cannabisnews.com: Former DEA Heads: Nullify CO, Washington MJ Laws
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Former DEA Heads: Nullify CO, Washington MJ Laws
Posted by CN Staff on March 05, 2013 at 05:23:39 PT
By Michael Tarm, Associated Press
Source: Huffington Post
Chicago -- Eight former Drug Enforcement Administration chiefs say the federal government needs to act now or it might lose the chance to nullify Colorado and Washington's laws legalizing recreational marijuana use.The onetime DEA heads plan to issue joint statements Tuesday saying the Obama administration has reacted too slowly and should immediately sue to force the states to rescind the legislation. The Associated Press received an advance copy of the statement Monday.
One of the former DEA administrators, Peter Bensinger, told the AP that the more time goes by, the harder it'll be to stop the two states. Marijuana is illegal under federal law.Bensinger, who lives in the Chicago area, said the government must immediately sue the states or risk creating "a domino effect" in which other states follow suit."My fear is that the Justice Department will do what they are doing now: do nothing and say nothing," said Bensinger. "If they don't act now, these laws will be fully implemented in a matter of months."U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told a meeting of state attorneys general last week that he is still reviewing the laws but that his review is winding down. Asked Monday for a comment on the criticism from the former DEA administrators, Holder spokeswoman Allison Price would only say, "The Department of Justice is in the process of reviewing those initiatives."The department's review has been under way since shortly after last fall's elections. It could sue to block the states from issuing licenses to marijuana growers, processors and retail stores, on the grounds that doing so conflicts with federal drug law. Alternatively, Holder could decide not to mount a court challenge.The ex-DEA heads are issuing the statements though the Florida-based Save Our Society from Drugs, a national group lobbying against legalization. One of the group's spokesmen is based in Chicago.The former DEA administrators are Bensinger, John Bartels, Robert Bonner, Thomas Constantine, Asa Hutchinson, John Lawn, Donnie Marshall and Francis Mullen. They served for both Republican and Democratic administrations.Holder is scheduled to appear Wednesday before a U.S. Senate judiciary committee hearing. The former DEA chiefs want senators to question Holder on the legalization issue.Advocates of legalization have welcomed Colorado and Washington's new laws, arguing that criminalizing drugs creates serious though unintended social problems. The ex-DEA heads say they disagree with that view.After votes last fall, Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize marijuana's recreational use – putting federal authorities in a quandary over how, or whether, to respond.Washington state officials responsible for creating a regulated marijuana system have said they are moving forward with a timetable of issuing producer licenses by August.Bensinger – who served as DEA administrator under Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan – said the supremacy of federal law over state law when it comes to drug laws isn't in doubt."This is a no-brainer," he said. "It is outrageous that a lawsuit hasn't been filed in federal court yet."Source: Huffington Post (NY)Author: Michael Tarm, Associated Press Published: March 5, 2013Copyright: 2013 HuffingtonPost.com, LLC Contact: scoop huffingtonpost.comWebsite: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/7iCflOVvCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #16 posted by nike244sfvca on March 06, 2013 at 12:21:54 PT:
Cannabis Petition needs votes
There is a new Petition on the white house website calling for a federal decriminalization of Cannabis. Pass the word.https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/federally-decriminalized-cannabis-so-it-may-be-used-medical-treatment-and-research/yd5TRn6J
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Comment #15 posted by schmeff on March 06, 2013 at 10:53:14 PT
DEA Heads Up There But Nobody Cares
The vultures are worried there won't be enough roadkill for the Democracy Eradication Agents.Let them eat cake.
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Comment #14 posted by John Tyler on March 06, 2013 at 07:11:29 PT
investors are getting interested
I saw this on the Yahoo home page.http://beta.fool.com/takeoveranalyst/2013/03/05/heads-or-tails-buy-or-sell-these-tobacco-stocks/23401/?ticker=LO&source=eogyholnk0000001relatedhttp://beta.fool.com/wealthlift/2012/05/31/these-marijuana-stocks-may-elevate-your-portfolio/4518/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/11/19/medical-cannabis-equipment-company-terra-tech-corp/Looks like investors are looking for investment opportunities in the emerging cannabis industry. I have already seen where freshly minted MBAs are heading to Colorado and Washington State looking get in on the ground floor of the cannabis business and now this. Once the business community sees money to be made in cannabis full legalization cannot be far behind. The Motley Fool investment group says, “It is estimated that the marijuana business is a $100 billion industry, with medicinal revenues accounting for only a small fraction of this total.”This is enough to make even the most ardent prohibitionist take notice. As Dylan said, “Money doesn’t talk, it screams.”
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Comment #13 posted by afterburner on March 05, 2013 at 19:41:57 PT
The GCW #10
The UN INCB is full of beans:First, the UN Single Convention treaty was originally passed at the insistence of the U. S.;Second, any nation can opt out of the treaty;Third, The treaty provides an exception for medical use;Fourth, the UN has no army, no political authority over the sovereign nations that comprise it.
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Comment #12 posted by mexweed on March 05, 2013 at 17:57:42 PT:
what's in a name
1. Take another look at the Drug Enforcement Agency-- I mean the name, that weird paradoxical oxymoron "drug enforcement" sorta like "criminal justice"? By prohibiting cannabis they "enforce" the drug alternative-- let kids get high on legal alcohol and smoke legal $igarettes.2. "International Narcotics Control Board?" How do they presume to lecture anyone on cannabis? 50 years ago consensus medicine admitted it wasn't a narcotic. Is this a sneak way of fooling some kids into thinking cannabis is a narcotic, so that when they try it and nothing goes wrong they'll try real narcotics too?
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Comment #11 posted by Swazi-X on March 05, 2013 at 14:38:41 PT
Dishonest Politicians Speak Against Common Sense
What a surprise - a gaggle of ex-DEA idiots join together and whine that the feds need to exert an iron hand in dealing with the "Cannabis Menace".What's really happening is these morons who have grown wealthy off our tax dollars chasing after cannabis and those who use it are trying to preserve the obscene funding the D.E.A. has wallowed in for the past 40 years. Cannabis as an illegal drug is what is responsible for the vast majority of the funding for this repressive government organization. Cannabis=Legal, D.E.A.=Broke.As it should be.
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Comment #10 posted by The GCW on March 05, 2013 at 14:11:35 PT
STERN warning.
U.N. warns America: Legalizing marijuana violates int’l law The United Nations has issued the United States a stern warning against a state trend to legalize marijuana, for recreational or medical use: Doing so violates international law.The International Narcotics Control Board, the global body in charge of overseeing drug treaties, issued a warning about the “unprecedented surge” in “legal highs” — those that stem from medically approved marijuana use — and said immediate action is needed to stop the trade, The Guardian reported. The group also warned the U.S. government to crack down on medicinal marijuana laws.Cont.http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/5/un-warns-america-legalizing-marijuana-violates-int/-0-UN official calls for marijuana ballot rollbackVIENNA—The head of the U.N. drug watchdog agency is urging U.S. federal officials to challenge ballot measures in Colorado and Washington that decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults 21 and over.Raymond Yans says the approvals send "a wrong message to the rest of the nation and it sends a wrong message abroad."Cont.http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_22034126/un-official-calls-marijuana-ballot-rollback
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Comment #9 posted by HempWorld on March 05, 2013 at 12:53:20 PT
Rocky is going all out...
Who will win?Rocky? Or, we the people?That is the question!Rocky, who runs the UN, and other orgs, the world, in short, is going for it... the usual, this will get very interesting!
Pot Law
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Comment #8 posted by schmeff on March 05, 2013 at 12:43:21 PT
This Is Big News!
A bunch of people who are absolute failures in their job descriptions are getting together for a joint press conference? Who will listen? Collectively, they represent an unbroken record of ineptitude unrivaled in modern times. They will convene to urge the continuance of failed policy, lest anyone try something that might succeed, making them look like bigger buffoons, if that's even possible.I haven't heard such an interesting and unexpected news story since those former slave owners and KKK members called a press conference to protest emancipation.
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Comment #7 posted by The GCW on March 05, 2013 at 12:20:38 PT
U.N. cries.
Thought I just heard the U.N. is saying CO & WA's legalization is against international treaties and Obama should nullify. -On radio.
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Comment #6 posted by HempWorld on March 05, 2013 at 09:37:49 PT
Former DEA Heads: Nullify Democracy!
That is what they are trying to say.
Pot Garden
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Comment #5 posted by runruff on March 05, 2013 at 08:34:12 PT
If their narrow minds can produce a spark of
cognizant intelligence?LEOs read this site. If there is any brain activity there at all they are wishing that they had the posters on FoMs site on their side.Their propaganda and reps are lame and is being seen through in-mass. This is beginning to get more fun.I do want to see much whining and crying by these sociopaths and bullies.Please, cry out loud, we have been doing it for forty years!
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Comment #4 posted by Sam Adams on March 05, 2013 at 08:05:43 PT
how sweet it is
>>>"My fear is that the Justice Department will do what they are doing now: do nothing and say nothing," said Bensinger. "If they don't act now, these laws will be fully implemented in a matter of months."Thank you! We didn't want you guys to go down quietly. This is too much fun.
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Comment #3 posted by afterburner on March 05, 2013 at 07:33:26 PT
These Birds of Prey Represent Death Economy
Only a corrupt Death-Energized Agency could see Legalization of Freedom as a threat to their vaunted Federal Supremacy. Is winning at all costs honorable in ignorant pugnacious contest based on lies and deliberate manipulation of the public? What productive contribution to the economy does the DEA provide besides their own salaries and pensions, support for surveillance helicopters, balaclavas, automatic weapons, and prison industries? Choose life: let cannabis grow!
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Comment #2 posted by The GCW on March 05, 2013 at 06:43:47 PT
It's a no-brainer, end cannabis prohibition now.
Bensinger is correct; this is a no-brainer. Brains or no-brains, it is clear cannabis prohibition is a lose, lose situation that must end and end nowThat list of ex anti-plant people are the 1st to ignore voting citizens. Should Americans care what old prohibitionists (who ignore voters) think?
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Comment #1 posted by runruff on March 05, 2013 at 06:28:51 PT
I Wonder?
How many citizens are asking themselves why a few dozen fanatical federal cops without scientific knowledge our research, without any credentials in medicine, think they can or should be able to over ride thousands of doctors, and scientist, not to mention the will of millions of people in a growing number of states?I remember a line from "Braveheart "At some point it begins to look like rage". My point is with the DEA is at some point it begins to look like fanaticism.My take? They are going down faster than the Hindenburg.Oh the humanity! Oh the humanity!
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