“Representative Mike Coffman, a Republican, is announcing today his support of legislation that would exempt Colorado from federal marijuana policy. It’s a noteworthy move from Coffman, who is against the legalization of marijuana but respects Colorado’s ballot process and the support Amendment 64 received last week, when voters chose to legalize small amounts of pot...
Read more →“In an effort to ensure new voter-approved amendments that legalize limited use of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington are not overrun by the federal government, Democratic U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette introduced bipartisan legislation Friday that aims to curtail such a scenario. “My constituents have spoken, and I don’t want the federal government denying money...
Read more →“I doubt that either state can effectively prevent locally-grown marijuana from crossing state lines, but hell, they can’t prevent it now either. So I’m with Mark: there’s no need to announce any public change of policy, but Obama should tell DEA to lie low for a while and see how Colorado and Washington do....
Read more →” “I was not supportive of the initiative,” Inslee added, but said that his administration will defend the choice made by voters on Nov. 6 and will work to implement the initiative. “I will be working in very rational ways to convince the administration that this is in the best interest not only of...
Read more →“ “I wanted to know what his enforcement policy would be if there was or was not litigation under federal law… Basically, I was asking him if they were planning on taking any action to stop us from going forward from implementing, and when,” Gregoire said in an interview. She said she was told by...
Read more →Jerry Seper and Jim McElhatton at The Washington Times review the effects of legalization in Washington and Colorado. Beau Kilmer reminds the authors that the role of state agencies will play a major role in determining what happens next.
Read more →“While Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and state Attorney General John Suthers make telephone calls to DOJ, three of our Congresspersons are taking action instead of waiting for answers from the Justice Department on Colorado’s newly passed Amendment 64… Our representatives in Congress are doing the right thing by quickly moving for legislative change. Since that won’t happen overnight, our...
Read more →DENVER POST (OP-ED): “There’s a simple way to resolve potential conflict between Colorado and the federal government now that voters have approved Amendment 64 — and Congresswoman Diana DeGette has hit upon the answer. The 1st District Democrat suggests adding a phrase to the section of the federal Controlled Substances Act where it talks about...
Read more →“Gov. Chris Gregoire has not reached out to the Justice Department for clarity on the federal response to marijuana legalization, and does not plan to join Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who has a call scheduled Friday afternoon with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to talk about the legalization measure his state passed.” Jonathan Martin at...
Read more →Sarah Kliff at Washington post analyzes the Amendment 64′s likelihood of passing, its historical context, and whether or not it could stand up to Federal authorities. Full story
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