New Marijuana Lobby Group Hits Washington

Heavy, man. No more hippie-dippie peace-and-love arguments to legalize pot: marijuana supporters have launched a professional lobby organization in DC to press their case. The National Cannabis Industry Association will be the "go-to organization in Washington" for this fight, said director Aaron Smith, who has worked for 5 years as head of California's Marijuana Policy Project. Smith will likely have a cold awakening in DC after time on the Left Coast, where he's convinced marijuana legalization is "inevitable," notes the McClatchy newspapers.

Even Democrats beat up on pot in Congress. Wisconsin Rep. Steve Kagen announced on the floor recently that "there is nothing safe about smoking an illicit product called marijuana." The pot lobby's first target will be a federal law that prohibits marijuana use even if states have legalized it. Some 15 states allow use of marijuana for medical purposes. (More National Cannabis Industry Association stories.)