Drug War Issues
Politics & Advocacy
Signaling an intensification of federal government targeting of medical marijuana providers, the four US Attorneys in California last Friday announced a campaign of "coordinated enforcement actions targeting the illegal operations of the commercial marijuana industry in California." The announcement came at a Sacramento news conference.
The feds said that enforcement actions would vary across regions of the state and that they would be working with federal law enforcement and local officials to crack down. The Department of Justice in Washington made clear that this was not an instance of prosecutors going off the reservation.
"The actions taken today in California by our US Attorneys and their law enforcement partners are consistent with the Department's commitment to enforcing existing federal laws, including the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), in all states," said Deputy Attorney General James Cole. "The department has maintained that we will not focus our investigative and prosecutorial resources on individual patients with serious illnesses like cancer or their immediate caregivers. However, US Attorneys continue to have the authority to prosecute significant violations of the CSA, and related federal laws."
Medical marijuana supporters were quick to charge the Obama administration with waging a renewed war on them and reneging on its promises to not interfere in states where medical marijuana is legal.
"Aggressive tactics like these are a completely inappropriate use of prosecutorial discretion by the Obama administration," said Joe Elford, chief counsel with Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the country's largest medical marijuana advocacy group. "President Obama must answer for his contradictory policy on medical marijuana." On the campaign trail and in the White House, President Obama pledged that he was "not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state [medical marijuana] laws."
"It is unconscionable that the federal government would override local and state laws to enforce its will over the will of the people," said ASA spokesperson Kris Hermes. "States must be allowed to enforce their own laws without harmful interference from the Obama administration."
"The Obama administration's latest moves strongly suggest that their medical marijuana policies are now being driven by overzealous prosecutors and the anti-marijuana ideologues who dominated policymaking in past administrations," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "Barack Obama is betraying promises made when he ran for president and turning his back on the sensible policies announced during his first year in office. Instead of encouraging state and local authorities to regulate medical marijuana distribution in the interests of public safety and health, his administration seems determined to recriminalize as much as possible. It all adds up to bad policy, bad politics and bad faith."
Large medical marijuana dispensary operations are not health care providers but criminal organizations hiding behind patients, the prosecutors claimed Friday.
"Large commercial operations cloak their moneymaking activities in the guise of helping sick people when in fact they are helping themselves," said Benjamin Wagner, US Attorney for the Eastern District of California. "Our interest is in enforcing federal criminal law, not prosecuting seriously sick people and those who are caring for them. We are making these announcements together today so that the message is absolutely clear that commercial marijuana operations are illegal under federal law, and that we will enforce federal law."
"The California marijuana industry is not about providing medicine to the sick," claimed Laura Duffy, US Attorney for the Southern District of California. "It's a pervasive for-profit industry that violates federal law. In addition to damaging our environment, this industry is creating significant negative consequences, in California and throughout the nation. As the number one marijuana producing state in the country, California is exporting not just marijuana but all the serious repercussions that come with it, including significant public safety issues and perhaps irreparable harm to our youth."
The prosecutors said they had sent out "dozens" of threat letters to dispensary and grow-op landlords in the past few days. In the Southern and Eastern districts, they targeted building owners, while in the Central district they sent letters to landlords "in selected cities where officials have requested federal assistance." In the Northern district, they targeted their threat letters to landlords of dispensaries within 1,000 feet of schools or parks, but warned "we will almost certainly be taking action against others."
The prosecutors also said they had already filed seven civil forfeiture complaints against properties where landlords allow dispensaries to operate. One complaint alleged that an Orange County strip mall had eight dispensaries and that recalcitrant city officials had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to shut them down.
One letter targeted the landlord for the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana (MAMM) in Fairfax, which has been operating with the support of the city and without complaint since 1996. In a letter to MAMM's landlord, the US Attorney for Northern California warned that the dispensary was operating within a "prohibited distance of a park." The letter threatened MAMM's landlord with up to 40 years in federal prison, seizure of his property, and forfeiture of all rental proceeds for the last 15 years if he doesn't evict MAMM.
Similar letters have gone out to other dispensary landlords warning them of pending federal action because their tenants are too close to schools. The dispensaries are operating in accord with California law, which treats them like liquor stores and bars them from operating within 600 feet of a school, but federal law imposes additional penalties for the distribution of controlled substances with 1,000 feet of schools, playgrounds, and public parks.
"This is nuts," said Greg Anton, attorney for the Marin Alliance and its director, Lynnette Shaw. "There's a dispensary near where I live that sells guns, narcotics, alcohol and tobacco and it's full of children. It's called Walmart, and it's safe. So is Lynnette's place. She's proven that over 15 years."
"This is an outrageous abuse of law enforcement resources for the DOJ to use property forfeiture to enforce meddlesome, nanny-state regulations," said California NORML director Dale Gieringer. "The federal government has no business dictating local zoning decisions. No one has any problems with the Marin Alliance except the bureaucrats in Washington."
The DEA is also along for the ride. "The DEA and our partners are committed to attacking large-scale drug trafficking organizations, including those that attempt to use state or local law to shield their illicit activities from federal law enforcement and prosecution," said DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart. "Congress has determined that marijuana is a dangerous drug and that its distribution and sale is a serious crime. It also provides a significant source of revenue for violent gangs and drug organizations. The DEA will not look the other way while these criminal organizations conduct their illicit schemes under the false pretense of legitimate business."
And so is the IRS. "IRS Criminal Investigation is proud to work with our law enforcement partners and lend its financial expertise to this effort," said IRS chief of criminal enforcement Victor Song. "We will continue to use the federal asset forfeiture laws to take the profits from criminal enterprises."
Friday's announcement of a federal crackdown is just the latest in a series of moves against medical marijuana providers by the Obama administration. The Department of the Treasury has been busily scaring banks into shutting down the accounts of providers in California and Colorado, the Department of Justice is aggressively prosecuting dispensary operators in Montana and elsewhere, and the IRS is attempting to drive dispensaries out of business by denying them standard business expense deductions -- Oakland's Harborside Health center was just this week hit with a $2.5 million tax bill after the IRS disallowed its standard business deductions.
Meanwhile, the administration has continued to block federal approval of medical marijuana, with the DEA recently rejecting a nine-year-old petition to reschedule pot, saying it would only accept large-scale, controlled FDA trials. But at the same time, the DEA has acted to block such trials by refusing to allow a private production facility to supply marijuana for medical research. The only existing source for marijuana for research purposes is the National Institutes on Drug Abuse, but it recently blocked a request for marijuana to study its effects on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, saying it has no intention of allowing studies that would develop marijuana for medicinal purposes.
"How can the Obama administration say that it's fine for sick people to use this proven medicine, and yet tell them they can't have any legal place to get it?" asked Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. "Medical marijuana isn't going away. Over 70% of Americans support making medical marijuana legal, and 16 states allow it."
But not the federal government. Not under George Bush and, it is increasingly clear, not under Barack Obama. With Obama facing no challengers in the Democratic primary and with reform-friendly Republicans unlikely to win the Republican nomination, it appears that medical marijuana is going to be condemned to wander through the political wilderness for the foreseeable future.
The question now becomes whether any sort of response can stem the federal onslaught, and just what that response might be. Or does the dispensary scene just wither away and die?
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
Comments
This is about Federal Asset forfeture..
This is only about one thing, the Federal Governments consistent greed and wealth gathering from asset forfeiture. this has nothing to do with whether medical marijuana or dispensaries is right or wrong, read the fine print they are saying under FCSA Federal Controlled Substances Act, which Marijuana is classified as a dangerous narcotic, lam manufactured controlled substance schedule 1 penalties, that they have the right to take all your property, and that is the problem our economy sucks, so they need the property to keep the federal government going, you think its coincidence that only a few weeks after the govermentt almost shuts down that they then decide lets take out the biggest money making industry in the US. I think the IRS has a better plan Tax them like big business and get there piece of the Medical marijuana Pie! The ideology is so backwards, they only know how to take things , remember the story of Robin Hood, well King Charles, you are taxing the people and the people will fight back.. In Montana the feds are trying to take there guns, what are they thinking, that is like trying to deny an American is right to fly the American Flag... This is gonna get ugly quickly and I am sure the separation of state and government is soon to follow! good luck Cali peeps!
In reply to This is about Federal Asset forfeture.. by Jedi Wisdom (not verified)
Not only Montana
that memo went out to ALL gun dealers in ALL states.
You are quite probably correct about the underlying reason for this ramped up war on dispensaries; but this plan of incrementalism, of beginning with medical cannabis and then broadening the legalization effort, gradually, just isn't working.
Many of us knew it would never work, some even expected this outcome. See my post elsewhere on this page to see the tactic we must begin to pursue (in addition to getting Ron Paul nominated and then elected) if we really want to completely end the drug war.
It's official!
It's official - forget democracy, forget plutocracy - this country is now a lunocracy.
Lu-no-cra-cy (loo-nok'-ruh-see)
–noun, plural -cies
alt spelling - LOONocracy
-government by crazy people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in crazy people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents in a seriously flawed electoral asylum. Might also refer to the inmates ... er, citizens of such an asylum ... er, country.
An indication of this development is the plethora of authoritarian psychopaths that we allow to determine which laws to enforce. A key psychopathic behavior is the telling of blatant lies to justify behavior.
For instance, the quote from DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart. "Congress has determined that marijuana is a dangerous drug and that its distribution and sale is a serious crime. It also provides a significant source of revenue for violent gangs and drug organizations. The DEA will not look the other way while these criminal organizations conduct their illicit schemes under the false pretense of legitimate business."
Pay attention, Ms. Leonhart - the 'violent gangs and drug organizations' are the result of prohibition, not legal availability and regulation. And under what false pretenses do these dispensaries operate? They are registered under state law, pay taxes, and prevent distribution to minors and other unauthorized persons.
Here's a suggestion DOJ - expend your resources prosecuting those who have done real damage to hundreds of millions of people. You know, the Wall Street Banksters.
But you're Lunocrats, so we can't expect anything thoughtful and reasonable, I guess.
In reply to It's official! by Emmet C (not verified)
"Congress has determined that marijuana is a dangerous drug "
Who cares what those derelicts have done? When SCIENCE determines that cannabis is 1/10th as dangerous as alcohol,get back to me then, Michele Liarheart.
Fast & Furious.. Dumb as a rock....
This department of justice has proven they are completely incompetent. The drug war exists because of their laws criminalizing drugs. Marijuana is not a harmful drug, it is less dangerous than Alcohol and certainly much less dangerous than many prescription drugs. Many people use Marijuana to help them sleep, to ease aching muscles and stiff joints, to help them to eat when they are sick.. Yet this administration thinks it is a good idea to use federal resources to come after service providers that are providing a service to the community in accordance with state laws.
So now we will see more people going to the black market, giving their business back to drug dealers and stoking the flames of violence on our borders because of this very stupid department of justice.
Anybody that votes to re-elect this moron needs to have their heads examined..
Ron Paul 2012
In reply to Fast & Furious.. Dumb as a rock.... by Sublime (not verified)
Yes Ron Paul in 2012
"So now we will see more people going to the black market, giving their business back to drug dealers and stoking the flames of violence on our borders because of this very stupid department of justice."
Hmm, almost as if that is the real goal of the government, to increase the violence; now whyever do you imagine they would want to do that, hmmm? It wouldn't be to increase their power, would it? Naw, our rulers would NEVER do THAT!
Or, would they?
In reply to Yes Ron Paul in 2012 by Moonrider (not verified)
Two of the Last 4 DEA heads
Two of the Last 4 DEA heads are into companies making equipment for Law enforcement. One in "CARBON CARS" for police,, they really do not want a lessening in demand for Enforcement. I do not believe this "self Interest" just started happening AFTER, leaving the DEA. and nor do I believe that those revolving door ex DEA officials are not counting on Recommendations and connections made, in "Federal Service". If there ever was "best" demonstration of revolving door, it's most certainly in the Drug war.
In reply to Fast & Furious.. Dumb as a rock.... by Sublime (not verified)
your comment
sure waste your vote on ron paul who has no chance of winning and election...and i am sure who has no real interest in winning....you may think that obama is against you but are you going to put the rest of the country in jeopardy because obama is upsetting you...try to remember what the relpublicans did to the country...the state we are in now...think man ...because of your narrow interest you would put others in jeopardy...
END THIS NOW!
Ron Paul for Prez 2012
playing the devils' advocate...
personally..i dont agree with any escalation of the drug war by any means.. but OTOH..15 states have legalized marijuana...did anyone ever consider the possibility that ppl in the other 35 states might not be too happy with those 15??...
It's time to change tactics
This is the perfect example of why reformers must give up on the medical route to legalization, it ain't gonna work!
What we need to do is hammer home the truth that WE, the People, citizens of this union, REFUSE to become slaves to government. The government does NOT own me, nor does it own YOU!
As human beings, self ownership is our birthright! No other person, no group of people, and no government has the legitimate, legal authority to tell any individual or group of individuals what they may do with or to their own bodies (as long as they are not violating the unalienable rights of another, or others). ANY attempt by government to tell you you MUST NOT ingest certain substances, or you MUST do this or get a permit to do that with your person is a blatant VIOLATION of your unalienable right to self ownership.
THIS is what we need to promote -- our unalienable right to freedom of our bodies, of our minds, of our personal lives/lifestyles.
In reply to It's time to change tactics by Moonrider (not verified)
the medical route
I totally agree.
What I write below does not deny the efficacy of marijuana used medically. It does not represent an ignorance, lack of respect or support for the many studies being done of the the healing, pallative, and even curative powers of marijuana.
Marijuana has been used as a medicinal herb since the earliest of times. Millions of people continue to use marijuana as a medicinal herb and find relieve and believe that it helps them. These people should have unfettered access to marijuana.
But legalized medical marijuana is but one battlefield in the war to end the war against marijuana. Legalized medical marijuana is necessary but not sufficient. Millions continue to use marijuana recreationally and prohibition shows no evidence that it will suddenly start working after decades of failure.
The war will be won with legalization and the end of prohibition. The legalization of medical marijuana is part of the plan to end prohibition and legalize marijuana. Legalization, taxation, and regulation is how those using marijuana medicinally will be guaranteed safe and affordable access. And provide safety to growers and distributors. Legalized medical marijuana does not end the evils of marijuana prohibition.
Here is my main concern about the medicalization if marijuana. We do know that there are millions of people who claim benefit from marijuana used as a medicinal herb. However, that in itself is not a compelling reason for a physician to recommend a non-approved medication and treatment.
Mainstream physicians are generally very conservative in this regard. Turning an herb used medicinally into an FDA drug in plant form is far down, and maybe not even in, the road. In short, it's gong to be a long time or never that the majority of mainstream physicians might tell their patients, "Smoke two joints and call me in the morning." This is not the route that I think will get us where we need to be.
My doctor takes glucosamine and chondroitin and feels that it helps him. They are not approved by the FDA. They are readily available and people can make a personal decision to use these substances after consulting, or not, with their health care provider. And the medical marijuana laws nationwide are written or implemented around prohibitionist fears that someone may be getting high under false pretenses more than providing safe access. Or that medical cannabis is just a backdoor to legalization.
I believe that cannabis use as a medicinal herb should be a personal decision without state or necessarily physician involvement. As it is relatively benign there is no need for the creation of an elaborate and overly restrictive system to manage the distribution of a plant because of irrational prohibitionist fears.
The support from the medical community for legalization is more likely to be grounded in their belief in the end of marijuana prohibition as a failed public policy and in opposition to the drug war, a failed public health policy. Criminalization of marijuana use and of drug addiction is not in the best interests of their patients.
In a recent editorial in support of our legalization initiative in Washington state, I-502, the two physician sponsors did not even mention medical cannabis! Their support is based on the harm of prohibition.
Access to medical cannabis and the end of prohibition require the legalization of marijuana.
In reply to the medical route by NotSpicoli (not verified)
And lets not leave out Hemp,
And lets not leave out Hemp, being it's just as large a threat to established Business concerns. Seeing as 4x as much fiber can be grown on the same acreage, there exists the threat to tree farms/lumber constituents.. mills, chemical providers for paper mfging. Billions leave the Country to Import Hemp products, lots of inflection there, Hemp can be made to be just as comfortable as cotton and last 2x as long, more threat, Hemp paper lasts longer, more threat..
It's just amazing one of the most widely useful plants on Earth is prohibited in the U.S., but of course we're the model for Capitalism aren't we.(Croney Capitalism).
In reply to And lets not leave out Hemp, by Anonymoudrmaddogs (not verified)
HempâOr How to Open a New Front in the Drug War
Any government that starts something like the drug war needs to be really careful they don’t end up fighting on two fronts. Ending up in this sorry predicament is the ultimate military faux pas. That is precisely what the federal government is doing when it outlaws hemp production.
I recommend a voter initiative process to legalize hemp in California, now that Gov. Brown chickened-out and vetoed the hemp bill. A voter initiative would put hemp into production the same way Prop. 215 put medical marijuana into production. No one else can out-scheme marijuana-charged Californians when it comes to doing this kind of shit.
Yeah, the environmentally hazardous cotton industry will bitch and call up the lobbyists and PACS, as will the environmentally pathological timber industry, an anachronistic business that wrecks the homes of pretty song birds and happy squirrels. They will try to hide their political shenanigans, and they will get caught. Then they lose. Screw the polluters and destroyers. Times change.
The feds complained that medical marijuana was a Trojan horse for legalization, but think of the prohibitionists fighting on two fronts, the medical marijuana front, and a hemp front. I would characterize this as a strategy for total prohibitionist defeat, one waiting for prohibitionists to take the bait.
Giordano
In reply to HempâOr How to Open a New Front in the Drug War by Giordano (not verified)
Zero tolerance for industrial hemp!
No man, if industrial hemp were mass produced as a commodity the male plants would pollinate and seed all the good stuff. The resulting seeds would produce shitty weed. Zero tolerance for hemp. Zero tolerance for commercial Mexican AKA cartel weed. Legalize hashish!!!! Make the use of it mandatory for Congress.
In reply to the medical route by NotSpicoli (not verified)
Excellent, cogent appraisal. Unity is required.
I have to agree with you, NotSpicoli, that we will not legalize simply on the back of medical marijuana. Yet, it's medical application has infused soul and compassion into the recreational legalization movement. I will echo the view that hemp is a vital resource that belongs in the hands of the people. And there is a legitimate desire to use cannabis in spiritual pursuits.
I have also noticed an apparent disconnect between some of the proponents in each of these fields. I hear the hemp folks distancing themselves from the drug connotation: "you would have to smoke a joint the size of a telephone pole to get high."
The recreational faction seems slightly embarrassed at those who promote the spiritual side of smoking, to the extent that there seems to be less support for those who have attempted to create actual institutions around spiritual use, and are now facing prison: e.g. the Church of THC.
Medical marijuana proponents demand access by drawing deep distinction between clinical use and the mood elevation which cannabis provides.
I have even heard brave and selfless innovators like Rick Simpson made the butt of snarky jokes by self-declared professional legalizers.
If we want to move effectively and humanely in the direction of a clear and decisive end to prohibition, then we will have to form a united front, with mutual support. This requires outreach and sharing of resources. I hope that this unification is the thrust of the upcoming conference on drug policy reform, this November in LA. Logic, rationality, common sense have absolutely no bearing on change. It is only force of numbers, and a clear agenda arrived at through this unification and consensus that will have an effect. Anything less simply won't work.
In reply to It's time to change tactics by Moonrider (not verified)
very well put
That is an inspiring rallying call for us to RETAKE our rights which were absconded under the pretense of protecting children (who are safe from everything but hysteria, sadly). Read THOREAU'S CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE and consider getting arrested for smoking pot in a semi-public area away from kids. Force a trial, cite the constitution, and see if any jury will convict you. If you win, you may change history. If you lose, you may question whether the country is broken. America makes the right decisions in the end. We are revolutionaries. The insanity won't last another decade. Pot is de facto legal in California, ask anyone who lives there. Busting pot smokers does not win public support in Frisco LA and despite the bark, Obama can't risk the electoral votes by threatening the one must-have state. Nothing serious will happen is my bet. These people in the DEA are bending over backwards to retain relevance when they know they are despised. Business and money are operating for drugs, too. And I never gave any right away. I will go prove it right now in the privacy of my own home. God/dess bless America and its wonderful pot farms! No weapon forged shall prosper! Hallelujah!
Yet they're admitting it's useful!
It's interesting that some of what they're vomiting up appears to be a subtle admission that it really is medicine. I can't decide if that's a tiny little crack in the door or just an admission that they know they're torturing sick people.
The only meaningful difference between Obama and giant mountain of shit is that shit serves a useful purpose.
This is about Obama, making
This is about Obama, making deals, making Political Hay, pandering to the Evangelical and Law proponents. Nothing more.. and Medical MJ patients mean just that to Obama, nothing. It's a simple balancing act for Obama, that's how every policy he's decided on.. what's in it for me and my Party.
So lets seen.. how many "law", and and anti's can he count on? How many straddling the fence, will come over, how many will change direction "just because they see which way the wind(political) is blowing? We know there exists in the AMA the same scheme in self providing benefits from Prohibition with the Medical MJ concerns.
So another Politician makes promises to get elected, and changes them when re-election time comes up.. what's new?
Remember what Obama stumped on? Change. Maybe he should have said "they remain the same".
I guess the Statute of Limitations makes morality(his drug use, Clintons and Bush's) a non starter. Morality to to the President is represented by his campaign Coffer. I was for Obama last election, had thoughts about him being, maybe, the best of a bad field of contenders this election.. now I'll have to do another write in, I really do not want a President who changes direction every time it suits his Campaign finances.
"Congress has determined that
"Congress has determined that marijuana "...Congress has be TOLD.. Congress never decided.. even on original Prohibition, Nixons Study confirmed the over response towards MJ. Nixon ignored it, but like the Representatives way back, the Representatives follow orders, directions, misdirections whatever their told, they do. "Congress has determined that marijuana " B.S.
the banks, the CIA, have to keep marijuana illegal.
The banks, the CIA, have to keep marijuana illegal.
The drugs which are illegal are the foundation of funding for the CIA, and a host of dark government programs. The big banks launder the money the CIA engineered opium, heroin, cocaine, marijuana crops produce because they are keep illegal. Make drugs legal and the base support for the criminals collapse. The Federal Reserve is evil, the CIA is evil, the War on Drugs is their evil program to imprison, to steal, to control the rest of the world. Make drugs legal and kill the funding for the evil empire which is the dark op government that has taken control of our Constitutional government.
Sheeple Wake Up!
We need to put government back in it's place. If we had a severely limited federal government we wouldn't be having these problems. It's time for the bleeding heart liberals to figure out how to attain their social goals without using the force of our federal government.
Consider where we'd be if we had kept our federal government as small as possible and left the other things to the states to decide. Yes we'd have 50 individual fights to fight on this front but they'd be a hell of a lot easier to win. Even if we lost in 49 of the 50 states at least there'd be one state where you could go. The more local the government is to the people governed the easier it is to make said government accountable to the people.
We can't do this until people stop turning to the Feds every time they need their asses wiped. We've given the feds absolute power and it has absolutely corrupted our entire nation. This is our own fucking fault. We were given a constitutional republic that could have protected us from this bull shit but in our short sightedness have destroyed it.
Wake the fuck up people! We can feed, clothe, medicate and employ ourselves. We don't need a federal government to do these things! Until we throw this albatross off our necks we will continue to be it's slave.
Obama's Immediate Response to Petitions
Those of us who signed the petitions for legalization on the Whitehouse.gov website now have Obama's answer. And we didn't even have to wait 30 days for it.
The ones who fight against this plant are criminal.
A criminal is one who fights against the rights of humanity. Clearly these sell out prohibitionist are criminals. They are fighting against the god given , natural right to use a plant, for medicine, food, shelter, clothing, energy, recreation, spiritual awakening, etc. The most useful plant on the plant. One day they will be seen for the criminals they are and we will be free to use this marvelous herb.
Petition
There is a petition regarding this issue on Whitehouse.gov. It is called:
Stop all current DOJ, DEA, ONDCP, and IRS attacks against medical cannabis dispensaries in California.Obama takes his orders from his Union masters....
The cops and prison guards are two of the largest and most powerful unions in America. Obama only cares about being president. He does not have any ethics or morals, as proven by his actions. He stabbed us all in the back as this is what his union masters have ordered him to do. Do not, I repeat, do not vote for Obama in 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!
another duplicitous Democrat?
Oh my! We have another duplicitous Democrat as President?
So we should at least be thankful he isn't a duplicitous Republican?
Tired of all of the liars.
A possible solution to the state vs. fed problem
So!! is there a campaign to write the president
SO IS THERE A CAMPAIGN ?
Inhale, exhale, the sky is not falling
From the beginning, it's been what Obama has NOT done, as opposed to what he has, that makes him the most anti-prohibition president since Carter came out in favor of decriminilisation ( before High Times stupidly narked on a coke-using advisor). The dispensaries will not wither away. Though the issue is complicated, people need to be mindful of the people who give drug dealers a bad name. Is that who the feds are targeting? I don't know. But when the AG said he would stop the Ashcroft-type raids, that greenlit de facto legalization in California. There is no turning back the tide. Think of pot being advertised shamelessly like Joe Camel by people who really don't care about horticulture and WILL INDEED hurt the environment with ill-planned pot farms and fast food attitudes toward a medicine many of us see as sacred. Dispensaries must be close to one thousand, and I am guessing a lot of them are poorly run by opportunists who might as well be forced out of the game so the people with good intentions can go about their business. Maybe it is all about assets, and yes, any enforcement is terrible. But the government can throw rocks against the tide as long as it wants. Holder's change of policy and the renaming of the War on Drugs seemed like nothing, but they have marked this presidency in a way that still receives my support. The availability of the vast pharmacopeia is larger than ever.
Obama must pick his battles. He admitted to using cocaine and purposefully inhaling. We are not going back to the 80s, no matter how many dollar signs Drug Cold Warriors see in their shoddy retrofitted DEA Delorean. I am not stressed, and those who are flashing should take a 'lude. Alas, that drug will probably NEVER come back.
A message from Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana
We thank StoptheDrugWar.org for quoting our wonderful lawyer, Greg Anton. This is a fight for the future of a patient's right to medicinal marijuana. On March 1, 2011, MAMM was the first licensed dispensary to receive an IRS determination that no business tax deductions are allowed. Its first preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Nov. 8.
At the same time, MAMM's landlord has received a letter from Melinda Haag, the San Francisco-based U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California warning him that his property may be seized and he may be prosecuted if the Marin Alliance does not halt the sale of medical marijuana on his property within 45 days.
Now we're fighting the battle on two fronts. We have filed taxes since 1997 and our books are transparent, as required by our permit. The IRS has advised us for years on ways to save money on MAMM's business taxes. But now, they have rescinded all our deductions for our permitted business in order to shut us down. Not only that, our landlord has been threatened with 40 years in prison and the seizure of his property and assets for what the government claims is illegal drug activity. Our landlord is in his seventies, which would make any jail time a death sentence.
In order to mount a two-pronged defense, the Marin Alliance Family has organized "The Jam for Justice" benefit for the MAMM Legal Defense Fund on Saturday, Nov. 5th, 2011 at 19 Broadway Niteclub in Fairfax. The event starts at High Noon and features well known Bay Area musical acts Moonalice, The Rowan Brothers Band, Terry Haggerty and Friends, along with Bluesetta Band, Bird Leg Jazz, plus Samuka and His Wild Tribe. The benefit will be hosted by the Hollywood Hemptress, comic Tere Joyce. King of BBQ Joe will be serving Louisiana BBQ from noon to 4:20 pm in the Niteclub parking lot. Raffles will be held throughout the event for numerous prizes and memorabilia, featuring the grand prize of a "Fairfax Dream Date Weekend". Please stop by our site to learn more about the event and our legal defense fund at http://www.cbcmarin.com
Thanks for your support!
Law enforcement does just
Law enforcement does just that enforce the law. No person or entity has the authority to override laws enacted by Congress, nor can any law enacted by a lower level of government supersede it. Regardless of Obama's stance, there is nothing he can say or do to actually prevent laws from being enforced by agencies empowered and determined to enforce them. I am surprised it took this long for the backlash, the whole medical marijuana thing has never actually been completely legal, so I don't understand why anyone would think the laws would just be ignored indefinitely and never enforced, that's just wishful thinking. Despite that I could medically benefit from taking marijuana I won't unless it's fully legal or it's life or death.
To those who would advocate voting for anyone but Obama, did you read the second to last paragraph in the article? The Republican candidates with any reasonable possibility of getting the nomination (sorry dreamers Ron Paul is not one of them) likely will not be for reform and could even escalate actions against medical marijuana.
In reply to Law enforcement does just by Tucsonan (not verified)
And Obama hasn't escalated actions against MMJ?
Are you daft? WTF do you call these increased raids and IRS abuses happening now, under Obama's administration? And no GOP president would be any worse, just as bad, perhaps, and Ron Paul (in spite of your desire) CAN win the nomination and WILL end these abuses (among other good things like end the unconstitutional wars, the unconstitutional federal reserve, and the unconstitutional alphabet agencies).
First, no one is required to obey any unconstitutional laws even those enacted by congress:
In reply to And Obama hasn't escalated actions against MMJ? by Moonrider (not verified)
???
I don't understand how the formatting of that post got so screwed up between preview and posting, tried to fix it via edit but it still came out the same as before and not the way I wrote it.
"Large commercial operations
"Large commercial operations cloak their moneymaking activities in the guise of helping sick people when in fact they are helping themselves," said Benjamin Wagner.
Isn't this exactly how the pharmaceutical companies work? Hell this is how the banks work too and the medical system etc. . . Seems to be the standard business model these days. Lame.
the officials of our nation do not know what the marijuana hemp
the officials of our nation do not know what the marijuana hemp is; the officials think Marijuana is like Opium; in fact my opinion is : the officials of our nation are SO IGNORANT some might think marijiana is like Opoum!
NOT ! marijuana does not have one molecule of opium and never did !
summary MARIJUANA is NOTHIING LIKE OPIUM AND IT NEVER WAS NOR EVER WILL BE
MARIJUNA IS A MEDICINAL HERB WHICH PREVENTS GLAUCOMA AND TREATS ANROREXIA ETC.!
MARIJUANA is similar to Harwthorne berries; digoxin; mint tea; not a pain pill; not a drug; not a pharma....
The "Harm to children" argument
"...........it is called Wal-Mart" that quote is priceless! I am so sick of hearing how prohibition "protects" children. We as parents and other responsible adults protect this nations children. The government is not and never was designed to be a parent.
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