obama needs to start getting his fuckin shit together, i really hope he gets fuckin booted out of office, seems easier to just get it illegally then deal with this fuckin shit.

You know, it's comments like the one above that make cannabis consumers have the rep of being drug addled idiots. For the record I think Obama is an idiot to take the stance he has, and I hope he pays a political price for it. See how much better that sounds dude?

I dont get this whole politic about weed / medicinal weed, its like an endless fight to get everything away, even tho the reason about weed is illegal is just a lie. cant u see that canabis might be 1 of the most useful plants ever? and obama rlly needs to get his head straight, hope he realise what a idiot he is being and maybe changes about it, or i doubt he will be president for long.

Does the unholy prohibitionist trinity of Obama-Biden-Holder believe what they’re told about the dispensary raids?  Is über-prohibitionist Joe Biden the fly in the ointment on this issue?  What role has ‘follow-the-money’ Biden played?  As insulated as these people are at the top, it could very well be they live in some ethereal plane posing no semblance of reality, and therefore no awareness of what’s going on with medical marijuana raids.

DEA dispensary raids are usually smash and grab operations resulting in few if any arrests.  Money and property is taken. All information regarding why the raid took place remains sealed and unavailable for public scrutiny; a secret operation, conducted by secret police. 

With fear of arrests hanging over their heads, few dispensary owners pursue an aggressive legal defense that might otherwise unseal the records and make the federal government’s intent known.  Under these restraints, the cases simply never get adjudicated, so there is no way for the public, or for Obama-Biden-Holder, to know for certain if any single dispensary raid targets state law-breaking, or if it targets anything at all besides money, marijuana and its proponents.  

Forcing the DEA and U.S. Attorney’s offices to unseal the documents on dispensary raids would reveal if probable cause for the raids actually exists.  It would also probably reveal any political machinations in the background.   Something we certainly need for resolving dispensary raiding problems and other national snafus is transparency in government, and that transparency can be provided by AG Eric Holder with a stroke of his pen.

Giordano

Anyone remember the prohibition of alcohol? Same thing with "illegal" drugs. End prohibition of the substance, take out the black market, and the drug war ends. But they don't want that. They make to much money shaking down legit business and arresting users (who have not committed a crime under common law, which is our founding laws) and confiscating the money and drugs. The money they get a return o the "investment", meaning the law enforcement agencies make money off of the "drug money" they obtain from seizures. They do the same with the drugs. They seize drugs and then turn around and sell the drugs themselves. I'm not saying all law enforcement does that, but I'm sure a fair amount do.

All I know is that we gotta stop this stupid shit of weed bein illegal because weed is the least of are worries. smoking cigarettes and drinking vodka is know for shutting down the human organs. Weed has no death count and never will. We have a mass amount of retards and asshole controlling this country. If we as humans (not us citizens) stop following the stupid shit the government makes us do. I bet we have a mass change in are world. LET'S MAKE A BETTER DIFFERENCE TO ARE WORLD! We need it. Stop bein afraid of the bullshit government and start being human beings. Stand for your rights. Fuck

People are welcome to any opinion they want. Just because you can't take the word fuck or shit doesn't mean they are wrong just shows that your a pussy who thinks they are better then everyone @smorgan & jdog

I don't understand how the government can regulate tobacco and alcohol, two leading causes of death and high risk of abuse, and then marijuana is illegal. Marijuana, a plant with no long-term health problems, a natural PLANT that can grow its god damn self where ever it manages to get a seed, a plant that is NOTHING compared to the negative of alcohol and tobacco, is illegal. They have NO argument other than being all powerful government "It's illegal because I say so.".

wtf??....what does owning a gun and medicinal marijuana have to do with anything.  seriously....they act like the potheads and suppliers are out shooting places up like the ok corral. IDIOTS...potheads are at home playing xbox and watching movies munching out on the food they just bought ( stimulating economy...minimal...but still) give us a break w/ the B.S!!

Didn't obama smoke weed in his earlier years before deciding to become president. Now he wants to crack down half the canabis dispensaries. Well the ones the are illegally open to the medical marijuana users. I think he should always look at the positive about medical marijuana people that smoke weed aren't fighters we are lovers .just saying

I don't give a shit anymore about our government because they don't give a shit about us. I'll just have to continue to get my shit illegally, even though I'm a harmless contributing member of society. No government is going to force me to be a habitual alcoholic tobacco chain smoker for the sake of preferred and special interest taxes. Oh, not to mention the ill health effects of such that push it's citizens to government approved pharmacy drug dealers. Capital Hill is making my stomach turn with their hypocritical ignorance and I have no respect for our law makers. Go to hell feds and take every single one of your lying conniving manipulating pork spending departments with you. You've never done anything for the citizens in the first place.

That's a great summary of the current state of affairs for medical marijuana. Obama cannot deny what the DOJ is doing, and there's no way he can explain the current situation without admitting he reversed his stance on the issue. When he wanted to get in office, he admitted to smoking marijuana and promised not to interfere, but once he was in office, he changed his tune and hoped that those of us he is hurting would not notice or be heard. Many working professionals/voters are very quiet about their medical marijuana usage, so he lets the DOJ wage war on medical marijuana, and he's betting that we won't notice or speak up. Let's prove him wrong with our support of organizations like NORML and ASA, and with our votes in November.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. 

The reason its not legal and never will be is because that would be something that they wouldnt be able to control(like cigarettes and alcohol)they have to have their hands in everything.ok lets tax it like alcoholand tobacco right?Wrong.....look what theyve done with tobacco.tax the crap out of it so noone can afford it.then it will be filled with crap to make it highly addictive.were screwed people get over it.grow it in your basement like its been done forever and move on.cause we'll regret it on the long run.

A couple words of advice for all of the commentors;  VOTE FOR RON PAUL ! ! ! or stfu:) 

Obama will not consider supporting the legalization of marijuana. Neither will Republicans.

The truth is in plain sight. There are no confusions here except why the truth has no value to these two parties concerning marijuana. If all this hasn't convinced Obama by now its a case of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. A good definition for insanity.

Lets discuss Gary Johnson instead of Obama. Or Romney. There is some choice, unfortunately its not from the Democrats or Republicans.

It's not just the president, the government has lied to the people for how long now? It's not even just about marijuana. Our lovely government has lied to us about almost everything for the past century. Do you really think that the government is going to change? I highly doubt it! They will never admit to anything they don't want you to know the full truth, even when you can find it for yourself. Even then it's shrugged off as a conspiracy theory. Our government will never admit to the real truth. We the people should be ashamed! Rise up people I do mean everyone and take the power back!!!

I dont see what the big deal is people are going to smoke it wheather its legal or not. We might as well tax it and make it a cash crop. Its not like anyone has ever died from using marijuana.

I think its vitally important for anyone who is arguing about changing the laws about marijuana to separate the issue of medical marijuana and recreational marijuana. Now of course some legit medical users also use marijuana for recreation. But its also clear that a lot of medical marijuana users and even so called medical marijuana activists don't really care about patients and only really care about getting their marijuana for recreation. Confusing the issues creates layers of problem and makes it much harder to rationally discuss the issue both with activists and with politicians. It creates a major image problem. It gives the government a lot of excuses to bust on medical marijuana and attack state law because most of the public isn't fooled by it. Sure polls say people support medical marijuana but do those polls also ask people if they support medical marijuana for recreational users? I doubt it.

Look there are very sick people who need access to marijuana. These people are in my opinion being trampled on by not just the government but also by the activists themselves. Why do I say this? It sounds backwards. But here is why:

1- Growers and dispensary owners themselves have opposed laws to legalize recreational marijuana. This kind of greed and selfish behavior shows that a lot of the people in this industry are happy with status quo because they are making lots of money. Since when was helping sick people only about making money? Sounds a bit like the pharmaceutical industry everyone likes to demonize. Did anyone really expect the DEA wouldn't notice and take advantage of this major public relations hole?

2- Growers, dispensary owners, and even activists themselves resist efforts to legitimize the medical marijuana industry with quality control. Quality control for any substance whether its a botanical substance or synthetic substance is an important part of modern medicine. Many people seem to think that because marijuana is natural it doesn't need any quality control. That's absurd and even dangerous. The amount of bacteria, fungi, and pesticides that ends up on so called medical marijuana is dangerous to someone whose is immune system is severely weakened like an AIDS patient or someone undergoing chemotherapy or organ transplants.

3- Clinical data. Many activists say we don't need to do clinical trials because we know marijuana works for everything. This again is absurd. Marijuana doesn't cure everything and a lot of the evidence about its effectiveness is anecdotal. That being said numerous clinical trials have been conducted with smoked marijuana, oral THC, and other drugs like sativex. How come we don't hear about this when discussing the issue? Every time a politician stands up and claims "there is no clinical data for smoked marijuana" why doesn't someone in the crowd stand up and say "yes there is" and show that data? In order to change a substance from schedule I to schedule II you need scientific evidence. Granted the government used poor science to put marijuana in schedule I we now have good science to put it back into II. Why aren't more activists standing behind the science instead of hiding behind a smoke screen of political tricks and half baked legislation to confuse everyone? I've seen activists actively resisting scientists efforts to do more legit research. Its insane! I think the reason is because they want the easy way out. They want to ride the publics acceptance of medical marijuana to get it legalized for recreation. The government knows this. This is why Oaksterdam was raided. Anyone who doesn't see this is a fool and shouldn't be speaking for the legalization movement.

4- I bet many people who claim to support medical marijuana would resist re-scheduling to schedule II. You know why? Then recreational users won't have access to it. Its that simple. It would requite a prescription that is far more strict then the system in California which is again a joke and a public relations mess.

Finally I want to say that I support the legalization of marijuana for recreational use 100%. But we need to separate these issues otherwise no one will take medical marijuana seriously enough and very sick people will continue to suffer. Also the little time we have to discuss marijuana law with politicians will be and has been squandered by people using smoke and mirror tricks to convince the public to support them. The really sick patients are already losing out because of the recent blow back. The blow back is in many cases the fault of the activists who confused the public on the issue.

We need to stand behind the science that marijuana doesn't belong in schedule I. We need to stance behind the science that demonstrates that marijuana is no where near as harmful as the government claimed. We need to stand behind the science that shows current drug policy isn't working and that better systems are possible. Standing behind the smoke and mirrors with patients as the shield is not right. We need to be honest within our own movement before we can talk about it with the public. Its clear to me from the comments I read hear and the interaction I've had with so called "activists" and "medical" suppliers that this honesty is seriously lacking.

Then Obama, the DEA, Holder and all those other dick heads won't have an inch to argue. Medical marijuana can have scientific proof that it works. In some case that proof is there. But if we want an FDA approved schedule II botanical substance we need to be approach the issue objectively and scientifically. If we want marijuana for recreation we need to approach the issue with the same objectivity but with a different serious of arguments. Personally I want both. But I won't claim "wheres my medicine!?" when I'm not sick and neither should you.

I agree. If you see how the two major parties lie and work this issue, then you can see how they lie and work all the other issues and concerns of the American public. People have told me that if I vote for a third party I am throwing my vote away. It is obvious to me if you don't go out and find yourself a third party, you are throwing YOUR vote away.

It looks like Gary Johnson if going to be the Libertarian candidate and they are for putting Marijuana laws back into the hands of the states. They also have many political beliefs that you may or may not agree with, but they are not the only other party and not the only party that is opposed to federal prohibition.

I think it is funny that Mr. Obama is all bowed up and thumping his chest over killing Bin Laden, but claims he is not able to tell the DOJ how to behave when it comes to infringing on state laws. Sounds like bull$hit to me.

I agree drugs are bad, but marijuana is a plant the grows naturally, it is almost impossible to OD on marijuana, I think there should be laws regulating driving while high, and matters like that but otherwise it's a plant, I hate when people refer to it as a "drug"

Marijuana is still illegal because it props up the drug war as a whole. Most who use so-called illegal drugs ONLY use marijuana or stop with marijuana or fall back only on marijuana and not use harder drugs or stay with harder drugs. It doesn't matter that marijuana is "the safest therapeutic substance known to man (Judge Francis L.Young circa 1988)." It's metabolites stay in one's body for up to a month. That props up the testing companies and the bottom line for governors like Rick Scott of Florida who have a major stake in a testing company. Other drugs only stay in the body for as little as a few days (cocaine, heroin etc) and most never use those drugs. To say that marijuana is a gateway drug is like saying those that ride bicycles are more likely to ride motorcycles. They take a person who has used a less commonly used substance and ask if they've used a more commonly used substance and try to make a causal connection.

The reality is that marijuana is a cash cow for the police under civil asset forfeiture, the drug testing companies, the treatment centers, the judges, jailers, prison builders, private prison contractors, the defense attorneys, prosecutors, and the black market which feeds other crimes that then need to be addressed by these same people who make their living on enslaving one for what they peacefully ingest, inhale, or imbibe.

Those are a lot of jobs lost if marijuana were legalized. Those in those positions aren't willing to just give up that cash cow without a fight. The two party system does not help because the Democrats basically say, "hey, don't vote for us, you are helping a republican.'" They take the marijuana community for granted. The republicans talk a great talk of getting the gov't off of one's back, but they really only mean the corporations backs. 

We are winning and the wall of intolerance will not need to be dismantled brick by brick. We just have to keep pushing and realize that by the actions you are seeing from the feds are a tell that they have become a rapid animal backed into a corner fighting for it's existence (DEA et al) before they finally succumb. 

Things one can do: Hone your argument... anticipate the typical responses and be prepared to debunk them. For example: gateway theory...debunked in my previous post, but to add to it, argue that if more are using marijuana, why isn't there a corollary to expanded use of hard drugs which is falling? Another argument against is that treatment visits are up. Argue, if that if one is forced by a drug court to choose between jail or treatment, which would you choose? No-brainer.

For Republicans, argue that it is fiscally responsible (generates tax revenue and saves money on enforcement and keeps people on the tax rolls) and that you know of no other community asking to be taxed and point out how the business community (CNBC, Miracle Grow, etc) is looking for a new way to make a buck. Point out that marijuana legalization is completely compatible with republican ideals. It's about individual freedom and getting the gov't out of one's life.

People need to start calling the congressmen/women and Senators. Editorials to papers need to be written. The White House needs to be called (202) 456-1111. It is not enough to sign petitions or attend rallies that politicians don't care about. If you want change, you need to demand it.

"The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms issued a surprising statement that medical marijuana patients may not purchase firearms."

 

Yes, because everyone know pot smokers are far more violent than alcoholics...

I would like to see the drug war end so users can get the care they need if they need anything at all. Some users have other issues and drugs are a coping mechanism. Treatment centers are too late you need education centers on how to make responsible choices and be provided with unbiased information about the benefits and dangers of all drugs. That can't happen until resources are directed that way instead of toward policing and prosecuting users.

so the ATF issued a statement to not allow any medical-marijuana patients to purchase and own a firearm? correct me if i'm wrong, but doesn't that interfere with our second amendment which clearly states "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." shall not be infringed, doesn't that mean theres nothing they can do to take away that right? call me crazy but were all slowly becoming prisonors in our own country who claims to be the land of the free, i feel as if we should change our nations name to "the united states of nazi germany".

             

                                    The less one knows about any drugs the more they'll harm U!!!!!!!!!!!!Know that most prescription drugs have not stood the test-o-time like illegal drugs which R actually much safer 4 that very reason.Now I must go 2 my job @ the MAYO where I'll B performing-o-little Brain-Salad-Surgery with the great Ben Carson!!!!!!!!!! Sorry E.L.P. fans:)(;

Weed is illegal because some d-bag years ago said that it was cutting into profits for his paper company. If we make it legal again we could make more paper, reduce pollution, and still have the bud for medical purpose. Ya it might take away a few jobs but if a person thinks about it the prison system is made up mostly of people that are caught with small amounts of this one plant. But if its made legal again all of those people will create jobs and put money in to the economy. Not everyone has to like it just look at alcohol I don't like it but so many people do so its legal. So if we work together instead of fighting we can get it legal again.                           

              -Don't drink and drive smoke and fly.

Yea, not so sure about that.  He ended those DEA raids at the beginning of his term, but now they're back shutting down COMPLETELY LEGAL dispensaries in California.  He's changed his stance on gay marriage - he needs to get it together with the drug war, as well.