Don't bogart the law, Mr. President

The people of Colorado and Washington have just said no to the War on Drugs and voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use.

Their rebellion might be short-lived, as the federal government could sue the states concerning the measure, threaten marijuana vendors and put boots on the ground to enforce countervailing federal law.

Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado and Democrat Gov.-elect Jay Inslee of Washington both oppose legalization but have said they intend to respect the will of their respective peoples and go forward with implementing the measures.

President Barack Obama must do the same, since he said he would.

In 2008, Obama said he would not “be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws” regarding marijuana.

He lied.

Since 2009, the Justice Department has carried out more than 170 paramilitary raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in nine states.

Obama later said he never “made a commitment” to give “carte blanche to large-scale producers and operators of marijuana” and said, “I can’t nullify congressional law. I can’t ask the Justice Department to say, ‘Ignore completely a federal law that’s on the books.’”

Which is funny, because that is exactly what he did when he issued an executive order to stop the deportation of young illegal aliens.

Amazingly, Democrats, many of them young voters, look askance.It doesn’t matter whether it’s moralistic Republicans making sure you aren’t smoking the leaf of sin or big government Democrats making sure you can’t escape federal reach. It’s clear the federal government just doesn’t trust its citizens and the respective governments of these United States to make decisions about their own lives, much less their own laws.

Civil asset forfeiture, military-style police raids and liberal jail terms and fines for the perpetrators of victimless “crimes” are not American principles.

Allowing communities, families and individuals to determine their own values are.

Nearly half of all Americans, including Obama, have smoked marijuana at least once.
According to a Rasmussen poll this year, 56 percent of Americans said marijuana should be legal. That’s a popular majority ­— something Democrats like Obama are supposed to appreciate and respect.

Obama could begin by allowing states to figure out marijuana laws for themselves.
The people of Colorado and Washington have told the federal jackboot, “Don’t tread on me.”

It’s time for Obama and his Justice Department to back off. Just as importantly, it’s time for young Obama supporters to stop giving his administration a free pass on their very undemocratic drug enforcement policies.

If the majority votes for it, let the people have their weed!