Feds not leaving medical marijuana alone
By Liz Halloran, NPR
When the Obama administration recently announced it wouldn’t challenge the decision by Colorado and Washington voters to fully legalize marijuana, criticism rained down.
The administration’s position, complained one Colorado congressman, was tantamount to allowing states to opt out of the federal law banning pot possession, cultivation and sale.
Other anti-legalization activists predicted that the administration was waving the white flag in the war on drugs.
The first claim is essentially true: The states will be creating their own regulatory regimes.
As for the idea of a surrender in the war on drugs, the reality is a little more complicated.