Budding Optimism: Holder on legal pot in CO & WA

[RainDog]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/15/eric-holder-marijuana-legalization_n_5148663.html

But the nation's top law enforcement official, who spoke to The Huffington Post in an interview on Friday, also said it was tough to predict where marijuana legalization will be in 10 years.

...Holder's positive outlook on how legalization is going in Washington and Colorado stands in contrast to the views expressed by Drug Enforcement Administration head Michele Leonhart, who reportedly criticized President Barack Obama for comparing marijuana to alcohol. Leonhart claimed earlier this month that voters were mislead when they voted to legalize and regulate marijuana on the state level, that Mexican drug cartels are "setting up shop" in Washington and Colorado and that this country should have "never gone forward" with legalization. Another DEA official recently claimed that "every single parent out there" opposed marijuana legalization.

Washington and Colorado, of course, aren't the only places in the U.S. reforming their approach to marijuana. In March, Washington, D.C., decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana. Asked about D.C.'s move, Holder said it didn't make sense to send people to jail on possession charges.

Holder also acknowledged the Obama administration has made the political decision not to unilaterally "reschedule" marijuana by taking it off the list of what the federal government considers the most dangerous drugs, though that is something the attorney general has the authority to do. Instead, Holder has said DOJ would be willing to work with Congress if they want to reschedule marijuana, which doesn't seem likely to happen in the near future.

Holder noted he had experimented with cannabis in college, saw no need for any sentencing for simple possession - disliked the lack of discretion for sentencing he experienced as a judge dealing with possession cases, and noted the federal AG office doesn't go after such cases (tho, of course, the DEA does fund law enforcement efforts that do, in fact, target possession in various ways - but these are all state LEOs, not federal.)

While I understand the need for Congress to do its job to address the will of the scientific, medical, and general population regarding the scheduling AND legal status of cannabis (they're two different things), if Congress does not respond, I hope, as a second-term president, this administration would place cannabis as a schedule IV, rather than I, substance before the Obama term is over. Since voting districts are so gerrymandered, Congress can stonewall reform for decades at this point.

iow, if Congress repeatedly refuses to deal with the error of scheduling cannabis as one of the most dangerous substances with no medical value - the Democratic Party as a whole would benefit from such an action because it is in line with current understandings (and the initial placement of cannabis as a schedule I substance was intended to be provisional anyway - the placement was to placate Nixon - who wanted to use cannabis as a way to attack his enemies list.)

On the other hand - Alaska, Oregon and CA may soon join the two legal cannabis states - at which point Congress will have to admit they are ignoring the will of the people and the medical and scientific communities in order to appease a shrinking segment of the population that would rather arrest Americaans than tax and regulate a substance that has been used for thousands of years without significant harm.

[pscot]

1. When he says "experimented"

does that mean he tried it with an empirical attitude of scientific enquiry, rather than just to get high?

[RainDog]

2. "Youthful experimentation"

is the term people are told to use when they have to declare their past or current illegal drug usage.

Holder said, in the article, that was the term he was told to use - and, if you notice, it's the way most politicians, etc. frame their past.

It's meant to signal youthful risk taking that someone has since grown out of.

[pscot]

3. A euphemism for "I got high"

[RainDog]

5. ding, ding!

No, all those in political office now who got high when they were younger were not in labs doing experimental research... tho, some might argue, they were doing experimental research on themselves to discover some insights into the workings of human consciousness and were unaffiliated with any research group at the time...

Others, of course, were more "dedicated" - like Mitch Daniels, who was arrested for possession of things such as LSD, in such amts he was considered a dealer.

But he was connected in college so he got off with a slap on the wrist - for dealing a schedule I substance.

One law for me, but another for thee....

[Warren DeMontague]

6. Bush's "Youthful experimentation" phase lasted, by many accounts, until his 40th birthday.

I'm all for staying forever young, but ...

[Jackpine Radical]

4. Yes, it was a double blind study

comparing ditch weed, Acapulco Gold, Thai Stick & Maui Wowie.

He replicated the study quite a few times & never got much placebo effect out of the ditch weed.

[Ichingcarpenter]

8. Thank god GOTV changed that

Holder is what he is.......No guts no glory ...... I don't even want to talk about his shit with the banksters or he closed down my medical clinics in California.


GOTV.....

[RainDog]

10. But he has done significant work on sentencing reform

Regarding drug laws - he has worked within his capacity to try to eliminate bias in sentencing laws based upon the "crack baby" scare of times past (which has not proved to be true, in terms of those children's rates of problems related to this scare - I'm not saying people should use crack, but if one form of something is used by minorities (crack), while the other, more expensive form is used by Wall Street (cocaine) - there shouldn't be sentencing discrepancies based upon one's ability to have couriers deliver the more expense product to your office.

http://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-cocaine-stories-2012-7?op=1

[BlindTiresias]

12. Lol

Not sure if you are being serious or not but "experimented" is a polite euphemism for trying recreational drugs.

Edit: n/m, addressed

[Politicalboi]

7. Thanks Holder you coward

Holder has said DOJ would be willing to work with Congress if they want to reschedule marijuana, which doesn't seem likely to happen in the near future.

[Ichingcarpenter]

9. He's as progressive as when

he defended the banks when he no longer worked in the public sector.

But his ours and a democrat..

[RainDog]

11. He did say he would let the CO and WA experiments go forward

which is a better stance than Clinton had when he was in office and medical marijuana was made re-legal in California.

http://www.drugpolicy.org/new-solutions-drug-policy/brief-history-drug-war

Although Bill Clinton advocated for treatment instead of incarceration during his 1992 presidential campaign, after his first few months in the White House he reverted to the drug war strategies of his Republican predecessors by continuing to escalate the drug war. Notoriously, Clinton rejected a U.S. Sentencing Commission recommendation to eliminate the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences. He also rejected, with the encouragement of drug czar General Barry McCaffrey, health secretary Donna Shalala’s advice to end the federal ban on funding for syringe access programs. Yet, a month before leaving office, Clinton asserted in a Rolling Stone interview that "we really need a re-examination of our entire policy on imprisonment" of people who use drugs, and said that marijuana use "should be decriminalized."

[Ichingcarpenter]

13. You know how long I have argued on this

and proved my points...... that
THIS ADMINISTRATION WAS WRONG.

Holder is so much better than Alberto Gonzales.
I do love the standards we put on Justice these days.. thank you
JUSTICE Roberts.




Geez, did I just say that

[RainDog]

15. I was just noting

Last edited Tue Apr 15, 2014, 04:49 PM - Edit history (1)

that, under the current Democratic administration, we have seen more forward movement on this issue in their responses than at any time in history.

This corresponds, of course, with changes in current perceptions. Since medical marijuana became legal, public perception of the value of the drug laws concerning cannabis has gone from tepid support, far below majority opinion, to a majority who support legalization.

So the proper comparison would be to times when marijuana laws were brought to bear on federal political issues.

As I've noted before, Democrats who have wanted to appear "tough on crime" have often kicked the cannabis issue to do so. I think the time that that sort of response got positive feedback from the majority of the population is over... and this administration has responded to this.

I sincerely doubt the party that is insisting Holder enforce federal law in CO and WA sees no difference between this administration and previous ones.

[Ichingcarpenter]

14. Not when he arrested

and shut down my clinic in California and had to drive 160 miles to find another one.


Oh,,,,,,, he's better than Bush.

for sure......

[RainDog]

16. The raids were initiated by the CA AG offices

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/social-issues/the-pot-republic-social-issues/attorney-general-sued-over-medical-marijuana-crackdown/

Earlier this month, four U.S. attorneys in California — the country’s largest marijuana market — launched a coordinated, statewide offensive against the dispensaries, announcing a series of civil forfeiture lawsuits and warning at least 16 to shut down or face criminal charges and confiscation of property.

“They’re not just enforcing marijuana laws, they are doing something extremely unusual in an effort to quash the medical marijuana programs in the various states,” Joe Elford, chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access, told The Los Angeles Times. “They’re not allowed to commandeer the lawmaking functions of the state.”

But the four U.S. attorneys behind California’s crackdown are distancing themselves from the feds, emphasizing that the administration “never even green-lighted the ramped-up enforcement actions.”

Lauren Horwood, a spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner in California’s Eastern District, told The Huffington Post that the only official in Washington with whom they had coordinated was Deputy Attorney General James Cole.

HOWEVER... let me say that I ENTIRELY agree with you that those raids were beyond the scope of the CA regulations, from my understanding of the same.

Some have argued that CA's law was too laissez faire - and contrast this to CO state's laws - including medial marijuana.

I just want bad laws to change - and getting there is my goal.

But I understand your anger about the situation - I would feel it too, if I had experienced it.

[Ichingcarpenter]

17. The Feds did it not CALIFORNIA

I knew the guy
It was a federal shit from the start to the end.... so don't give me that crap. This was a California operation.

The Feds lead the raid.

[RainDog]

18. They asked for DEA assistance - that was my understanding

The DEA cooperates with state LEOs on such raids.

However, my point, really, is not to argue this - as I said - I understand your frustration.

My point is to note that things have improved since 2011 - the overall issue is moving toward less federal interference - under a Democratic administration.

That's why Ted Cruz, etc. are spending tax payer dollars to make an argument against state's rights... cause Republicans are all for state's rights when they can use them to create less freedom...

Republicans no longer represent the thinking of the majority of Americans on issue after issue - they can only maintain their power by gerrymandering districts and then use Congress to thwart the will of the American people - which is what they are doing in this situation.

Democrats, on the other hand, are also applying logical consistency - laws that provide for personal liberty, in spite of religious or bureaucratic opposition, are supported, while laws that seek to force religious beliefs or quasi-religious (reefer madness) are not supported.

[Ichingcarpenter]

22. They asked for DEA assistance

that is a lie

everything else is ok.




But that was a lie.

[Trillo]

19. Good news is always welcome.

There's so little of it.

[RainDog]

21. That's how I see it too

and I do think Democrats in Congress have tried to move this issue forward as well - with the Polis (D-TN) and Blumenuer (D-OR) bills.

Instead of bringing those bills forward, Republicans have attacked this administration with yet more b.s.

Cannagahzi!

[IronLionZion]

20. He should tell Congress to go F themselves

good luck waiting for them to do anything.

If he doesn't want to influence elections, then reschedule it after the election, unilaterally.

[RainDog]

23. evening kick n/t