Drug Czar: Federal Government Will Go After Legal Cannabis Distributors In Colorado And Washington
In one of the first direct responses to how the federal government will react to the opening of legal retail outlets in Colorado and Washington after the passage of Amendment 64 and Initiative 502, Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske has made it clear that they’re planning to attack cannabis distributors, even if they’re following state law.
Drug Czar Kerlikowske.
“You’ll continue to see enforcement against distributors and large-scale growers as the Justice Department has outlined. They will use their limited resources on those groups and not on going after individual users”, Kerlikowske told a Canadian magazine earlier this week.
The answer was in response to a question that asked where things stand in regards to producers and distributors now that Colorado and Washington have voted for legalization. Recently President Obama stated that the government has “bigger fish to fry” than attacking recreational consumers in states where it’s been voted legal. Obama, of course, left out how they would respond to growers and retail outlets, leaving Kerlikowske to do the dirty work of making it clear that they won’t follow the will of the voters after all. Both Colorado and Washington are in the midst of forming regulations to license cannabis stores.
The news, which is unsurprising yet absurd, comes at a time when our congress is discussing putting an end to federal cannabis prohibition.
– TheJointBlog
Darrell Olson
What a piece of shit!!!! That’s all I have to say. The federal government wasn’t created to rule us, it was created to mediate……get off your stupid ass high horse….I hope you choke on some testicles!
Darrell Olson
Regardless of what the federal government does…….declare innocence….take it as far as you can…all the way to the Supreme Court if you have to…..we all claim we are so advanced as a society….it’s time to start proving it….we are way beyond stupid labels like this….no one is hurting anybody by smoking pot…..the only people that suffer are the pharmaceuticals and since the drug czar is in their pockets………
moldy
“”They will use their limited resources [our own tax dollars] on those groups and not on going after individual users”, Kerlikowske told a Canadian magazine earlier this week.””
Limited resources used for the sole purpose of undermining the voter’s wishes in those states. Hmmm. This is where the defecation impacts the rotary oscillator. This will not be a good political move by Obama’s hit men (since he hasn’t the balls to take the blame) since it will all come back hard on the Democratic Party. They know that and Gateway Gil also knows that. Come on Gil, bring it on if you want really want to see some angry Americans.
Beazelbud
The fed are making a huge mistake. If the Feds come after the cannabis industry to shut it down after the PEOPLE have voted for this, well then they are crossing a huge line. I mean are we even AMERICAN’S anymore? Our votes don’t count? Why do we even vote if the fed can just make our votes in VOID! The people have spoken in this matter! Now the fed needs to respect the voice of the people and move out of the way. If they are so against the cannabis industry and want to make cannabis illegal again they need to wait until the proper time, make a new initiative and hope the people vote to make this plant illegal again.
Diane G
Don’t they realize that if they legalize it, they can tax the crap out of it??? It would put less strain on our “justice” system, and we could pull ourselves out of this massive debt faster than any other reform could. Are feds retarded? Why are they still pushing this moral code on America when it’s clear that that’s not what America wants?
v Johnson
Its high time people stand collectively and demand that the status of Marijuana be lowered to a more realistic level on the drug list. We need to start at the beginning and teach these cash drooling dolts that revenue can be had if a realistic listing is given.
They will listen if we get in their pockets….its all they WILL listen to. Its all about profits
Justin Michels
Up here in Montana, we’ve been expecting to see just this type of ‘clarification’ regarding their enforcement priorities; because it’s the same exact two-faced tactic which destroyed our medical marijuana industry and put many upstanding citizens behind bars. The unintended consequence, however, has been a growing consensus that our entire drug war is a sham. Kerlikowske may not be doing it on purpose, but he is now leading the way on drug policy reform. We should not be content with pseudo-legal cannabis in certain states, we must stand up with the roughly 80% of Americans who know the drug war is failing and demand an immediate end to the nation’s longest and most costly war in history. There is nothing that will gain us allies quicker than having the American public watch our government invade states to destroy lives and sustainable economic growth. If you have doubts about this, check out the new documentary (filmed during the MT raids) “Code of the West” and look at how many news organizations have picked up on the insane case against law-abiding medical provider Chris Williams. Thanks to communications technology and rapidly increasing transparency everywhere, we are finally winning this brutal war and there is nothing these ignorant prohibitionists can do to stop it!