I love pot. I hate pot. I donโ€™t care about pot. The best we can tell, thatโ€™s the message thatโ€™s been coming out of the U.S. Attorneyโ€™s Office in Portland over the last six months as it wrestles with how to reconcile federal law with Oregonโ€™s liberal medical marijuana laws. Last week, U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall (yes, thatโ€™s a real name and not a Hollywood creation) told the Associated Press that she was concerned about the criminalization of Oregonโ€™s medical marijuana culture, but also indicated that she wasnโ€™t opposed to the underlying legislation.

Pundits have speculated her stance could be motivated by the political fate of her predecessor, Dwight Holton, who sharply criticized the law and led a crackdown on medical marijuana. His reward was a trouncing in the state attorney general primary earlier this month by an opponent who had a more measured approach. Of course, Marshall quickly moved into damage control mode after pro-pot groups took her statements to mean that sheโ€™s taking a hands-off approach to medical pot.

Hereโ€™s a novel idea. Letโ€™s change marijuanaโ€™s classification from a schedule one drug down to a schedule two, three or four. Doing so would take the feds out of it entirely and save Ms. Marshall the verbal gymnastics and keep the federal governmentโ€™s hands where they belongโ€”off our bongs.

$
$
$

We're stronger together! Become a Source member and help us empower the community through impactful, local news. Your support makes a difference!

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Trending

Join the Conversation

1 Comment

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *