The reason for the Feds unwavering stance on marijuana is very simple: you cannot have a war on drugs without it. Period.

Without a war on drugs you cannot have the following:

1. A reason to violate the fourth amendment during vehicle and stop and frisk stops.

2. An unprecedented private prison population.

3. Nearly a hundred billion in law enforcement per year.

4. Massive inflation of what would normally be cheap substances, providing funding for organized crime and illicit black ops.

5. Unbridled asset forfeiture laws which allow the theft of real property where the burden of proof rests on the victims, not the thieves.

6. Destruction of the social fabric via police state measures, and destruction of the family unit via incarceration.

7. Unprecedented levels of drug use. Prohibition in every case actually increases drug use, as well as deprives funding for treatment while increasing funding of enforcement.

8. Corruption of local, state and federal officials through extortion, bribery, and back room deals.

9. The complete overloading of the Justice system from lawyers, judges, prosecutors etc. This prevents real crime from being caught and prosecuted, while the judges put Joe pot smoker in prison. This is the exact same as during prohibition.

10. Prevent people from using marijuana for medicinal purposes.