9 MI Congressmen support federal crackdown on marijuana

Vote on House Resolution 4138 passed by 54% – 42% margin; resolution requiring Obama administration to enforce federal laws in medical, legal marijuana states goes to the US Senate

Partisan politics is at play again in the nation’s capital as the US Congress is considering a resolution that would use the threat of civil action to force the President to enforce federal marijuana laws in states that have legalized the use of the medicinal herb. Every Michigan Republican in the US House voted in favor of the resolution.

The bill is House Resolution 4138. The bill’s long title is, ‘Executive Needs to Faithfully Observe and Respect Congressional Enactments of the Law Act of 2014,’ but is more commonly called the ‘ENFORCE The Law Act of 2014.’ The bill has 23 sponsors and co-sponsors- all are Republican, with none from Michigan.  Every Michigan Democrat in the House opposed HR 4138, with the exception of Rep. Dingell (D- Dearborn), who did not vote.

President Obama, a Democrat, and his administration have chosen to take a hands-off approach to legalized distribution of marijuana in Colorado and Washington, where voters have elected to allow responsible adult use of marijuana, and in 20 states where medicinal use is legalized. Medicinal and recreational uses of marijuana violate federal drug statutes; medical marijuana has been the law in various states since the mid-1990′s and has withstood the administrations of Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama.

Michigan voters elected to adopt a medical marijuana program in 2008 by a 63% margin. Since then every ballot proposal put before Michigan citizens that proposed to relax marijuana laws has been approved- most by margins that exceed the 63% benchmark.

HR 4138 creates an avenue whereby the US House, or both Houses of Congress if the bill is passed by the Senate, could sue the US President for creating a “formal or informal policy, practice, or procedure to refrain from enforcing, applying, following, or administering any provision of a Federal statute, rule, regulation, program, policy, or other law.” The bill was passed by the House on March 12 by a 233-181 vote.

A second bill is associated with HR 4138 that would require the US Attorney General to report to Congress on any policy whereby the federal government adopted a policy to not adhere to any law.  HR 3973 was co-sponsored by Michigan Rep. Kerry Bentivolio (R- Milford Township) and is called “The Faithful Execution of the Law Act of 2014.” That bill has a total of 38 sponsors and co-sponsors- all Republican. It was passed by the House on March 13 by a vote of 244-171, and was promptly laid low by a motion to reconsider. It has not yet advanced to the Senate.

Originally billed as a protest against the President’s position on immigration and health care laws, powerful Republicans have used HR 4138 as an opportunity to criticize Obama’s permissive approach to marijuana use. US House of Representatives Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R- VA) listed “failing to enforce federal drug laws in states that permit medical and recreational marijuana use” as one of the driving forces behind HR 4138.  Also cited by Goodlatte: “the announcement that the Justice Department will stop prosecuting low-level drug offenders under mandatory minimum sentencing laws.” Goodlatte is one of the bill’s Sponsors.

Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, told Fox News that President Obama “needs to be chastened, rebuked, and told that he needs to obey the constitution.” Paul is widely considered the Republican front runner to challenge the Democrats for the US Presidency in 2016.

A Congressional Committee Report lists “Non-Enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act for Medical and Recreational Marijuana” as Obama’s #1 violation of criminal law. Statements made by US Attorney General Eric Holder instructing federal prosecutors to stand down on cases with defendants who are charged with federal marijuana crimes but whose behavior was in compliance with state laws “establishes a formal, department-wide policy of selective non-enforcement of an Act of Congress,” per that report.

In that report’s Dissenting Views section, House Democrats said HR 4138 is “a faulty solution in search of a non-existent problem” and that the bill is “likely be unconstitutional as applied.” Dems questioned the methodology used to advance HR 4138, saying “there was almost no meaningful deliberative process surrounding the Committee’s consideration of the bill.”

HR 4138 was passed through Goodlatte’s House Judiciary Committee without holding a single hearing for open testimony. It was approved by a vote of 18 – 14, divided along party lines. Six Democratic attempts to amend HR 4138 in Committee were defeated, including attempts by Michigan Representative John Conyers to preserve the President’s ability to protect civil rights or fight discrimination and efforts by Reps. Jackson Lee (D-TX) and Nadler (D- NY) to protect prosecutorial discretion and Constitutional interpretation.

‘ENFORCE The Law’ moves on to the US Senate, where it has been assigned to the Judiciary Committee.