Ex-DEA heads: Feds should nullify Colorado, Washington pot laws

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 today saying the Obama administration has reacted too slowly and should immediately sue to force the states to rescind the legislation.

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.”

I've been against Chemical Prohibition for most of my life, dating back to the Kennedy presidency. As an Independent voter, I look at the history surrounding the Alcohol Prohibition and the fact that, in that case, the Cure was worse than the Disease -- and the repeal of the 18th Amendment and the aftermath demonstrated the truth of that fact. It's time to take the same close look at the "War on Drugs".

Yes, there is a social penalty to drinking. Yes, there is a social penalty to recreational drug use. (I've witnessed first-hand just how damaging LSD and heroin can be.) The question is whether the social cost, the collateral damage, of "The War On Drugs" is worth it. So many people are in prison due to this so-called war, a war that we are losing daily. So many lives ruined because they want to party, so many people who will find it very difficult to enter the work force and thus add to unemployment. "Fast and Furious." The growth and power of the drug cartels -- remember, prohibitions spawn smugglers who fill vacuums -- the free market at work.

The money thrown down the rat-hole because it is gorilla warfare of the type we saw in Viet Nam. Don't we learn?

"But they had a choice!" Let's ask ourselves just how true that statement is. You are talking about a generation or two that threw off The Establishment because, to the kids, the moral bankruptcy of society was obvious. They were reminded of The Bomb their entire childhood and young adult-hood, with absolutely nothing they could do about it. Watching so-called adults, posturing and blustering like children on a playground, even to the point of banging a shoe on the table. So much money spent on testosterone instead of on making sure everyone was fed and clothed properly, and given a truly equal chance.

Look up the history of marijuana prohibition yourself. The word I use for the justification for limiting its continued use (which extended back centuries) I found is "lame". But don't let my opinion sway you from doing the reading yourself. And judging for yourself.

The States originally made the determinations. That determination should go back to the States, absent any clear and present social danger. I hold that the control of addictive drugs such as morphine and heroin should be recommended at the Federal level, but controlled at the State level. Now, if you want to talk about restricting the importation of all the drugs into the United States, that's a legitimate Federal power. But within the borders of these United States, drug possession and use should be controlled at the State level, by virtue of the 10th Amendment.

(I don't use the stuff. This isn't about me wanting to do grass. This is me wanting some sanity in our law.)

I'm not against our government telling citizens "Just Say 'No' to drugs". I'm not against research grants into just how bad (or not bad) certain drugs are. I'm against using a gun to enforce what up to know has been opinions, not scientific fact. Put the guns away at the Federal level inside the borders, and use them only at the borders.

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