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Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, left, and state Attorney General Bob Ferguson discuss the federal government's announcement that it will not sue to stop Washington and Colorado from taxing and regulating recreational marijuana for adults.

(AP Photo/Rachel La Corte)

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice

that it won't crash the parties in Washington state and Colorado, where voters last year legalized the recreational use of marijuana. This is a big deal in those two states, obviously,

, where residents may vote on legalization next fall. But the feds' reefer retreat is an even bigger victory for the often-maligned citizen initiative, which is the long lever voters in two western states used to budge policymakers in the nation's capital.

Without the citizen initiative, in fact, state-level legalization may not have happened in Washington, Colorado or anywhere else for years, if not decades.

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Agenda 2013

Fix PERS

Address Oregon's tax structure

Grow jobs and income

Improve educational funding and function

Build the bridge

Protect and expand personal freedom

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The federal Controlled Substances Act, which doesn't exactly smile on marijuana, has been a longstanding impediment to pot legalization, but Congress has little incentive to change it notwithstanding great shifts in public opinion. As a fairly unimportant issue about which people disagree vehemently, legalization is not something senators and representatives are itching to embrace, even indirectly.

The same goes for state lawmakers, who have an additional reason for doing nothing: avoiding conflict with federal law. Besides, legalizing pot is just so ... dramatic. Expecting the Oregon Legislature to tackle the issue without some significant prodding, then, is unrealistic. This is the group, remember, that needed multiple sessions to approve a

.

For all of these reasons, marijuana legalization is a nearly perfect issue for the citizen initiative, which allows voters to make dramatic changes on their own. The federal government could decide to fight back even now, of course, but such a battle will become more unlikely as the number of legal-pot states grows, beginning perhaps with Oregon next year. Legalization may well be here to stay.

There is still a role for the Oregon Legislature to play, however, and it's an important one. Lawmakers can place a legalization proposal of their own on next year's ballot. Anthony Johnson of New Approach Oregon, who recently worked with a handful of lawmakers on a failed legalization bill, says he'd like to try again during the February 2014 session. Should such an effort fail, he says, he's prepared to gather signatures for a legalization initiative, which could have company on the ballot. Paul Stanford, who sponsored last year's terribly flawed Measure 80, is revving up the initiative machine for another try.

The Legislature should work with Johnson. As long as Oregonians are going to vote on the issue, why not let them choose a legalization proposal that's withstood the rigors of the legislative process? Oregon's elected lawmakers may not approve of legalization, and they may dislike the citizen initiative thoroughly. Nonetheless, they will soon have a chance to shape the inevitable, and they should take it.

Even as they do, Oregonians should recognize and appreciate the institution that allows voters here and elsewhere to drive changes that otherwise might not happen.