CHICAGO (AP) Eight former
Drug Enforcement Administration chiefs said Tuesday that the federal government needs to act now or it might lose the chance to nullify Colorado and Washington's laws legalizing recreational marijuana use.
The statement came on the same day a United Nations-based drug agency urged the
U. S. government to challenge those laws, saying they violate international drug treaties.
The onetime DEA heads issued joint statements saying the Obama administration has reacted too slowly and should immediately sue to force the states to rescind the legislation.
One of the former DEA administrators,
Peter Bensinger, told
The Associated Press the day before that the more time that goes by, the harder it'll be to stop the two states.
Marijuana is illegal under federal law.