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News-Sentinel.com Your Town. Your Voice.
Opening Arguments

Don't mae a federal case out of it!

Is the state of federalism in our republic in a state of flux, or are officials just confused by the concept?

 Several states have started reassessing their medical marijuana laws after stern warnings from the federal government that everyone from licensed growers to regulators could be subjected to prosecution.

The ominous-sounding letters from U.S. attorneys in recent weeks have directly injected the federal government back into a debate that has for years been progressing at the state level. Warnings in Washington state led Gov. Chris Gregoire to veto a proposal that would have created licensed marijuana dispensaries.

Gregoire, the chair of the National Governors Association, now says she wants to work with other states to push for changes to federal marijuana laws to resolve the legal disputes caused by what she described as prosecutors reinterpreting their own policies.

"The landscape is changing out there. They are suggesting they are not going to stand down," Gregoire said.

The Department of Justice said two years ago that it would be an inefficient use of funds to target people who are in clear compliance with state law. But U.S. attorneys have said in their recent memos that they would consider civil or criminal penalties for those who run large-scale operations — even if they are acceptable under state law.

In the case of illegal immigration, the federal government going back several administrations has made it pretty clear that it isn't interested in doing its job, prompting many states to take their own measures, which are under fire for their dubious constitutionality. In the case of marijuana, the Obama administration has sent decidedly mixed signals -- "Yeah, the laws are there, but wink, wink, nudge, nudge, we don't care all that much about them" but also "Watch your step, because we are."

Two different situations, yes? In one case, states are doing the same things the feds would be doing if they were doing what they should. In the other, the states feel they have tacit approval to do what federal law plainly says they cannot. But in both cases, the lines between what should be a national concern and what can be a local prerogative are being blurred.

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