Obama Mulling Response to State Marijuana Initiatives

From today’s New York Times:

Senior White House and Justice Department officials are considering plans for legal action against Colorado and Washington that could undermine voter‐​approved initiatives to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in those states, according to several people familiar with the deliberations.


Even as marijuana legalization supporters are celebrating their victories in the two states, the Obama administration has been holding high‐​level meetings since the election to debate the response of federal law enforcement agencies to the decriminalization efforts.

Next week Cato will host a policy forum to explore the legal doctrine of federal supremacy, state prerogatives under the Tenth Amendment, and other issues related to drug policy reform. Asa Hutchinson, former head of the DEA and Vanderbilt University law professor Robert Mikos will be making presentations. Event details are here.


Richard Branson has some thoughts here. And check out the new film, “Breaking the Taboo.”