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.
Wow it's almost like you've taken your first step toward federalism. Of course we all know no one in power on the right or left ever really cares about federalism as a guiding principle.
He only means it when it comes to the degradation of human beings. Or if it will help kill America’s economy like California’s environmental laws.
Otherwise, it is big brother all the day long.
Good, then abortion right and marriage and if he doesn’t like the results he better not try to get the Supreme Court to over turn things.
Dude!
In effect this legalizes marijuana nationwide.
Just like Soros wanted.
yup & bttt
Suits me, if he follows through with similar policies on guns, abortions, and welfare.
Well..., I’m not a supporter of promoting drug usage... But, at least this is a move towards “states rights”... and away from Federal Government encroachment on everything to do with the states...
Let the state make it illegal... for sure... :-)
thought this might interest you so i’m pinging. :)
On Odooma’s change.gov site, before his inagural, the number one topic from the minions was legalizing marijuana.
So this don’t surprise me.
Need a quick cash crop that isn’t energy intensive or land intensive? Pot is the deal.
Word is the push to repeal prohibition in the 30’s was the States need for tax revenue in the depression. Let it be the same for marijuana: legalize it and tax it. I doubt the feds get much revenue from the current $10,000/ounce marihuana tax stamp.
Pot is already the number one cash crop in America and has been for many years.
It is just to rational. I doubt if he will do it.
In 2006, pot was estimated to be a $35 BILLION crop in the U.S.A.
Presumably if it were “legalized”, the cash value would drop to the level of apples, grapes, or cotton.
Marijuana Production in the United States (2006)
By Jon Gettman, Ph.D.
Table 7. Top Cash Crops in the United States (Average Value 2003 – 2005)
Rank / Crop / Average Production Value ($1000s)
1 Marijuana $35,803,591
2 Corn $23,299,601
3 Soybeans $17,612,200
4 Hay $12,236,638
5 Vegetables $11,080,733
6 Wheat $7,450,907
7 Cotton-All $5,314,870
8 Grapes $2,876,547
9 Apples $1,787,532
10 Rice $1,706,665
11 Oranges $1,583,009
12 Tobacco $1,466,633
13 Sugarbeets $1,158,078
14 Sugarcane $942,176
15 Sorghum $840,923
16 Cottonseed $821,655
17 Peanuts $819,617
18 Barley $653,095
19 Peaches $474,745
20 Beans $467,236
Only because it's illegality drives the price up astronomically.
It's a fast growing weed that should be worth about a nickel a pound.
With all due respect that’s like saying a bottle of Chivas should be $1.00 because people will use the alcohol for their cigarette lighters, and cigarettes should be 50 cents per pack because they also are made from yet another weed.
Personally I think the illegal pot trade is encouraged by pols, because there’s no obvious social utility in that $2,500 extra cost per pound.
I wouldn’t say fast in general. Depends on the strain and whether you’re growing from seed or clone. All strains need about 4 weeks to veg. Strains from tropical climates need longer flowering times. Flowering ranges from 7-14 weeks for nearly all strains.
But keep in mind, commercial growers don’t grow from seed. They grow from clones, which means a 2 week veg time and usually a 6 week flower time.
Hey you have to know all this info when battling the lying drug warriors.
I see your point, but tobacco is a bit harder to grow and harvest, and cigarettes have chemicals added in after the fact.
“Obama In Favor Of Giving Marijuana Jurisdiction To States”
Of course he is.
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