DEA raises cash to fight pot issue

Measure's backers cry foul, but agency says it's within law

By Ryan Morgan
Boulder Daily Camera
August 28, 2006

The Drug Enforcement Agency is stepping into the political fray to oppose a statewide ballot issue that would legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.

In an e-mail to political campaign professionals, a DEA agent named Michael Moore asks for help in finding a campaign manager to defeat the measure, which voters will consider in November. If passed, it will allow people 21 and older to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana.

In the e-mail, which was sent from a U.S. Department of Justice account, Moore also writes that the group has $10,000 to launch the campaign. He asks those interested in helping to call him at his DEA office.

That has members of Safer Colorado, the group supporting the marijuana legalization measure, crying foul. The government has no business spending public money on politics, they say.

Steve Fox, the group's executive director, said members of the executive branch, including the DEA, should leave lawmaking to legislators.

"Taxpayer money should not be going toward the executive branch advocating one side or another," Fox said. "It's a wholly inappropriate use of taxpayer money."