White House to Congress: US Marijuana Laws Are States' Rights Issue Paul Gaita - The Fix
go to original July 19, 2014

While debates on marijuana's health effects should and will continue even beyond the next wave of legalizations, it's clear that the floodgates have already been broken. Sabrina Siddiqui joins Marc Lamont Hill to discuss which states are most likely to legalize marijuana next. (The Huffington Post)

Continuing to take baby steps in reforming the nation's failed drug policy, the Obama administration has opposed a Republican-led amendment that would block marijuana decriminalization efforts in Washington, D.C.

A statement issued by the White House on July 14 laid out the President’s response to an amendment to the 2015 Financial Services and General Appropriations Bill by Congressman Andy Harris (R-MD), which would prohibit the District of Columbia from using local funds to lower the penalties for marijuana possession.

The amendment, according to the administration, “undermines the principles of States’ rights and District home rule,” and “poses legal challenges to the Metropolitan Police Department’s enforcement of all marijuana laws currently in force.” In March 2014, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray signed a bill that reduced the penalties for possessing a small amount of marijuana to $25.

Read the rest at The Fix

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