(NORML) This upcoming November, voters in Washington and Colorado will go to the polls to decide whether marijuana should be totally legal in their respective States. But will it matter? After all, cannabis consumers and retailers in the 17 states that have legalized medical marijuana are still subject toharassment and arrest from the federal government. The threat of federal action has halted the implementation of recently passed medical marijuana programs in Delaware and Rhode Island, and has slowed the progress of other States’ efforts to ensure that sick patients have access to the medicine they need. In the first three years of the Obama administration, the federal government has participated in over 100 raids on medical marijuana dispensaries within states where medical marijuana is legal, even after promising shortly after assuming office that he would end federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries that complied with state laws. If voters in Washington and Colorado decide to take the leap and legalize marijuana, we have no reason to expect, based on prior actions, that the federal government will let these voters express and enforce their popular will unimpeded.
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