December 09, 2011 07:07 PM UTC

Polis Grills Attorney General Holder on Medical Pot

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Huffington Post reports from Rep. Jared Polis’ first day on the House Judiciary Committee:

Polis…asked about the recent federal crackdown on medical marijuana shops in California, where U.S. attorneys have closed hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries in just two months’ time. She questioned whether Colorado could expect to get different treatment.

“It’s my understanding,” Polis said, “[California] did not have a functional state-level regulatory authority. Colorado does have an extensive state regulatory and licensing system for medical marijuana, and I’d like to ask whether our thoughtful state regulation … provides any additional protection to Colorado from federal intervention.”

Holder’s response, though vague, offered Polis some assurance, while seeming to suggest that state-level regulation in California is inadequate.

“Where a state has taken a position, has passed a law and people are acting in conformity with the law — not abusing the law — that would not be a priority with the limited resources of our Justice Department,” Holder said.

Rep. Polis worked Attorney General Eric Holder over on numerous aspects of Colorado’s medical marijuana law in contrast to California’s, where the Department of Justice has recently cracked down on medical marijuana dispensaries. Polis sought to differentiate between California’s less-regulated medical marijuana system, and Colorado’s state-managed and tightly regulated program as mandated by our state’s Amendment 20. Holder was vague as the story above suggests, but seemed to indicate that Colorado’s state-managed medical marijuana industry would be a lower priority for the Justice Department’s “limited resources.” That said, we doubt Holder is as ignorant of Colorado medical marijuana law as he claims, and he didn’t give Polis anything that might help Colorado dispensaries get their bank accounts reopened.

But with marijuana legalization emerging as one of those bellwether generational shift issues in the polls, we expect Rep. Polis will get many more chances to ask the hard questions.