United States Attorney General Eric Holder informed former heads of the Drug Enforcement Administration that the federal government will continue to enforce marijuana laws in California even if the state votes to legalize the plant.

Holder promised to follow through with marijuana law enforcement even if state Proposition 19 is passed Tuesday. Proposition 19 is the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010. It will appear on the statewide ballot in Calif. on Nov. 2. If Proposition 19 passes, California will be the first state to legalize marijuana.

Proposition 19 would make marijuana legal for people over 21 years old, and allows businesses to tax marijuana and regulate sales. It will also allow for various civil and criminal penalties. The official advocacy group for this proposed law is Tax Cannabis 2010.

The federal government has not legalized any type of cannabis. Under federal policy, marijuana is illegal for all uses. Medical marijuana has been legalized in some states and decriminalized in some states. Yet, the federal government can override these laws and take action.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) does not seem to be too concerned with Holder’s promise.

“It’s a pretty hollow threat,” said Executive Director of NORML Allen St. Pierre. In 1996, the federal government made the same promise if medical marijuana was to be legalized in states, explained St. Pierre.

Today there are approximately 2,400 medical marijuana dispensaries. Colorado, New Mexico, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Washington D.C., and Maine all allow licensed taxation of cannabis used for medical purposes. For the past 14 years, the federal government has not enforced its policies upon the state governments in regard to this issue.

If Proposition 19 passes, and the federal government still plans to enforce policy on local government, roughly 99 percent of people will face no problems if choosing to use marijuana, said St. Pierre. The federal government is only concerned with people who have over 1000 pounds of marijuana or 1000 plants. Anyone who possesses less than this amount will most likely not face any issues from the federal government.

“Approximately 13 percent of California’s state budget goes to jails, and keeping convicts in jail. A portion of these people are low-level marijuana dealers. They are some of the people that are costing so much in state budget. Therefore it makes more sense for us to legalize marijuana, tax production of marijuana and save money on imprisonment,” said Danielle Marshall, a student at the University of California-Berkeley.

According to “Yes on 19,” an advocacy group for marijuana legalization, the three main changes that will be made if the question is enacted are: marijuana would be controlled like alcohol, the bill would direct police priorities away from marijuana enforcement and towards violent crime, and it would generate billions of dollars in revenue.

Those against Proposition 19 say enacting this law will allow people to smoke marijuana immediately before operating a vehicle, which they argue will increase the amount of accidents associated with drivers under the influence, according to another advocacy group, No on Proposition 19.

The federal government will enforce policy on those who do possess large amounts of marijuana. For example; California resident Todd McCormick was arrested for possessing thousands of plants, according to St. Pierre. Eddy Lepp, a Vietnam veteran, is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for “conspiracy and cultivation with the intent to distribute marijuana.” Lepp was growing over 20,000 marijuana plants at his home in Northern California.

Simone Shenny can be reached at [email protected].