REPORT: DEA AGENT SEEKS HELP DEFEATING MARIJUANA PROPOSAL

BOULDER -- A Drug Enforcement Administration agent has asked political
campaign professionals for help defeating a statewide ballot issue
that would legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, a
Boulder paper reported Sunday.

An agent named Michael Moore sought a campaign manager to defeat the
measure, which would allow people 21 and older to have up to 1 ounce
of marijuana.

The e-mail was sent from a U.S. Department of Justice account and asks
those interested in helping to call Moore at his DEA office. Moore
said there was $10,000 available to launch the campaign.

That prompted members of Safer Colorado, the group supporting the
ballot proposal, to say the government should stay out of politics.

"Our federalist system is based on the notion that states can
establish their own laws without federal interference. The DEA ... is
thumbing its nose at the citizens of Colorado and the U.S.
Constitution," said Steve Fox, the group's director.

Jeff Sweetin, the special agent in charge of the Denver office of the
DEA, said the law allows his agency to tell voters why they shouldn't
decriminalize pot.

"We're in favor of the democratic process. But as a caveat, we're in
favor of it working based on all the facts," he said.

Sweetin said the $10,000 available for the campaign came from private
donations, including some from agents themselves.

Colorado law prohibits state employees from advocating for or against
any political issue while on the job, but federal law allows federal
employees like those who work for the DEA to take part in nonpartisan
politics.

An official from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which
investigates violations of the act, said last week that the DEA hasn't
run afoul of the law, the paper reported.