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Subscribe to RSSWashington State's new law makes it legal for adults to possess up to one ounce of marijuana, but some speculate the federal government will prosecute those who use marijuana on federal land because federal law prohibits marijuana use. NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports.
With marijuana possession now legal in Washington state, and soon in Colorado too, residents face a confusing mishmash of federal and state laws when it comes to whether and where they can get high.
That's because the federal government still bans pot growing and possession, regardless of what state laws say.
Last night, just hours before legislation legalizing pot in her state went into effect, U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan of Washington warned residents that "growing, selling or possessing any amount of marijuana remains illegal under federal law."
Her words could be a buzzkill for Washington's pot-lovers, yet at midnight -- the moment Washington's law went into effect -- marijuana smokers lit up beneath Seattle's Space Needle, reveling in the joy of living in a state that allows possession of pot, even if state law still says it is illegal to smoke it in public.
"It's too good to be just for the young," Pat Edmonson, 67, of Whidbey Island, Wash., said as she smoked marijuana in Seattle's City Center with a crowd of about 100 others who were lighting up, despite the no-pot-in-public rule.
State leaders have appealed to the Justice Department for guidance.
Jim Seida / NBC News
Pat Edmonson, 67, of Whidbey Island, Wash., was in Seattle with her daughter to celebrate the legalization of the possession of marijuana.
Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes encouraged celebrants to enjoy their highs inside closed doors.
"I think that they should acknowledge this newfound right," he told NPR station KUOW. "I think they should celebrate in the privacy of their homes if they choose to do so. And be thankful that we’re no longer arresting some 10,000 Washingtonians a year in the state of Washington and spending well over $100 million in law enforcement resources on that."
In Colorado, a measuring legalizing marijuana use and possession for those over 21 will go into effect next month. But one place where federal laws will have an impact: college campuses.
"In order not to lose federal funds, we need to comply with federal law," University of Colorado at Boulder spokeswoman Malinda Hiller-Huey told The Denver Post.
College students on campuses across the state will be issued criminal tickets if they are found with marijuana, The Post reported. Off-campus, however, students of legal age will be able to grow and use small amounts of marijuana, per the new amendment, according to the University of Colorado.
While Colorado's new weed measure doesn't have any provisions about driving under the influence built into it, Washington state will have a zero-tolerance policy.
"We've had decades of studies and experience with alcohol," Washington State Patrol spokesman Dan Coon told The Associated Press. "Marijuana is new, so it's going to take some time to figure out how the courts and prosecutors are going to handle it. But the key is impairment: We will arrest drivers who drive impaired, whether it be drugs or alcohol."
It's unclear whether the Justice Department will try to stop the decriminalization of pot in Washington and Colorado. The laws in both states allow adults 21 and older to possess a small amount of marijuana, which will be sold in state-licensed stores and taxed heavily, potentially bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars a year for school, health care and government needs.
Before the vote passed in his state, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper acknowledged the legal challenges his state would face.
"It's probably going to pass, but it's still illegal on a federal basis. If we can't make it legal here because of federal laws, we certainly want to decriminalize it,” he told NBC’s Brian Williams.
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia already have laws allowing for the medical use of marijuana, according to the National Council of Legislatures. The measures in Washington and Colorado go a step further, explicitly allowing people to smoke pot for more than just medicinal purposes.
NBC News' Pete Williams, Isolde Raftery and Jim Seida contributed to this report.
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U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan, AKA "the Grinch" reminds the citizenry that the federal government could care less what they think or want. We do not have the right to self-determination unless the all powerful federal government decides it's OK. This continued hard line on marijuana brings us one step closer to dictatorship. Can't wait to hear what Comrade Attorney General Holder and Comrade President Obama have to say.
the attorney general is a powerful position. i would not take lightly the power of the doj. it has all the resources of the federal government at it's disposal. that includes federal courts, federal agents and the fbi.
what, for example, if the feds decide to withold federal funds for maintaining federal highways in those states that refuse to comply with the federal drug laws?
"That's because the federal government still bans pot growing and possession, regardless of what state laws say."
~@~
"Seventeen states and the District of Columbia already have laws allowing for the medical use of marijuana, according to the National Council of Legislatures. The measures in Washington and Colorado go a step further, explicitly allowing people to smoke pot for more than just medicinal purposes."
~@~
I have been trying to get people, both citizens and politicians in State & Federal Gov. that there is a clear, legal way forward on this issue. Above, it says 17 State plus DC and now Wash. & Colorado have enacted State Laws regarding the use of Cannabis for various reasons. Unfortunately ALL but one State has elected to retain the exact same language the Federal Gov. handed them as a TEMPLATE in the 1972 Controlled Substance Act.
Under that Act there is a provision which is called Section 903: Application of State law.
The US Supreme Court recently remarked regarding Section 903 whereby they state: "The federal CSA of '72 says that a state's scheduling of controlled substances is preeminent and trumps federal scheduling."
ALL these State Laws are null & void UNLESS they reschedule Cannabis within their individual State Board of Health Controlled Substance Acts. By leaving the precise language equal to that of the Federal Gov., the State has Two Laws which conflict with each other. Each State that desires a change with regards to Cannabis Laws & enforcement MUST change the language, removing Cannabis from Schedule ONE status to a lesser degree or classification.
Oregon is the ONLY State which has reclaimed their legal right to change the language of their Controlled Substance Act to be equal to their States medical marijuana Law.
Title 21 United States Code (USC)
Controlled Substances Act Section 903. Application of State law
"No provision of this subchapter shall be construed as indicating an intent on the part of the Congress to occupy the field in which that provision operates, including criminal penalties, to the exclusion of any State law on the same subject matter which would otherwise be within the authority of the State, unless there is a positive conflict between that provision of this subchapter and that State law so that the two cannot consistently stand together."
This provision was included in the original Controlled Substance Act in 1972, which the Federal Gov. handed to the individual States as a TEMPLATE to follow. The basis of including this provision is due to:
"There exists a second level of sovereign government in the United States after the federal government, those of the several states of which compose the United States. State governments are bodies sovereign, like the federal government, and other sovereigns; they have sovereign existence deriving from the consent of the sovereign people of their territories who created them and wrote their state constitution."
Petition your State Gov. to reconcile the disparity between their current CSA and their Marijuana Laws.
Without this change in Scheduling, the Federal Gov. language is still in effect since State law parrots the language of the Federal CSA.
These pot suckers just HAD to flaunt the federal law, by lighting up in public.
My question is, how did all those druggies get home? Walk?
A very... very... very slow walk home... if they could find their way.
Tumbleweed, you need to light up and then you will get it. Not Until!
What federal law?
So tell US Arizona Tumbleweed have you ever smoked Pot? If not why? Or are you just another Hypocrite out preaching Do Not Do As I Did, Do As I Say"!
Psst Seattle has "Mass Transit" unlike some little dust blown weed infected town lost somewhere n Arizona!
BTW isn't "Marijuana" now legal in Arizona? Why yes I do believe it is!
Arizona's first medical marijuana dispensary opens.....http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/health/article_005e8b62-3ffe-11e2-b2af-001a4bcf887a.html
Hmm I am sorry but I find your "Rant" more than just a little "Suspect", best go get yourself another "Snort" and wonder off to bed...It was an Election you've lost already!
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people".~Tenth Amendment to the Constitution
Dohhh, they flew home!
Steve is right Tumbleweed, They weren't on Federal property. They were flaunting the flouting of a state law. A minor misdemeanor. The no smoking in public law, which was originally targetted to your favorite tobacco, has been deemed to apply to pot. I'm sure you don't like the smoking bans in places like Mesa. You should be supporting these particular potheads, rather than vilifying them. The law they are flouting is the same law you would be flouting if you lit up a cigarette. By the way, the area under the Space Needle is a huge expanse of lawn. It would be like ticketing you for lighting up a cigarette in the middle of the Mesa High School football feild. What would you say to that?
I forgot to answer your question.
First, a kot of them will hit the 24 hr fst food joints in the adjacent food courts. Then they will walk, bicycle, take the Monorail, take the bus, and yes some of them will drive. They will drive a little more slowly, a little more cautiously, and with a little more distance between themselves and the car in front of them, and get home quite safely. You really shouldn't have fired that driver for smoking pot, it wasn't impairing his job performance. Had he ever had an accident with one of your trucks? Of course not.
Den O'synn Response posted forward to page 6!
Austin, Texas in the 70es, those were the days!
I wonder if the Great State of Texas will ever let its citizens have the individual right to decide if they want to purchase pot in Texas stores, pay Texas taxes on Texas grown pot-and stay home and get high in the privacy of their own four walls. Its the last great dream of a lot of us baby boomers, legalized MJ!
hit wrong reply , never mind.
QueZen....Sorry response posted on page 8
To the Federal Government, I say: Shove it!
The Feds fired a 'pot shot'? LOL.
To: The USAG @ the DOJ
Dear Mr. USAG,
Go the F away, and leave us the F alone.
Signed,
We the People,
The Citizens of the State of Washington
(excuse me while I fire up this fatty)
P.S.
If you don't. You're fired.
There was MUCH sadness in Utah because Obama won for reasons JUST like the MJ issue. Private prison companies employ many Mormons and other religious constituents who get their jollies off of telling other people "no" (because they don't do it and feel a desire to tell others what to do with their bodies). If Obama is SMART, he'll be the president that RESPECTED the people's voice and reschedule the PLANT on the drug schedule to something lower (cf. it's a rubber spatula in the automatic weapon class of drugs, to paraphrase a former govt worker). It's not like it's asking so much-- it's asking the govt to STOP enforcing DOGMA. It's kind of like watching a little kid saying, "LALALALALALALALALICANTHEARYOU" when study after study, scientific after scientific group, citizen after citizen group (e.g., LEAP), demonstrates that the assessment of pot by the govt is misguided, anachronistic, and bordering on moronic.
Of real issue: To come down HARD on drivers who drive HIGH--- they jeopardize the basic rights of other people to travel in safety. And the BS about having skilz when you're high--- absolutely unenforcable and unrealistic. There needs to be AGGRESSIVE education for the dumb ones who don't care about others' rights/safety. These were probably not issues in Washington's horse and buggy days but 140kph moving 2 ton vehicles are a different story. How will we do it?
Stoners flying along at 140 miles an hour?
LOL, hahahahah! That's drunks that do that!
Holy smokes... that's a woman in that picture? Perhaps it could be captioned with "Smoking Is Very Glamorous" and used in campaigns against cigarettes.
Hey, after a toke or two... no one cares...
if you can get the good stuff, maybe.
and the warning shot was???
Looks like the people are going to have to take the stance of the illegals in this country.....carry signs that say "we will not comply" gather a huge crowd of many thousands and go on a big march on Washington D.C. Nobody wants to "go to work stoned"....All chaos isn't going to break loose...God, I am so sick of idiotic statements like these. You'd think that pot was just discovered. Wyatt, FYI......it's been around for centuries, many, many centuries. The world isn't going to fall apart if people have an alternative to getting stoned on alcohol! Used to be people were afraid of what would happen if black people were given equal rights, in this world there are men who are still afraid of women possessing equal rights....gays had to fight to get people to stay out of their lives and what they do. Now it's time for people to back off and let adult people have their cannabis. It can and should be used responsibly. Lift the stigma and stop the fear mongering. This is the country of the "Land of the Free". How free are we when we have to hide away like fugitives to imbibe in something that is less harmful than alcohol? Cannabis has never killed anyone and it's not addictive. It DOESN'T lead to harder drugs THAT'S a fallacy and it's unfair to keep promoting lies just to keep the prisons full. Think of all the people who are messed up mentally due to what they have been exposed to in jail, think of all the careers that have been derailed, think of all the misery caused and money lost from good families and for what? To punish people.....FOR WHAT?! For relaxing? For enjoying something akin to alcohol, but not quite as strong? Just what are we protecting society from???? Face it America. You've been sold a bill of goods and it's been lousy, not good.
Wow Valerie, eloquent!
How pathetic both state and federal goverment...can't even be on the same page....you (the people) have turned the U.S. into a immoral and pathethic country.
Does this mean that Obamarama will have to use Air Force One to score his pot?
No it does not they have legal medical pot in DC so , all the prez needs is a script from his DR and a ride down the block.
medical weed is available in dc too? never heard that before.
Dear Federal Government:
You don't seem to be able to do anything about the fiscal crisis we are all facing. Or anything else for that matter.
Leave the states that have legalized pot alone...it's their business and their people voted for it.
Which is more than we got to vote for relative to those tax breaks for the wealthiest among us.
Please worry about the Real Problems right now.
they're employees of the federal government, not elected officials.
the feds were holding back until after the november election to press this matter. neither party wanted a debate on this taking place during the primaries and campaign.
Lol. They won't have that choice in 2014.
The main thing to consider here is sovereign rights. The people of those two states voted it that way. End of discussion! What really kills me is that you can buy pot legally in DC if you have a prescription. Why don't they start there if they want to whip people into shape?
I hate pot. I hate pot smokers. I know that BHO will not interfere with the states involved because he is running for re-election and he is a kindred spirit. Like Slick Willie before him, he does a bowl now and then as it relaxes him. Do not fear pot heads in Washington and Colorado, You have a friend in a very high place.
Why hate? What they(pot heads) do to you? And dont say because "its illegal". I think the government has other WAY more iportant issues to deal with.
he outgrew the habit. it happens with some people.
people should calm down.treat it like alcohol.smoke at home.dont be stupid or youll screw it up for yourselves.lose the hippy lingo.the tie died clothes.grow up and act responsible.
If their is one time where the government needs to "bud" out. Its now. Im so tired of more and more rights taken from us. Its PASSED state law! The people are speaking! You don't go against the majority ever.
really? never go against the majority? What about a woman being gang raped? If the state voters say yes, and the constitution does not give the federal government the power to regulate it then the country must stand together and tell the feds to back off.
The state of WA has got to be off their rocker. Unless you have plans to lobby for legalization in other states and most importantly, your bordering states, you are going to have a SH#T storm of a problems on your hands.
I don't even want to start listing the issues.
Pot is a state issue. The federal government has NO business getting involved. read the 10th amendment. P.S. Do not use marijuana or any other drug. I just believe in state rights. Anyone agree with me??
The Federal Government should be all over this. Its time for the Feds to enforce the law. Deport all illegal aliens, and arrest everyone doing drugs illegally. That is the law.
The feds have other issues to deal with. I would rather have my tax dollars go to dealing with other criminal laws and other laws that need a changing that are way more important.
But is this case the Law is an Ass.
Liberals are getting the world they wanted. Everyone sitting at home on the dole and and too lazy to get up and get jobs. Thus the big push for taxing the rich. When they leave like they left France and Great Brittan for lower tax countries civil war will ensue. That's why guns sales are up and climbing everyday.
Can you say "nutjob"
there are not anywhere near enough jobs for everyone who wants or needs one. that's a fact.
Man made booze, god made weed, who do you trust?
We have a zero tolerance policy at work, most of the accidents were caused by employees who had alcohol or marijuana in there system. Marijuana does not allow a person to focus better and they, the person who claims that is an idiot. So, since there is a zero tolerance policy can they refuse to hire and fire those to partake in a smoke? They already banned cell phones and blocked social networking sites because they were losing productivity due to people spending their time texting or talking on Face Book, I liked that policy, I got tired of doing others people work because they weren't getting it done because they were too busy updating peps of their daily activities.
Glad I don't work where you do.
@Jones D: It is entirely reasonable for an employer to not hire someone who doesn't pass a drug screening. It is also reasonable for them to fire someone for; 1) not complying with the terms of employment (ie, performing required duties in a safe and timely manner), 2) arriving for one's shift in an unfit condition, 3) testing positive for drugs or alcohol following an accident during the course of work. Zero tolerance in the work place is not the issue here. Using company time to socialize is not the issue here, either. Most of us working stiffs have had to counter-balance the short-comings of fellow employees who believe they get paid just because they punch-in. Again, not the subject at hand. Come in from left field and join the conversation or troll elsewhere.
Dont get your panties in a WAD. The Feds are going to do very little on this one. At best they are just trying to find a way to TAX it. They need to move Quickly? Yes. Colorado everybody can grow a few what? and have an ounce of who? Damn Washington and Colorado are the places to be this Christmas and New Years.
Also, keep in mind the Feds no matter how mixed message they have sent over the years, the Attorney General Holder...did a stand down on all Marijuana raids across the country over two years ago...to make room for the STates to regulate their own Pot Laws........so know this.....the Feds are going to come up with a way to allow States to do their own thing......I just think they want to TAX it...which is the only hesitation.