Meet one of the main policy makers fighting legalization:

Jason Chaffetz

47 year old has been Congressman for Utah’s 3rd district since 2008.

Interesting facts:
- His father, John Chaffetz, was Jewish
- His mother was a Christian Scientist
- Chaffetz converted from Judaism to Mormonism during his last year of college
- He attended Brigham Young University on an athletic scholarship
- Was the starting placekicker on the BYU football team in 1988 and 1989. He still holds the BYU individual records for most extra points attempted in a game, most extra points made in a game, and most consecutive extra points made in a game.
- His former step-mother is Michael Dukakis’ wife

Link to Forbes Article

The congressman from Utah threatened DC's mayor with jail time if she went ahead with the legalization of recreational marijuana.

FTR, the distance between Utah and D.C. is 1,845 miles.

quote:
Two days ago, the chairman of the House committee that oversees the District of Columbia warned D.C. officials that they could go to prison if they insisted on implementing Initiative 71, the marijuana legalization measure that voters approved by an overwhelming margin last November. “There are very severe consequences,” Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) told The Washington Post. “You can go to prison for this. We’re not playing a little game here.”

quote:
Chaffetz’s threat of prison for D.C. officials who implement Initiative 71 was a desperate bluff. He argued that Mendelson, the D.C. Council chairman, violated the Harris amendment when he transmitted the initiative to Congress, since that action required some expenditure of public funds, if only to pay for the time that Mendelson and his staff devoted to it. Not only that, Chaffetz said, but “even the mere act of transmitting the Initiative by the District is likely in violation of the Anti-Deficiency Act,” which authorizes criminal penalties, including fines up to $5,000 and up to two years in prison, for federal or D.C. officials who misuse money appropriated by Congress. Chaffetz even suggested that “developing rules for law enforcement or the general public” regarding the implications of Initiative 71 would be a felony.

quote:
Even Republicans who view marijuana with distaste are cognizant of polls showing that most Americans favor legalization and that support is especially strong among younger voters. Making a priority of forcing D.C. to reinstate penalties for possession, noncommercial transfers, and home cultivation would contradict the GOP’s avowed commitment to local control and make Republicans look like a bunch of intolerant bullies.

A couple quotes from his own website:

quote:
I oppose the Obama Administration’s decision to trample the rights of states

(yes I know DC isn't a state)

quote:
“I am opposed to legislative and legal efforts to reclassify or decriminalize the use of marijuana. Marijuana is a psychotropic drug classified under Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act as having ‘high potential for abuse,’ ‘no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States,’ and a ‘lack of accepted safety for use of the drug…under medical supervision.’ While certain of these principles may be open to significant debate within segments of the medical community, and among pro-legalization/decriminalization groups, I am opposed to re-classification and decriminalization efforts. And while derivatives of marijuana are available in pill form for medicinal purposes, smoked marijuana is a health danger, not a cure, and therefore remains a harmful and dangerous drug for people of all ages.”

tl;dr I'm bored and felt like doing this