You Obama haters might love this
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-medical-marijuana20-2009oct20,0,7401028.storyA federal about-face on medical marijuana
New Justice Department guidelines order federal drug agents to cease arresting or charging patients, caregivers or suppliers who are conforming with state law.
Reporting from Washington - Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. said today the Obama administration is officially reversing the federal stance on medical marijuana and ordering authorities not to arrest or charge any users and suppliers who conform to state laws.In guidelines issued today, Justice Department officials are telling prosecutors and federal drug agents that they have more important things to do than to arrest people who obey state laws that allow some use or sale of medical marijuana.
The move clarifies what some critics had said was an ambiguous position of the Obama administration on the controversial issue, especially in the battleground state of California, where authorities have raided numerous clinics and made arrests over the years. Some of those California raids followed Obama's inauguration in January, after, as a presidential candidate, he had pledged to stop them.
The new guidelines note that federal law enforcement agencies have limited resources and that they need them for more pressing priorities. One of those priorities is countering the spread of violent Mexican drug cartels, which use the vast profits from their marijuana sales in the United States to support other criminal activities, the guidelines say.
The Justice Department will continue to prosecute people whose claims of compliance with state and local law conceal operations that are "inconsistent" with the terms, conditions or purposes of those laws, according to Holder and Deputy Atty. Gen. David W. Ogden, who issued a three-page memorandum outlining the new guidelines.
"It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana, but we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal," Holder said in a statement accompanying the new guidelines. "This balanced policy formalizes a sensible approach that the Department has been following since January: effectively focus our resources on serious drug traffickers while taking into account state and local laws."
The guidelines effectively reverse Bush administration policy, which held that authorities should continue to enforce federal drug laws even in states with medical marijuana laws on the books.
Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access, called the new guidelines an important step toward a comprehensive national policy on medical marijuana because they will allow states to implement their own laws without interference fromthe federal government.
"This is a huge victory for medical-marijuana patients," said Sherer, whose group plays a leading role in nationwide medical-marijuana advocacy. "This indicates that President Obama intends to keep his promise … and represents a significant departure from the policies of the Bush administration.''
In June 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government had the discretion to enforce federal marijuana laws even in states permitting medical marijuana, which put in limbo the implementation of some state laws and prompted the Bush Justice Department to oversee more than 200 federal raids in California alone, Sherer said.
But as promising as the new guidelines appear, Sherer said, some questions remain. She said, for instance, that in more than two dozen medical-marijuana cases that the federal government is prosecuting, so far, defendants still are being prevented from using medical evidence in their defense.
Not everyone supports the move.
"By directing federal law enforcement officers to ignore federal drug laws, the administration is tacitly condoning the use of marijuana in the U.S.,'' said Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. He said the decision undermines the administration's get-tough plan to attack the Mexican drug cartels, which he said are growing marijuana in U.S. national parks and fueling drug-related violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Other states that allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes are Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
In Maryland, medical use of marijuana is considered a prosecutable offense, but conviction only carries a fine of $100.
But California is unusual in its allowance of dispensaries that sell marijuana and advertise their services. The post-inauguration raids of such clinics in Venice, Marina del Rey, Playa del Rey and South Lake Tahoe spurred activists to demand that Obama put some kind of formal policy in place.
In Los Angeles , Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said last week that he will continue to prosecute medical-marijuana dispensaries for over-the-counter sales, targeting a practice that has become commonplace under an initiative approved by California voters more than a decade ago.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Cooley and Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich recently concluded that state law barred sales of medical marijuana, an opinion that could spark a renewed effort by law enforcement across the state to rein in the use of marijuana. It comes as polls show a majority of state voters back legalization of marijuana, and supporters are working to place the issue on the ballot next year.
In March, Holder put federal law enforcement officials on notice that he wanted them to pursue scofflaws who violate both federal and state law. The Times reported at the time that Holder's comments essentially marked an end to the Bush administration policy. But until Monday's formal action, it was not clear how the Justice Department planned to proceed.
The new guidelines provide "clarification and guidance" to prosecutors and agents of the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration. They include examples of misconduct that would indicate that individuals are not in "clear and unambiguous" compliance with applicable laws, including unlawful use of firearms, violence, sales to minors, money laundering, unduly large amounts of marijuana, marketing or excessive financial gains, illegal possession or sale of other controlled substances, and ties to criminal enterprises.
The Justice Department also made it clear that it was reserving the right to file charges in other circumstances.
"Of course, no state can authorize violations of federal law, and the list of factors above is not intended to describe exhaustively when a federal prosecution may be warranted," the Justice Department guidelines said.
And it indicated that prosecutors should review existing cases with the new guidelines in mind, suggesting that some pending or ongoing prosecutions could be dropped. "Your offices should continue to review marijuana cases for prosecution on a case-by-case basis, consistent with the guidance on resource allocation and federal priorities set forth herein, the consideration of requests for federal assistance from state and local law enforcement authorities, and the Principles of Federal Prosecution," according to the guidelines.
