The ongoing effort to legalize the possession and sale of marijuana to adults in Oregon appeared to gain fresh momentum Thursday with the Obama administration’s announcement that it would let stand voter-approved initiatives in Washington and Colorado.
The Department of Justice said it would not challenge the initiatives so long as those states address federal concerns and develop and adequately fund a strict regulatory system to oversee production, distribution and sales.
The Justice Department maintained that marijuana remains an illegal drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act. Federal prosecutors would aggressively prosecute individuals and challenge state regulations if, for example, pot or revenue generated from its sale were to fall into the hands of minors, criminals or residents of states where marijuana remains illegal, it said.
The decision comes as two political action groups in Oregon are seeking to qualify ballot measures for the November 2014 election that would legalize marijuana, and as state lawmakers weigh whether to refer their own proposal to the same ballot. One group said it would begin gathering petition signatures soon.
“I’m very excited about it,” said Anthony Johnson, executive director of Portland-based New Approach Oregon, which has pushed for an end to the prohibition on pot. “If it holds true, it’s a historic step for the federal government and the cannabis law reform movement.”
Paul Stanford, executive director of the other pro-legalization group, Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp, said the federal government’s action bolsters its efforts. The campaign has already submitted separate ballot titles to qualify measures that would change the state Constitution to legalize marijuana and change state law to establish a system to regulate pot growers and retailers while also decriminalizing pot.
It’s unclear at this point what would happen if both pro-legalization groups qualified measures for the ballot. Johnson said the specifics of his group’s measure are still being worked out.
Johnson said uncertainty about how the federal government would come down on the marijuana initiatives in Washington and Colorado was a “roadblock for many (Oregon) legislators” to support legalization. Earlier this year, state lawmakers did authorize dispensaries to sell marijuana used for medical purposes under certain conditions.
“Whether the politicians take the lead or the advocates take the lead, the time has come to end cannabis prohibition,” Johnson said.
Stanford said the ballot measures proposed by the hemp campaign would address some of the areas of concern that emerged during the campaign for and against Measure 80, a marijuana legalization proposal that Oregon voters rejected last fall with 53 percent opposed.
One of the proposed ballot measures filed with the state by Stanford authorizes the governor to appoint all seven members of a commission that would regulate marijuana, he said; under Measure 80, five of the seven commission members would have been appointed by pot advocates.
It also would place limits on the amount of pot that could be possessed and cultivated, something Measure 80 didn’t address.
An appeals period for the proposed ballot titles ends Wednesday, and then supporters need to get approval for their cover and signature sheets, said Tony Green, a spokesman for the Oregon Secretary of State’s office.
Backers would need 116,284 valid voter signatures to qualify the constitutional amendment, and 87,213 valid signatures for the measure changing state law. The signature deadline is July 3 for the November 2014 ballot.
Stanford said the federal Justice Department’s announcement is a “step in the right direction,” but he raised concerns that even with the policy change, the federal agency still reserves the right to investigate and prosecute anyone in instances where such action “serves an important federal interest,” according to a memo the Justice Department distributed to U.S. attorneys in the 50 states.
“That was already the stance, so it’s encouraging that the federal government has at least (now said it’s) not going to enjoin those state initiatives.”
Meanwhile, state Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, said the federal government’s decision will aid his request to leaders in Salem to convene a work group, once a shortened legislative session starts Feb. 3, to draft a referendum to send to voters in November 2014.
Prozanski, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said a referendum would have a leg up on a citizen initiative.
“We can put more forethought through it and dispel a lot of the uncertainty in what the legislation would have, instead of having a citizen initiative pass that would more than likely have to be reworked,” he said.
Stanford did leave the door open to ending a signature drive if lawmakers present voters with a satisfactory referendum.
Gov. John Kitzhaber’s office on Thursday declined comment on the federal government’s announcement.
The top federal prosecutor in Oregon said Thursday that new guidance on marijuana won’t require any changes in the state. U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall told The Associated Press that her staff reviewed marijuana prosecutions over the past two years and said all of the cases would have gone forward under the new federal rules.
Following the votes in Colorado and Washington last year, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder launched a review of marijuana enforcement policy that included an examination of the two states. The issue was whether they should be blocked from operating marijuana markets on the grounds that actively regulating an illegal substance conflicts with federal drug law that bans it.
Some were critical of the policy shift by the Obama administration.
Peter Bensinger, a former head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said the conflict between federal and state law is clear and can’t be reconciled. Federal law is paramount, and Holder is “not only abandoning the law, he’s breaking the law. He’s not only shirking his duty, he’s not living up to his oath of office,” Bensinger said.
Americans for Safe Access, a Washington, D.C.-based organization lobbying for the safe and legal access to cannabis for medical use and research, cited similar assurances of a hands-off approach to marijuana enforcement in medical marijuana states even as the Justice Department has spent more than $300 million to aggressively undermine the enactment of those laws.
“While we’re hopeful that the Justice Department will adhere to these policies, our experience with the Obama Administration so far has been lots of double-talk,” said Steph Sherer, the organization’s executive director, in a news release. “In order to gain the trust of Americans, Obama’s U.S. Attorneys must stop their aggressive and unnecessary enforcement campaigns in medical marijuana states.”
Last December, President Obama said it doesn’t make sense for the federal government to go after recreational drug users in a state that has legalized marijuana. Last week, the White House said that prosecution of drug traffickers remains an important priority.