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Former U.S. Attorney Kris Olson,right, appears with actor and singer Susannah Mars, center, and Ronni Lacroute at a 2009 gala for the Artists Reportory Theatre in Portland.

Kris Olson, the top federal prosecutor for Oregon during the Clinton administration, on Monday endorsed the ballot measure that would legalize recreational marijuana use in Oregon.

The former U.S. attorney is the latest establishment figure that proponents of Measure 91 have rolled out in their campaign this year. Others include former Oregon Supreme Court Justice Bill Riggs and Richard Harris, a former top official of the state's addictions and mental health services division.

Olson was quoted in a press release as saying:

"I enforced our marijuana laws, and they don't work. Filling our courts and jails has failed to reduce marijuana use, and drug cartels are pocketing all the profits."

Olson served as U.S. attorney from 1994 to 2001. Olson has also worked as a federal prosecutor, taught at Lewis & Clark Law School and was a senior counsel to Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., from 2001 to 2003. She became friends with Bill and Hillary Clinton at Yale Law School in the early 1970s.

SIDE NOTE: The opposition campaign, No on 91, over the weekend reported its first major contribution -- $100,000 from the Oregon State Sheriffs' Association.

-- Jeff Mapes