Eric Holder Would Be 'Glad To Work With Congress' To Reschedule Marijuana

[RainDog]

6. This is an issue for Congress

As set up by the Controlled Substances Act - tho, yes, he could call for rescheduling - and I have encouraged that - BUT

at this time, members of Congress are also using the legislature to call for Obama to uphold federal drug laws in CO and WA

House Republicans Want To Sue The President For Not Arresting People For Marijuana

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/14/republicans-force-obama-legal-marijuana_n_4964995.html

Introduced by Reps. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), the ENFORCE the Law Act (H.R. 4138) would allow the House or the Senate to sue the president for "failure to faithfully execute federal laws," including those related to immigration, health care and marijuana.

A Judiciary Committee report submitted by Goodlatte last week regarding H.R. 4138 chastised the Obama administration for selective enforcement of the Controlled Substance Act, which prohibits marijuana outright. "The decision by the Obama administration not to enforce the CSA in entire states is not a a valid exercise of prosecutorial discretion," the report reads. "The guidance of U.S. Attorneys establishes a formal, department-wide policy of selective non-enforcement of an Act of Congress. This infringes on Congress's lawmaking authority, by, in effect, amending the flat prohibitions of the CSA to permit the possession, distribution, and cultivation of marijuana so long as that conduct is in compliance with state law."

The report goes on to describe the Obama administration's actions on marijuana policy as an "impermissible suspension of the law by executive fiat."

But Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) told The Huffington Post that he is not alone in the Capitol in his support of the administration's position not to interfere with state marijuana laws, adding that while states continue to craft sensible marijuana policy, Congress continues to drag its feet with bills like this one.

Holder, imo, is making a counter move to this action on the part of Republicans.

Congress is the body that needs to respond to the will of the people, who do support legalization in greater and greater numbers, rather than pander to their for-profit-prison lobbyists... who, btw, get bills passed in Republican-controlled states to assure those for-profit-prisons have high occupancy rates by removing sentencing discretion in various ways.