capabilities of State and local governments to adequately control the diversion of controlled substances; (providing advice and counsel to State and local governments on the methods by which such governments may strengthen their controls against diversion; and (C) establishing cooperative investigative efforts to control diversion; and (7) notwithstanding any other provision of law, enter into contractual agreements with State and local law enforcement agencies to provide for cooperative enforcement and regulatory activities under this chapter.\\1\\ \nSo the AG can "cooperate" with the states to make sure that marijuana is not diverted from "legitimate medical, scientific, and commercial channels". Of course this hinges on the feds recognizing the CO and WA marijuana markets as "legitimate commercial channels", but it is still a legal possibility.