The six sheriffs who filed suit against the governor of Colorado Thursday, alleging that marijuana legalization is an affront to federal drug law, have been called on by marijuana supporters to resign from their offices.
“If these sheriffs are unable to understand the interplay between state and federal laws, we need to find sheriffs who do,” Mason Tvert, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, said in a statement sent to The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Early on Thursday morning, the sheriffs challenged marijuana legalization on rule of law grounds. According to the sheriffs, the fact that they protect legalization means that they stand in violation of the U.S. Constitution, which forces them to violate their oath of office. (RELATED: Sheriffs From Multiple States Sue Colorado Over Marijuana Legalization)
But on the legal side, Sam Kamin, a law professor at the University of Denver, figured that the arguments offered by the sheriffs were the weakest to come against the legalization experiment and Amendment 64 in Colorado, as federal law doesn’t mandate local officers to become enforcement agents.
“Of the four (lawsuits), this is the one with the least merit,” Kamin told the Denver Post. “They have targeted not just the (marijuana store) regulation piece but they’re also essentially saying Colorado can’t legalize marijuana. No one has ever gone that far.”
And given the opinion of legal experts, the Marijuana Policy Project is calling for the sheriffs to resign, citing the U.S. Controlled Substances Act as constituting a clear justification for states setting their own marijuana policy apart from the federal government.
“Anyone who would like the State of Colorado to put the production and sale of marijuana back into the hands of cartels and criminals is not fit to protect and serve the people of our state,” said Tvert. “Colorado’s marijuana laws were created in order to improve public safety by taking marijuana out of the underground market. It’s disappointing that these sheriffs are trying to undermine them. We would like to know why they believe Colorado would be safer if marijuana went back to being shipped in from Mexico and sold on street corners.”
Justin E. Smith of Larimer County, Chad Day of Yuma County, Shayne Heap of Elbert County, Ronald B. Bruce of Hinsdale County, Casey Sheridan of Kiowa County, and Frederick D. McKee of Delta County, are the names of the sheriffs acting as plaintiffs in the case.
Smith’s county approved Amendment 64 percent, with a vote of 55 percent.
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