Obama May Change Medical Marijuana Policy

[DoobieDuck]

Today I received this from ASA:
Beginning of the End:
US Attorney General Says Ending DEA Raids “Now American Policy”

Dear ASA Supporter,


Speaking at a press conference on Feb. 25 with DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters that ending federal medical marijuana raids "is now American policy." The Attorney General’s comments are the latest sign of a sea change in federal policy prompted by a groundswell of grassroots pressure by Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and our allies. They came as a response to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) raids carried out by Bush Administration holdovers in California in January and February.

 

[otherwhitemeat]

Well, he just did it! Obama told Holder to end MM raids! A truly glorious day in our history. My own state has a MM initiative brewing! It's like watching the Berlin Wall coming down!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29433708/

 

[IKILL3RI]

Good. Its time for full legalization now

 

[leaddraft]

bump.....

 

[HookaHittaH]

Glad to see some progress for MMJ.

 

[Grat3fulh3ad]

MSNBC.com

Medical marijuana: Is this now an American policy?
KSBY-TV
updated 10:13 p.m. ET, Fri., Feb. 27, 2009


Thursday, February 26, 2009
Reported by: Danielle Lerner

People on the Central Coast are speaking out after a statement from Attorney General Eric Holder about medical marijuana.

Thirteen states, including California, allow the cultivation, sale, and use of medical marijuana, but federal law does not.

During his campaign, President Obama said he would stop the raids on legal medical marijuana dispensaries. Yesterday, the attorney general hinted that Obama's stance on the issue is now American policy.

Some say it is a step in the right direction for people who depend on medical marijuana, but the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department said the statement doesn't mean anything. They say growing and selling marijuana is illegal and it's going to stay that way.

"Do you expect those sorts of raids to continue?" a reporter asked the attorney general in a press conference. "No," Holder stated. That simple response ignited the medical marijuana issue once again.

"It's a good thing for California, it's a good thing for the other twelve states that have medical marijuana laws," said Charles Lynch, a former dispensary owner.

The news is bittersweet for Lynch. In 2007 the DEA raided, and eventually shut down, his licensed Morro Bay dispensary. Under federal law he was convicted for distributing drugs and faces a minimum of five years in prison.

He calls the closure a loss to the entire community.

"Having one in your community, wherever that may be, is a good thing because it helps these people that need relief," said Lynch.

On the other side, those who say the president's stance on legal dispensaries won't change the way they enforce federal law.

"There's absolutely no new information in this," stated Rob Bryn with the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department. "The Attorney General is talking about legal medical marijuana, not illegal marijuana sales that are masquerading as medical marijuana facilities."

Bryn said phony prescriptions and underage patients prompted the closing of the dispensary Lynch ran.

And while Lynch admits one of his employees was arrested for selling the drugs off-site, he said it wasn't on his watch.

Two sides, same issue, as the cannibus debate continues.

Charles Lynch will be sentenced in a Los Angeles courtroom March 23. Once that is done, he said he will appeal his case and ask for a pardon from the president.

The DEA raided several dispensaries in Los Angeles earlier this month despite President Obama's position on that issue.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29430723/

 

[Grat3fulh3ad]

Back to Article
U.S. to yield marijuana jurisdiction to states
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, February 27, 2009

(02-26) 20:00 PST San Francisco -- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is sending strong signals that President Obama - who as a candidate said states should be allowed to make their own rules on medical marijuana - will end raids on pot dispensaries in California.

Asked at a Washington news conference Wednesday about Drug Enforcement Administration raids in California since Obama took office last month, Holder said the administration has changed its policy.

"What the president said during the campaign, you'll be surprised to know, will be consistent with what we'll be doing here in law enforcement," he said. "What he said during the campaign is now American policy."

Bill Piper, national affairs director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a marijuana advocacy group, said the statement is encouraging.

"I think it definitely signals that Obama is moving in a new direction, that it means what he said on the campaign trail that marijuana should be treated as a health issue rather than a criminal justice issue," he said.

Piper said Obama has also indicated he will drop the federal government's long-standing opposition to health officials' needle-exchange programs for drug users.

During one campaign appearance, Obama recalled that his mother had died of cancer and said he saw no difference between doctor-prescribed morphine and marijuana as pain relievers. He told an interviewer in March that it was "entirely appropriate" for a state to legalize the medical use of marijuana "with the same controls as other drugs prescribed by doctors."

After the federal Drug Enforcement Agency raided a marijuana dispensary at South Lake Tahoe on Jan. 22, two days after Obama's inauguration, and four others in the Los Angeles area on Feb. 2, White House spokesman Nick Schapiro responded to advocacy groups' protests by noting that Obama had not yet appointed his drug policy team.

"The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws" and expects his appointees to follow that policy, Schapiro said.

The federal government has fought state medicinal pot laws since Californians voted in 1996 to repeal criminal penalties for medical use of marijuana.

President Bill Clinton's administration won a Supreme Court case, originating in Oakland, that allowed federal authorities to shut down nonprofit organizations that supplied medical marijuana to their members. Clinton's Justice Department was thwarted by federal courts in an attempt to punish California doctors who recommended marijuana to their patients.

President George W. Bush's administration went further, raiding medical marijuana growers and clinics, prosecuting suppliers under federal drug laws after winning another Supreme Court case and pressuring commercial property owners to evict marijuana dispensaries by threatening legal action.

The Bush administration also blocked a University of Massachusetts researcher's attempt to grow marijuana for studies of its medical properties. Piper, of the Drug Policy Alliance, said he hopes Obama will reverse that position.

"If you removed the obstacles to research," he said, "in 10 to 15 years, marijuana will be available in pharmacies."

E-mail Bob Egelko at [email protected].

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/27/MN2016651R.DTL

This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

 

[Ipsissimus]

I think a celebration is in order! This is a huge step towards a widespread shift in consciousness about unjust marijuana laws.

 

[scaramanga]

Awesome. Glad to see that Obama stepped up to plate and kept his word. That's a + in the political collateral column, at least in my book.

 

[Unknown_User]

things are beginning to change.. wow i cant even belive it this is the beginning of a lot of great things to come. raids are halted now.. .

 

[twisted treez]

potheads are smart, its evolution, once you blaze your brain uses more power, canabis is a mind upgrade.if you leave them alone they will discover many things that are hidden and can only be found thinking outside the box

 

[White Rabbit]

This right here is almost surreal.. this, says he the Rabbit, is the beginning of the end of oppression.
WR

 

[Black Ra1n]

I hope the turn out is positive and that this is not just some hype thrown out to get hopes up.