Feds oppose Calif. Prop 19 to legalize marijuana
Posted on 29 November 2011 by smokeandtoke6123
Report by Alta
SAN FRANCISCO – Lawyer General Eric Holder is warning that the federal government will not seem the other way, ugg boots sale as it has with medical marijuana, if voters next month make California the 1st state to legalize pot. Marijuana is illegal under federal law, which drug agents will “vigorously enforce” against anyone carrying, expanding or selling it, Holder said.
The comments in a letter to ex-federal drug enforcement chiefs were the lawyer general’s most direct statement uggs on sale yet against Proposition 19 and set up one more showdown with California above marijuana if the measure passes. With Prop 19 major in the polls, the letter also raised queries about the extent to which federal drug agents would go into communities across the state to catch little-time customers and dealers, or whether they even had the resources to do it. Medical marijuana customers and professionals had been skeptical, saying there was small the federal government could do to slow the march to legalization. “This will be the new industry,” said Chris Nelson, 24, who smokes pot to ease recurring back discomfort and was lined up outdoors a San Francisco dispensary.
“It’s taxable new revenue. So several tourists will flock right here like they go to Napa. This will turn into the new Amsterdam.” If the ballot measure passes, the state would regulate recreational pot use. Adults could possess up to 1 ounce of the drug and develop little gardens on private house. Regional governments would decide no matter whether to let and tax revenue. The Justice Division stays committed to enforcing the Controlled Substances Act in all states, Holder said. “We will vigorously enforce the CSA against individuals people and organizations that possess, manufacture or distribute marijuana for recreational use, even if such activities are permitted below state law,” he wrote.
The letter was dated Wednesday and was obtained by The Connected Press. Holder also said legalizing recreational marijuana would be a “substantial impediment” to the government’s joint efforts with state and nearby law enforcement to target drug traffickers, who frequently distribute pot alongside cocaine and other drugs. The lawyer basic stated the ballot measure’s passage would “significantly undermine” efforts to keep California cites and towns secure. Officials in Los Angeles County, where authorities have aggressively moved to tamp down on an explosion of medical marijuana dispensaries, vowed that they would nonetheless assist the federal government in drug investigations.
County Sheriff Lee Baca and District Lawyer Steve Cooley said at a news conference that the law would be unenforceable because it is trumped by federal laws that prohibit marijuana cultivation and possession. “We will continue as we are right now irrespective of regardless of whether it passes or doesn’t pass,” Baca said. His deputies never and won’t go right after users in their households, but public use of the drug will be targeted, he stated. Both gubernatorial candidates – Democrat Jerry Brown and Republican Meg Whitman – oppose Prop 19 and declined comment Friday.
The ex-Drug Enforcement Administration chiefs sent a letter to Holder in August calling on the Obama administration to sue California if Prop 19 passes. They stated legalizing pot presented the exact same threat to federal authority as Arizona’s current immigration law. In that case, Justice Department lawyers filed a lawsuit to block the enforcement of the law, saying that it infringed on federal powers to regulate immigration and consequently violated the U.S. Constitution. The situation is now prior to a federal appeals court.
In that case, Justice Department attorneys filed a lawsuit to block the enforcement of the law, saying that it infringed on federal powers to regulate immigration and as a result violated the U.S. Constitution.
California will be voting on legalization of marijuana in November. Please get out and vote.
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