Medical Marijuana

Dear friends,

Medical marijuana patients across the country are under attack!

Despite the Obama Administration's promise to respect state laws, lawyers in the federal government are now threatening to arrest and prosecute people who are legally licensed to grow medical marijuana under state law.

These ideologues are trying to block sensible regulation – and they've already succeeded in Washington State.

We must stop them from erasing all the progress we've made and from leaving patients out in the cold.

Write U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder today to demand that the federal government keep its promise to respect state medical marijuana laws.

Back in 2009, the Obama Administration said they wouldn't use "justice department resources to circumvent state laws" on medical marijuana. They've kept their promise for the past two years, even issuing a memo that made this hands-off approach official policy.

But now, federal government lawyers are intimidating states with new medical marijuana programs in an attempt to end these programs before they even get started. It's already happened in Washington State, where the governor vetoed a promising medical marijuana bill. And if these threats continue, they could jeopardize our efforts in every state where medical marijuana legislation is on the table.

These lawyers are playing politics with the lives of patients who need medical marijuana to cope with debilitating pain and nausea. Take action now and ask the Attorney General to keep the Administration's promise to leave state medical marijuana programs alone.

To put a stop to these scare tactics, we don't need any laws changed – we just need the Attorney General to tell the handful of people sending the threats to stop.

Write Attorney General Holder today and ask him to keep his word by respecting patients' needs.

Then please spread the word – everything we've worked so hard to achieve is at risk!

Thank you again for your help.

Sincerely,

Ethan Nadelmann
Executive Director
Drug Policy Alliance

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Did Obama Really Say He'd Respect State Medical Marijuana Laws? Yes.

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Fred Gardner at Counterpunch thinks I'm "way wrong" about medical marijuana politics under the Obama Administration:

Delaware Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Bill

Gov. Jack Markell has signed legislation making Delaware the 16th state to allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Montana Referendum Taking on Medical Marijuana Law Filed

The Montana Cannabis Industry Association filed legal papers with the secretary of stateâs office Thursday to start a signature-gathering effort to let Montanans vote in 2012 on a soon-to-be medical marijuana law it opposes. The paperwork was delivered to Secretary of State Linda McCullochâs office late Thursday. "Weâre moving forward on all fronts," said Kate Cholewa, spokeswoman for the group. "The people want what they voted for and what the Legislature did is not it."

Medical Marijuana Legislation Gets Another Shot in Washington State

Washington medical marijuana advocates have been trying to pass a bill to allow marijuana dispensaries. Last month, Governor Chris Gregoire vetoed large parts of their bill. She said it wouldâve put state workers in the position of violating federal law. Gregoire says she wants all the states that allow medical marijuana to petition the federal government to reclassify cannabis as a schedule II drug. She scheduled a conference call among those states Thursday.

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Marijuana Activists Crash White House Webpage in Response to DOJ Threats

On Tuesday, I asked the enormous online community at reddit.com to help send a message to the President in response to the recent federal effort to shut down medical marijuana programs around the country. Reddit users voted to make this issue a top priority, resulting in an absolutely massive viral letter-writing campaign directed at Obama's website WhiteHouse.gov.