Representatives Paul and Frank send letter to President Obama urging respect for state marijuana laws | Congressman Barney Frank
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
We urge you to respect the wishes of the voters of Colorado and
Washington and refrain from federal prosecution of the inhabitants of
those states who will be following their states’ laws with regard to the
use of marijuana.
We have sponsored legislation at the federal level to remove criminal
penalties for the use of marijuana because of our belief in individual
freedom. We recognize that this has not yet become national policy, but
we believe there are many strong reasons for your administration to
allow the states of Colorado and Washington to set the policies they
believe appropriate in this regard, without the federal government
overriding the choices made by the voters of these states.
Respect for the rights of states to set policies on those matters
that primarily affect their own residents argues for federal
noninterference in this case, as does respect for the wishes of the
voters – again, on matters that primarily affect those in the relevant
electorate. Additionally, we believe that scarce federal resources –
law enforcement, prosecutorial, judicial, and penal – should not be
expended in opposition to the wishes of the voters of Colorado and
Washington, given the responsibility of all federal officials to find
ways to withhold unwise or unnecessary expenditures.
We believe that respecting the wishes of the electorates of Colorado
and Washington and allowing responsible state authorities to carry out
those wishes will provide valuable information in an important national
debate. Our request does not mean any permanent waiver of the ability
of the federal government to enforce national laws should there be
negative consequences of these state decisions – which we do not believe
are at all likely – and thus we have as a result of these two states’
decisions a chance to observe in two states the effect of the policy
that we continue to believe would be wise for the country as a whole.
Those who disagree with us should welcome the opportunity to put their
theories to a test.
Respect for the principles of democracy; respect for the states to
make decisions on matters that primarily affect the residents of those
states; the chance to conserve scarce federal financial resources –
these we believe are many strong reasons for you to defer to the state
decisions, and we believe that even those who do not share our view that
personal liberty should dictate this result should have no objection to
your acting on these principles in this case.
Rep. Ron Paul Rep. Barney Frank
Member of Congress Member of Congress
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