DOMESTIC
SPRING 2014
I
n November 2012, Amendment 64
passed in Colorado with fifty-five
percent of the vote in favor of legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes. On January 1st, 2014 at 8 A.M.,
the law went into effect, and smokers lined up for the grand opening of
America’s first legal marijuana dispensaries. The excitement generated by the
new laws in Colorado and Washington
has empowered marijuana legalization
advocates, who have put increasing
pressure on the Obama administration
to take a defined stance on the issue
and advocate for changes in drug laws.
Under the new laws in Colorado, it is
legal for adults twenty-one and older to
purchase up to an ounce of marijuana,
which can cost upwards of $200 pretax. Adults are also permitted to grow
up to six cannabis plants privately in a
locked space, though no more than half
of them can be mature, flowering plants.
When it comes to smoking marijuana
states that possession and sale of marijuana is illegal and punishable by up to
life in prison, creating a substantial contradiction between state and federal law.
The Obama administration’s willingness to help Colorado and Washington
enact the laws their citizens voted for
gives hope to marijuana advocates across
the U.S. Therefore, more attention has
turned toward the Obama administration
as legalization advocates push to spread
the success of Colorado nationwide.
One complaint of legalization advocates is marijuana’s previously-mentioned classification as a Schedule I
drug. This classification puts it on the
same level as heroin, LSD, and ecstasy
(MDMA), and thus, more dangerous
than Schedule II substances, which include cocaine and methamphetamine.
Additionally, downgrading marijuana’s
classification would allow more testing to be done on marijuana’s medicinal benefits, according to Matt Smith
On February 12th, eighteen members of Congress urged the President
to take action regarding the Schedule I
classification of marijuana in a bipartisan letter. They pointed out his inconsistencies, noting, “you said that you
don’t believe marijuana is any more
dangerous than alcohol: a fully legalized substance…Marijuana, however,
remains listed in the federal Controlled
Substances Act as Schedule I, the strictest classification.” While Obama has not
specifically addressed the letter, he was
asked in an interview with Jake Tapper
of CNN if he was considering changing marijuana’s classification. His immediate response was that “what is and
isn’t a Schedule I narcotic is a job for
Congress.” Even when directly asked
if he supported the movement, Obama
gave a vague response that did not answer the question and instead discussed
the flaws of America’s incarceration
model, and stated that his goal is to
The administration has been criticized for its hazy stance on
marijuana, and the success of the “experiment” in Colorado is
leading to increasing pressure on the President as advocates
across the U.S. push for legalization.
and driving, laws are similar to current
DUI laws for alcohol. Additionally, it
is illegal to smoke marijuana in public.
Because marijuana is classified as
a Schedule I substance – which is “the
most dangerous class” according to the
United States Drug Enforcement Administration – the Obama administration has
had to make allowances for Colorado’s
law to be enacted. Last August, the Department of Justice stated that it would
not challenge state laws that legalize
marijuana, choosing instead to focus on
serious trafficking and keeping the drug
away from children, according to CNN’s
Michael Martinez. This is significant because despite the drug’s legality in Colorado and Washington, federal law still
of CNN, as one of the differentiators of
Schedule I substances is that they have
no medicinal value. However, the lack
of research on marijuana prevents the
DEA from moving it to a lower classification, creating a catch-22 situation.
In late January 2014, President
Obama stated in an interview with David Remmick of The New Yorker that he
thinks marijuana is less dangerous than
alcohol and referred to cocaine and meth
as “harder drugs.” Although Obama
quickly modified his statement saying
that he does not at all encourage the use
of marijuana, many have interpreted
his statement as a sign that he would be
willing to change marijuana’s classification in the remaining years of