Jerry Brown: Marijuana Laws Should Be Decided By States
California Governor Jerry Brown came out for State’s rights today saying that the Federal government should back of and let States decide how the want to regulate and distribute marijuana. This past Tuesday both Colorado and Washington passed referendums authorizing the recreational use and distribution of marijuana under State law. Both possession and distribution of marijuana remain illegal under federal law.
Brown said on CNN’s State of the Union:
“It’s time for the Justice Department to recognize the sovereignty of the states.”
California does not have a law allowing the recreational use of marijuana but has a very loose law allowing the distribution of the weed for medicinal purposes. Brown does not think that Californians are in any rush to legalize marijuana doe recreational use saying he felt use of the drug was “dangerous”.
Brown then commented on the state of medicinal use of marijuana in his state, saying:
“We already have a fair amount of marijuana use in the guise of medical marijuana. There’s abuses in that field.”
He still sided with Colorado and Washington on the issue saying that the laws were not decided on a whim and that there had been a tremendous amount of debate on the issue with the legislatures of each respective State.
Brown continued:
“We are capable of self-government. We don’t need some federal gendarme to come and tell us what to do. I believe in comity toward the states, that’s a decent respect.”
There is a strong debate going on right now within the States and the Federal government as to how the feds are going to handle to recent moves to legalize marijuana at the State level. The Federal government can either leave the States alone to decide what is best for themselves or use their enforcement power to shit down the laws and throw users and dispensary owners in jail. They can also go to court to block the law.
Do you think that the States should have the right to regulate marijuana or is that the jo of the Federal government?
