The New York Times reports that the Obama administration "considering plans for legal action against Colorado and Washington that could undermine voter-approved initiatives to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in those states." http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/07/us/marijuana-initiatives-in-2-states-set-federal-officials-scrambling.html

Whatever you're considering in this regard, stop. The people of Colorado and Washington state have spoken. They don't want to imprison marijuana users—which does more to destroy families and lives than drug use ever could—simply because these Americans prefer a federally disapproved intoxicant (marijuana) over another that's federally approved (alcohol). Marijuana has been shown to be no more habit-forming than caffeine, so the premise that the government is protecting citizens from addictive drugs is false. A study by the Institute of Medicine, commissioned by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, found that alcohol is more likely to be a gateway drug than marijuana, and that “marijuana is not the most common, and is rarely the first, ‘gateway’ to illicit drug use.” The gateway drug argument, then, has been shot down, by government's own research.

The laws against marijuana are as outmoded as Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which the Obama administration ended, and the Defense of Marriage Act, which the Obama administration has decided not to defend. Stop defending failed federal drug policy. Respect the rights of states to make their own, sane laws, and focus on issues that help fellow Americans rather than on laws that harm them.