PROP. 19: FEDS WILL STOP PLAYING NICE

Attorney General Eric Holder played nice cop last year when he
indicated the feds would go easy on medical marijuana use. But he's
turning tough now: If California voters pass Proposition 19, which
largely legalizes pot, Washington will come down hard.

His stance should clear away any misconceptions about the legal
status of marijuana. It remains an illegal drug under federal law,
whether state voters feel otherwise. Growing, smoking, or selling the
stuff is against the law, he indicated.

President Obama's top law enforcement officer said the administration
will "vigorously enforce" federal drug laws. Holder signaled a legal
kitchen-sink approach was in the works if Prop. 19 wins. He would go
after sellers and organizations that distribute the weed. The
attorney general would also go to court to stop the measure from taking effect.

So much for cities across the state and their pipe-dream plans to
house marijuana-growing operations and impose taxes on the trade.
Oakland, take note.

The ballot measure effectively unbalances a delicate truce in the
marijuana wars. Since voters passed a medical marijuana initiative in
1996, there was uncertainty about how change would be handled. It
wasn't clear how far Washington would go in tolerating change at the
state level.

The Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations cracked down on
pot-selling collectives and went after back-country growers.

Then under the Obama administration this approach slowed. Law
enforcement continued to hunt down growers, but storefront
dispensaries flourished to the point where San Francisco, Los Angeles
and other cities struggled to control the surge in such outlets,
which sold pot to customers with doctor-obtained recommendations.

Holder doesn't believe the drug deserves exemption from a federal
ban. The California initiative invites trouble in combatting illegal
drug use and interferes with efforts to "target drug traffickers who
frequently distribute marijuana alongside cocaine and other
controlled substances."

Consider the words carefully. The feds remain more interested in
major dealers, not individual users. Rejecting Prop. 19 will likely
mean a return to the present-day balancing act where clinics cater to
the medically needy. That was what voters favored nearly 15 years
ago, and it still makes sense.

Serious flaws with Proposition 19 include:

. Workplace: One clause in the measure prevents employers from
disciplining workers who smoke pot unless it can be shown work
performance was impaired. Pre-employment testing would be prohibited
- - a direct conflict with federal rules that require drug screening
for operators of planes, trains, trucks and buses.

. Neighborhoods: Any property owner would have the right to grow pot
on a 5-by-5 plot - even in counties that did not allow the sale of marijuana.

. Tax and regulation: No state controls over quality or purity, or
revenue for the state, are included. Counties that allowed the sale
of marijuana could collect taxes.

. Highway safety: Drivers can't smoke pot but passengers could,
according to the crafters of the initiative.