Libertarian ping! Click here to get added or here to be removed or post a message here!
Posted on 02/27/2009 2:01:36 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Washington, DC (AHN) - U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder hinted that President Obama supports ending raids on pot dispensaries in California, allowing states to make their own rules regarding the use of medical marijuana.
Speaking as a Washington news conference, Holder discussed DEA raids since Obama took office, saying the administration has changed its policy.
"What the president said during the campaign, you'll be surprised to know, will be consistent with what we'll be doing here in law enforcement," he said. "What he said during the campaign is now American policy."
Obama told an interviewer in March that it was "entirely appropriate" for a state to legalize the medical use of marijuana "with the same controls as other drugs prescribed by doctors," adding that he saw no difference between doctor-prescribed morphine and marijuana as pain relievers.
Advocacy groups have been protesting Drug Enforcement Agency raids in California, including four on Los Angeles-area dispensaries on Feb 2, prompting White House spokesman Nick Schapiro to respond.
"The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws" and expects his appointees to follow that policy, Schapiro said.
The federal government has fought state medicinal pot laws since Californians voted in 1996 to repeal criminal penalties for medical use of marijuana.
But Obama's move is a sharp departure from President George W. Bush's administration which often raided medical marijuana growers and clinics, prosecuting suppliers under federal drug laws and pressuring commercial property owners to evict marijuana dispensaries by threatening legal action.
A country with harsh laws that are ignored by whim is a dictatorship.
If Obama wants the states to be in charge he should work for repeal of the federal laws. That’s the correct way to do it.
It’s confusing for LEO to have laws on the book and instructions not to enforce them, or to enforce them selectively.
It is about time.
People are going to be outraged when they find out that Rick Simpson is correct when he says cannabis can cure cancer.
“Run From the Cure: The Rick Simpson Story” at You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI2rG1O3QpU&feature=related
Hemp Oil (Marijuana Oil) Cures Cancer? - Part 1/14- radio interview at YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI2rG1O3QpU&feature=related
OK Folks, light em if you got em .
“Suits me, if he follows through with similar policies on guns, abortions, and welfare.”
Um...m...m, I’m thinking...no. Somehow I feel this will be highly subjective “federalism.” Just my opinion.
From a former pot head.
Unfortunately for the dopers, having the government get the ability to tax marijuana will end up not being a good thing. Just as they want to see $4 gas, they will want to tax pot to the point of pain. Illegal growers will be back just like there are still moonshiners operating in the South.
No it will probably be similar to the alcohol tax. People can brew beer in their own homes. It's not against the law.
You must have more faith in Obama and the California Legislature than I do.
How on earth does this legalize marijuana nationwide?
I don't know what you mean by this. People smoke marijuana and drink Chivas, but you can't grow Chivas in your backyard.
and cigarettes should be 50 cents per pack because they also are made from yet another weed.
I am not a botanist, but I don't believe tobacco is a weed. I could be wrong. And the tobacco in cigarettes shouldn't be much more than 50 cents a pack, though growing tobacco is much more labor intensive. There's additional costs involved in manufacturing the tobacco into cigarettes too.
All that said, I still don't understand the point you were making.
Well the only guess we have is to look at the alcohol taxes there, until we have real data. The only faith I have in politicians is faith that they’ll make things worse.
“Need a quick cash crop that isn’t energy intensive or land intensive? Pot is the deal.”
I’m still in favor of Bathtub Gin, myself...
If 0bama thinks that ‘unleashing the hounds’ when it comes to illegal drugs is the answer, we are totally lost. (Yep. Pot is STILL illegal!)
This is how it will go:
Let the States do as they will.
Find a way to tax the H#LL out of them when they do so.
Pot and tobacco goes underground...a NEW economy is created, so then you...
Let the States do as they will.
Find a way to tax the H#LL out of them when they do so.
(Whatever is now BANNED goes underground...a NEW economy is created, so then you...)
Back to Square One.
Can you make ethanol out of it?
Travelers go to LA or SF and get a scrip from the scrip mills, go buy MJ and head home.
“It’s a fast growing weed that should be wor0th about a nickel a pound.”
Every year, and I mean EVERY year since 1970...Dad is hoeing down random pot plants behind the barn from our days in High School. ;)
In hindsight my Obama comment was a low blow. This should be a civil discussion of the topic. Sorry.
No offense taken. I stopped letting forum posts bother me a long time ago.
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.