{"id":121439,"date":"2014-03-10T22:51:20","date_gmt":"2014-03-11T04:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/scratching-heads-over-pot-policies\/"},"modified":"2014-03-10T22:51:20","modified_gmt":"2014-03-11T04:51:20","slug":"scratching-heads-over-pot-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/scratching-heads-over-pot-policies\/","title":{"rendered":"Scratching heads over pot policies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"U.S.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado John Walsh, center, said his office does not target individual pot users who smoke on private property during testimony Tuesday before the House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations.<\/span>J. Scott Applewhite\/Associated Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A congressional hearing last week called to clear up federal marijuana policy in Colorado and Washington turned into a bashing of the Drug Enforcement Administration by Democratic congressmen.<\/p>\n

U.S. Attorney John Walsh, the top federal prosecutor in Colorado, testified that he is following Attorney General Eric Holder\u2019s direction to focus on eight priorities in marijuana cases, including keeping the drug away from children and keeping drug cartels out of the state\u2019s marijuana industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. Attorney\u2019s office in Colorado does not, and has not ever in my time there, focus on individuals who are using marijuana on private property,\u201d Walsh said.<\/p>\n

But most of the hearing before the House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations in Washington, D.C., was dominated by three Democratic congressmen sharply questioning Deputy DEA Administrator Thomas Harrigan.<\/p>\n

Harrigan said it\u2019s too soon to say how his agency is handling Colorado, which had its first over-the-counter sales of recreational pot in January.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you\u2019re still scratching your head.\u201d Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., asked Harrigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI scratch my head every day, sir. You have no idea,\u201d Harrigan said.<\/p>\n

Although 21 states have legalized medical marijuana, and Colorado and Washington have legalized the drug for any purpose, it remains on the federal Schedule 1 controlled substance list for the most dangerous drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no sound scientific, economic or social reasons for us to change our nation\u2019s marijuana policies,\u201d Harrigan said.<\/p>\n

But instead of demanding tighter enforcement in Colorado by the Obama administration, congressmen in both parties expressed a desire to see whether legalization will work.<\/p>\n

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was especially interested in hemp, a nonintoxicating version of the cannabis plant that has many uses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have people ready to grow industrial hemp, but they don\u2019t want to go to jail,\u201d Massie said.<\/p>\n

But Walsh said in the absence of specific guidance from the Department of Justice, he has to exercise his prosecutorial judgment about whether to target hemp-growing farmers.<\/p>\n

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said marijuana businesses need access to banks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have legitimate businesses in Colorado, paying their taxes as we want them to do, with shopping bags full of $20 bills,\u201d Blumenauer said.<\/p>\n

But Harrigan said drug traffickers can take advantage of banks \u2013 something he\u2019s already seeing after last month\u2019s federal policy announcement allowing banks to do business with pot shops.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve already seen foreign drug-trafficking organizations attempting to exploit these new banking rules,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Harrigan said he could not discuss specific investigations.<\/p>\n

Blumenauer also pressed Harrigan on his claims about the dangers of marijuana, asking Harrigan how many people have died of marijuana overdoses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not aware of any, sir,\u201d Harrigan said.<\/p>\n

Blumenauer said Americans have stopped paying attention to the DEA\u2019s warnings about marijuana.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we can\u2019t give our kids and their families straight answers, I think it undermines their credibility,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not effective at keeping it out of the hands of our kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., said he\u2019s not sure he wants to see marijuana legalized, but he thinks it\u2019s indefensible that four times more black people are arrested on federal marijuana charges as white people, even though rates of use are about the same in both groups.<\/p>\n

Walsh said every federal agent he knows is careful about not discriminating.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think there is room to be concerned with the way that plays out,\u201d Walsh said.<\/p>\n

jhanel@cortezjournal.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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