Proposition 19, also known as the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, is a California referendum which will be voted on on November 2, 2010 in a California statewide ballot. Proposition 19 proposes to legalize several marijuana-related activities. The referendum language allows local governments to regulate marijuana related activities and also allows local governments to tax marijuana-related activities. In March 2010, Proposition 19 qualified to be on the November statewide ballot. Proposition 19 would, in essence, make marijuana possession and use legal for adults according to California State law. As such, if passed, it would be the most progressive law concerning marijuana legalization in the USA.
Proposition 19 is the most recent of a series of legal changes softening the law enforcement response to marijuana use. Currently, twelve US states have medical marijuana laws that allow qualified patients to legally use marijuana. Internationally, a number of countries have decriminalized marijuana use to various extents, including the Netherlands, Mexico, Argentina and Portugal.
The US DEA in Thailand
The US Drug Enforcement Agency has a long history of collaborative activities with the Thailand police and government.
The U.S. government opened its first office in Bangkok in 1963. The DEA currently maintains offices in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Udon Thani. The DEA recently closed an office in the southern Thai city of Songkhla. The DEA offices in Thailand comprise 6 percent of the DEA’s foreign workforce, making it the DEA’s fourth largest country presence in terms of allocated personnel. As of FY 2006, the Thailand DEA offices were authorized to have a total of 47 personnel.
The DEA has recently expanded it activities with the commencement of Operation ‘Hot Spot’ in Pattaya and several other key locations throughout Thailand.
The campaign, commencing on Wednesday, involves the distribution of various informational products emblazoned with the dea-rewards.com website, a hotline telephone number (02 205 4444), photographs of the nation’s most wanted drug traffickers and a solicitation to the public to aid authorities by providing drug, money laundering or any information leading to the stifling of drug related crimes.
Federalism and States Rights, and Marijuana Laws and the DEA
Persons anticipating that the recent trends toward de-criminalization of marijuana in the USA and elsewhere will have an effect on DEA activities in Thailand. or Thailand’s policies, may be disappointed. The referendums and legislation passed in the USA has been passed by state legislatures. The DEA is under the control of the federal government and there is a separate body of federal law which still criminalizes marijuana, despite state laws. Further, Eric Holder, the US Attorney General, has recently issued a statement:
“We will vigorously enforce the [federal Controlled Substances Act] against those individuals and organizations that possess, manufacture or distribute marijuana for recreational use, even if such activities are permitted under state law,” Holder wrote in a letter to nine former heads of the Drug Enforcement Administration who had lobbied the Obama administration to forcefully oppose California’s overreaching ballot initiative.
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