Adithya Sambamurthy/The Bay Citizen

Businessman Dhar Mann at iGrow near Oakland International Airport on Thursday, July 15, 2010

The federal government made it clear today that it will continue to enforce drug laws even if California votes to legalize marijuana on Nov. 2.

Observers said the Obama administration’s pronouncement that it would continue to “vigorously enforce” the laws against people buying, selling, or growing marijuana for recreational use would have a greater effect on big pot impresarios rather than the average stoner if Proposition 19 passes.

“I don’t see them coming in and taking down people with their little five-foot by five- foot gardens,” said Bill Panzer, an Oakland lawyer who helped write seminal state legislation on medical marijuana.

The feds, Panzer speculated, would more likely be interested in big marijuana growing operations like the ones that are going to be permitted in Oakland.

Prop. 19 would allow Californians 21 and older to grow up to 25 square feet of marijuana and possess up to an ounce for personal use. It gives cities and counties the power over commercial production and sale.

Polls show that it will be close vote on Prop. 19. A Reuters polls this week has the initiative losing 53 percent to 43 percent. A Field poll released in late September had Prop. 19 winning 49 percent to 42 percent. Check out all the latest polls here. 

In a letter made public today, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder wrote that “We will vigorously enforce [drug laws] against those individuals and organizations that possess, manufacture or distribute marijuana for recreational use, even if such activities are permitted under state law,"

The Prop. 19 campaign fired back with a statement from one of its supporters, Joseph McNamara, a retired San Jose chief of police.

"If the federal government wants to keep fighting the nation’s failed 'war on marijuana' while we're in the midst of a sagging economic recovery and two wars, it just proves that the establishment politicians' priorities are wrongly focused on maintaining the status quo,” said McNamera. "As will be shown on Nov. 2, Californians are not going to let politicians in Washington, DC tell them how to vote."

State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, who has long pushed for legalization, said that Holder's letter was a measure of the movement’s success.

“I think he’s just covering his ass,” said Ammiano. “When it looks like something is going to happen, then they either try to make it go away or cover their asses.”

If the initiative passes, legal ambiguity will no doubt ensue in many respects. Lawyer Panzer said provisions that give cities regulatory power "creates potentially a huge can of worms where you could have 463 different laws in California." 

However, Panzer said that the feds would have a hard time striking down Prop. 19 in court, even if they start making arrests on the ground. 

“The feds can strike something down is if there is a conflict between two laws,” Panzer said. “If California made it mandatory to possess cannabis then you have a conflict, but with 215 [the medical marijuana law] and 19 there’s no conflict.”