Federal Prosecutor Drops Medical Marijuana Charges
Posted in Chronicle Blog by Scott Morgan on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 11:19pm
Some interesting news from New Mexico:
On June 30, 2009 in the Federal District Court of New Mexico, Assistant US Attorney John Anderson agreed, on the record, to Honor the Medical Marijuana Recommendation of Charles Smith of Shasta Lake, California. Federal District Court Magistrate Judge Lorenzo Garcia further agreed to accept the State’s proposed recommendation of a Conditional Discharge upon provision of Mr. Smith’s Medical Marijuana Recommendation to the US Attorney’s office. This historic moment occurred during the federal Government’s prosecution of cases related to the Annual Rainbow Gathering that occurs in different states around the country and involves a large Federal Law Enforcement presence.
…
This is the first time in modern history, in which it is known that the US Attorney and the Federal District Court agreed to accept medical marijuana recommendations and licenses in order to dismiss marijuana possession charges.
And the universe didn’t collapse. Not only that, the story has gotten no press whatsoever. Often, when the government refrains from doing something cruel to someone, there isn't much of a news story left to report. This just goes to show how silly it is to assume that there's a political imperative requiring us to continue aggressively enforcing bad drug laws. There isn’t.
See how easy it is to just leave patients alone? Next time, try not arresting them in the first place.
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Federal Prosecutor Drops Medical Marijuana Charges
Comment posted by eltone on Thu, 08/06/2009 - 1:11amThis is Fantastic! The federal government actually did the right thing. They recognized Medical Marijuana and the patients who use it. Could it be that the feds are really starting to see the futility of Marijuana Prohibition? Even though Kerlikowske did a 180 and spewed Bush era BS in Fresno, Ca., a Federal Prosecutor and a Federal District Court Magistrate gave recognition and validity to Medical Marijuana/Patients and States rights and one state honoring another states Medical Marijuana laws in there state. This is a huge win for all Medical Marijuana patients, and patients waiting for this to happen. Maybe this will help the Iowa Board Of Pharmacy, who are holding four hearings in four different locations to gather patient, medical professional, law enforcement and citizen input on Medical Marijuana, give a positive recommendation to the Iowa Legislature for SF 293 'Medical Marijuana For Iowa' in the 2010 session. If you are interested in watching the progress and result of these hearings, and the chances and eventual result of SF 293, tune in to "Carl's Cannabis Corner" a live internet radio show that talks about cannabis laws and current happenings in Iowa and around the world regarding Medical Marijuana. "Carl's Cannabis Corner" can be heard, watched and called into live from Noon till 2 pm (CST) at www.macsworldlive.com, it is then archived on UStream. Carl Olsen, the host, is very well educated regarding law, Marijuana Laws and legal court procedure giving credibility to the show with his vast source of knowledge and experience. While co-hosts Ray Lakers (MS) and Jeff Elton (Gastroparesis) Medical Marijuana patients add input from the patients perspective. Keep up the good fight, we are starting to see the Light of Victory... Marijuana, you smoke it and it heals you, Jeff Elton