High Fidelity

Feds Snub California’s Pot Vote

Vow to enforce federal laws if legalized.

What a downer: Even if California approves a popular ballot initiative to legalize marijuana this November, the Department of Justice, in an announcement by Attorney General Eric Holder, has vowed to continue enforcing federal laws that declare it illegal. The potential dissonance between state and federal law that legalization would bring has critics of the initiative worried, and many high-profile politicians, like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, have come out against legalizing the drug. Still, supporters advocate that decriminalization would bring much-needed tax revenue and a reduction in drug-related violence. Holder said he opposed the measure because it would “greatly complicate federal drug-enforcement efforts.”