Pot Legal in 2 States, Drug Czars Panic
Cenk complains a lot about Obama going after states which legalize marijuana use in this video. My take is that Obama is forcing states to take the initiative to strike down federal prohibitions against marijuana use. Rather than Obama simply ignoring federal laws against marijuana use, which he could do by making enforcement of those laws a low priority, he is forcing Congress to act by making a law which leaves marijuana laws to the discretion of states, thus releaving the federal government of responsibility for those laws. That way permanent change occurs, rather than setting up a situation where states could get comfortable with allowing marijuana use only to have all that swept away when a conservative president is elected. Obama could suggest such legislation, but that's not something he wants to spend political capital on.