Libertarian ping! Click here to get added or here to be removed or post a message here!
Posted on 10/16/2011 6:57:40 AM PDT by Kaslin
President Barack Obama has become quite the drug warrior.
Last month, his Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives issued a memo that stated that it is unlawful for anyone with a state-issued medical marijuana card to possess a gun or ammunition. This month, four U.S. attorneys in California announced that they are escalating prosecution of medical marijuana clubs by going after the assets of their landlords and property owners.
As a senator and presidential candidate, Obama supported states' rights on medical marijuana. In 2008, campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt told me Obama "believes that states and local governments are best-positioned to strike the balance between making sure that these policies are not abused for recreational drug use and making sure that doctors and their patients can safely access pain relief."
When he was first in office, it looked as if Obama would do as he had said. Drug war opponents were pleasantly surprised in 2009 when a Department of Justice memo advised U.S. attorneys not to "focus federal resources" on "individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses who use marijuana as part of a recommended treatment regimen" consistent with state law or their caregivers.
But this year -- charges Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the anti-drug war Drug Policy Alliance -- Obama seems controlled by "over-zealous prosecutors and anti-marijuana ideologues."
Now, I believe marijuana should be legal -- and not simply for medical use. But I also recognize that federal law trumps state law. Many marijuana suppliers hide behind the mantle of palliative care to profit from recreational use and abuse. It must drive prosecutors nuts to watch what are basically criminal enterprises cash in by taking legal cover under state law while flouting federal law. Washington could remedy that by legalizing marijuana.
But when U.S. attorneys in California send out dozens of letters threatening landowners and lien holders with the seizure of their property and assets, they're not going after the drug trade. They are using the full force of the federal government to threaten people whose crime is renting, not breaking federal criminal law. Make that renting to businesses allowed under state law.
"Although our initial efforts in the Northern District focus on only certain marijuana stores," Melinda Haag, the U.S. attorney in San Francisco, explained in a statement, "we will almost certainly be taking action against others. None are immune from action by the federal government."
You don't have to sell or distribute marijuana to have a target on your back. It's easier to go after landlords. Prosecutors have to prove defendants guilty beyond reasonable doubt in criminal court, but asset forfeiture law allows the government to seize property in civil court.
Laura Duffy, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, has said that she is ready to go after newspapers, radio stations and other outlets that run ads for medical marijuana shops, because federal law targets those who place ads for illegal substances. Duffy told California Watch, "I am willing to read (the law) expansively, and if a court wants to more narrowly define it, that would be up to the court."
Nadelmann told me that he now thinks Obama is as bad as his predecessors when it comes to the drug war. One could argue that Obama is worse; President George W. Bush didn't go after newspapers.
In 1996, Californians voted to legalize medical marijuana; as of today, 15 other states have followed suit. In 2008, Obama respected states' rights. In 2011, his administration is ready to bulldoze its 2009 advisory that the feds not pick on sick people.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., protested that the ATF memo is unacceptable because "law-abiding citizens would be stripped of their Second Amendment rights simply because they hold a state-issued card authorizing the possession and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes."
Nadelmann cannot understand why the Obama Justice Department is willing to alienate real estate agents, property owners, gun owners and the Democratic base. "Typically, as an advocate," he said, "your best opportunities emerge when the other side overreaches."
Bingo.
I've talked to folks in law enforcement who stew over medical marijuana businesses serving as fronts for criminal enterprises. But now the administration is threatening to go after cancer patients who own guns and small businesses that rent to marijuana shops. They are going after people whom they do not consider to be criminals.
That's why some states decided to pass medical marijuana laws in the first place. They do not want the heavy boot of federal law enforcement stomping on the wrong people.
Mark
“Last month, his Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives issued a memo that stated that it is unlawful for anyone with a state-issued medical marijuana card to possess a gun or ammunition.”
No firearms for those dangerous untermensch (my tagline).
The next memo will be to restrict those dangerous racist tea parties and hater homophobic Christians from owning firearms.
THIS is because American grown marijuana is more potent and cheaper than the illegal MEXICAN pot. Guess who they would rather have reaping the profits.
They want reduced potency so you will need twice as much of the bad stuff which will cost way more and the MEX cartels will be more than glad to brave the border to get it to ya. /sarc
Don’t think the two are unrelated. California homegrown making inroads on the Cartels’ profits? Can’t have that!
I wonder if Obama got his “cut” of reefer, and......what does he call his college cocaine? “BLOW”
Last month, his Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives issued a memo that stated that it is unlawful for anyone with a state-issued medical marijuana card to possess a gun or ammunition.
Drug war will never end, too many jobs and nations depend on it.
Want to see AG Holder do the fish out of water routine?
Ask him what his comprehensive plan for winning or even ending the drug war is. Hell, ask any legislator or LE Agency.
There is none.
The Drug War is responsible for some of the most egregious violations of the 4th Amendment in US history. It has led to tens of thousands of deaths of US and Mexican nationals and it will continue unabated.
Not only that, but BILLIONS of dollars wasted. It's like the war on poverty, it never ends and it just keeps getting worse but the money keeps on flowing.
Gotta keep creating those govt. jobs ya know.
Legal pot cutting in on the fed´s pot profits.
Somebody got it right.
Somebody got it right.
Don’t forget Columbia, Afghanistan etc.
When you don’t want to let a good crisis go to waste, you’re motivated to create an additional crisis or two along the way.
This is just another example of creating a crisis where none existed before.
Lenin invented a method of governance called “agitprop,” in which propaganda was promoted by the state not to convince people of something but to inflame their emotions. When the emotions of the masses are inflamed, they’re easier to manipulate.
This feels the same to me, although the feelings that Obama and his cohorts are trying to inflame are designed to undermine and ruin the existing system. It’s being done in a hundred different ways, but all with the purpose of alientating the citizens from their own government.
I’d guess that the goal is to destroy the system and then have it replaced with whatever government Obama and his cohorts want - probably a Leninist-Marxist state. A fair number of people will either be too young to remember things as they were, or too daft to recall history, and those will be the supporters for the new order.
I really hope I’m full of crap. God help us.
...What ever side you take, on any issue, BHO wants to take away any and all individual rights to freedom. But, join the collective and the DOJ will give you a waiver on any and all illegal activities. It’s time to flush this turd Administration into the Potomac Bowl...
...Most of us feel that way after being force fed the BHO sh¡t sandwich, but, it too will pass...
The “war on drugs” has been used and abused. But let’s not imagine a psychoactive Eden in it’s absence. Self-control and intoxication have always had a rocky public relationship, tempting intervention.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.