Officials in at least one foreign locale -- Copenhagen, Denmark -- don't seem troubled by this contradiction. Indeed, one would like to import pot from the state we're in.
"Ahead of a City Council cannabis conference on Friday," notes today's edition of the Copenhagen Post, "Copenhagen officials say they are ready to make another push to legalize the substance," with proposals including "a three-year trial."
Why should such a notion be approved? Said officials argue that "'the legal sale of cannabis will result in decreased gang criminality, more prevention and a better life for average cannabis users.'"
Adds reporter Justin Cremer, "An intriguing element of the plan calls for the possible import of cannabis from the U.S. states of Colorado and Washington, where voters in November legalized its recreational use."Explaining this concept is Mikkel Warming, Copenhagen's deputy minister for social affairs and a leading advocate for progressive marijuana policy. Note that he's at the center of a November 2011 post on our sister blog, Toke of the Town, about Copenhagen's city council voting in favor of selling pot in state-run shops and cafes.
"Yes, we are looking at Colorado and Washington," Warming tells the Post. "The U.S. states of Colorado and Washington recently legalized marijuana for recreational use, so it makes sense to learn from their experiences and to explore the possibility of importing from them."
Warming isn't naive about the possible obstacles to making this plan a reality. In his words, "We realize, of course, that there are a lot of international conventions and regulations to deal with, but we think it is possible."
How do authorities here feel about this prospect? Such outreach hasn't started yet, Warming says -- but one of the guests expected for the Friday conference is Seattle city attorney Peter Holmes.
What could possibly go wrong with this plan? Well, Warming says Copenhagen wouldn't enter into any deals with Colorado or Washington without first getting the okay from federal authorities in America. And while Attorney General Holder has not yet made the former DEA bosses' hammer-down dreams come true, he's mighty unlikely to bless such a pact.
But just think how much it might improve our trade deficit....
More from our Marijuana archive: "Marijuana: United Nations board says Colorado pot law violates international treaties."
