CALIFORNIA POT INITIATIVE: DON'T FORGET ABOUT FEDERAL LAW

Nobody Is Going To Be Paying State Taxes On Marijuana When Doing So Would
Be Confession To A Federal Felony.

As former administrators of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration,
we believe that Proposition 19 to legalize marijuana in California is
a grave misstep. The ballot measure is being promoted by legalization
lobbyists on the grounds that taxes raised from the sale of the drug
will help the state with its financial crises. This simply isn't true.

That's because if passed by voters in November, Proposition 19-also
known as the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010-will be in
direct conflict with the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), a federal
law that makes the production and sale of marijuana a federal crime.
In our federal system, a state law that conflicts with a federal law
violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and is void.

The CSA itself clearly states that federal law overrides state law
when there is a positive conflict between the two jurisdictions. Thus
there is very little likelihood that anyone is going to be paying
sales taxes to the state of California or its municipalities when to
do so would be admitting the commission of a federal felony.

The California proposition is not a close call. It will be in explicit
conflict with established federal law. It will also violate our
government's treaty obligations with other countries.

It's also noteworthy that President Obama's 2010 National Drug Control
Strategy unequivocally opposes the legalization of marijuana:

"Keeping drugs illegal reduces their availability and lessens
willingness to use them. This Administration firmly opposes the
legalization of marijuana or any other illicit drug. Legalizing drugs
would increase accessibility and encourage promotion and acceptance of
use. Diagnostic, laboratory, clinical and epidemiological studies
clearly indicate that marijuana use is associated with dependence,
respiratory and mental illness, poor motor performance, and cognitive
impairment, among other negative effects, and legalization would only
exacerbate these problems."

Given the clarity of President Obama's position, it would help if the
Department of Justice made it clear that if Proposition 19 passes it
will violate federal law and the Constitution's Supremacy Clause.

The Department of Justice acted quickly to assert the Constitution's
Supremacy Clause in its recent suit to declare null and void certain
provisions of Arizona's immigration bill. It should act just as
swiftly in order to prevent Proposition 19 from becoming law. While
the California ballot initiative has not yet been approved by the
voters, as was the case in Arizona, it would be in the public interest
to make voters aware of its implications and where the Justice
Department would stand if the initiative passes.

We have urged Attorney General Eric Holder to speak out on this issue.
If Mr. Holder and his department remain silent, it will send an
unfortunate message to the public and to our law-enforcement
counterparts overseas and in this country. The Justice Department's
continued silence also indicates a willingness to ignore the policy
set out by the president in his National Drug Control Strategy.

Each of us, upon becoming administrators of the Drug Enforcement
Administration, took an oath of office to uphold and defend the
Constitution. While we may no longer be in public service, our
personal commitment to this goal and to the responsibility to uphold
the law remains undiminished. It is in this spirit that we call on the
Department of Justice to provide a legal position on California's
ballot initiative-and to do so in advance of the November election.