DRUG MONEY, PATRIOT GAMES

The U.S. attorney in Seattle has charged 15 people with "bulk-cash
smuggling" under the USA PATRIOT Act for moving more than $3 million
to Canada as part of a cross-border marijuana operation.

Moving more than $10,000 from the country without reporting the
transfer is illegal, reports The Seattle Times. But the cash-smuggling
provision of the PATRIOT Act has strengthened that law -- taking it
"out of being just a reporting violation to be a ... trafficking-type
offense," Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg told the newspaper.

Before PATRIOT, the offense was punishable by a fine; now it's a
felony that carries up to five years in the federal pen and possible
forfeiture of the money.

The feds are not alleging the pot smugglers had any terrorist
connection, the Drug Reform Coordination Network reports. But
Greenberg said that use of the PATRIOT Act was still appropriate:
"They're trying to get money from here to support crime somewhere
else, so it's a way to crack down on that," he said.

In other marijuana-related news, a Nevada district judge has blocked
state officials from taking any further action that might bounce from
the ballot a citizen initiative that would regulate the legal sale of
marijuana to adults.

The ballot initiative failed to be certified for the November ballot
after supporters first misplaced 6,000 signatures, followed by Nevada
Secretary of State Dean Heller's decision to throw out thousands of
voter signatures for various technicalities. The Marijuana Policy
Project and the Campaign to Regulate and Control Marijuana -- the
groups sponsoring the initiative -- and the ACLU of Nevada sued in
federal court, in an attempt to overturn Heller's decision.

The groups argue that Heller used "a raft of unreasonable, purposeless
and unconstitutional restrictions" to prevent certification of the
measure -- including a provision that requires petitioners to secure
signatures from 10% of the voters in 13 of the Silver State's 17
counties. This rule has already been struck down by the 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals, the DRCNet reports.

In effect, the organizers' attorneys argue, the scheme violates the
one-person, one-vote rule -- it's "primarily an equal protection
argument," attorney Sarah Netburn told the DRCNet. "We are arguing
that the one-person, one-vote rule bars state laws that give different
weights to different voters." Heller also tossed the otherwise valid
signatures of people who'd registered to vote on the same day that
they'd signed the petitions.

On Aug. 2, U.S. District Court Judge James Mahan issued a temporary
restraining order until a final decision can be made. The two sides
are set to meet in court Friday (Aug. 13). Initiative supporters note
that the struggle is primarily about constitutional rights and not
simply about marijuana. "Many thousands of voters have been
effectively disenfranchised," said MPP spokesman Bruce Mirken.
"However you feel about marijuana, that should not happen."