Obama's Comments Prompt Call For Official Policy From Ganja Advocates

[presence]

Obama's statement Friday provided little clarity in a world where marijuana is inching ever so carefully toward legitimacy.

That conflict is perhaps the greatest in California, where the state's four U.S. Attorneys criminally prosecuted large growers and launched a coordinated crackdown on the state's medical marijuana industry last year by threatening landlords with property forfeiture actions. Hundreds of pot shops went out of business.
Steve DeAngelo, executive director of an Oakland, Calif., dispensary that claims to be the nation's largest, called for a federal policy that treats recreational and medical uses of the drug equally.
"If we're going to recognize the rights of recreational users, then we should certainly protect the rights of medical cannabis patients who legally access the medicine their doctors have recommended," he said.
The government is planning to soon release policies for dealing with marijuana in Colorado and Washington, where federal law still prohibits pot, as elsewhere in the country.
"It would be nice to get something concrete to follow," said William Osterhoudt, a San Francisco criminal defense attorney representing government officials in Mendocino County who recently received a demand from federal investigators for detailed information about a local system for licensing growers of medical marijuana.
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano said he was frustrated by Obama's comments because the federal government continues to shutter dispensaries in states with medical marijuana laws, including California.
"A good step here would be to stop raiding those legal dispensaries who are doing what they are allowed to do by law," said the San Francisco Democrat. "There's a feeling that the federal government has gone rogue on hundreds of legal, transparent medical marijuana dispensaries, so there's this feeling of them being in limbo. And it puts the patients, the businesses and the advocates in a very untenable place."
Obama, in an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, said Friday that federal authorities have "bigger fish to fry" when it comes to targeting recreational pot smokers in Colorado and Washington.
Some advocates said the statement showed the president's willingness to allow residents of states with marijuana laws to use the drug without fear of federal prosecution.

"It's a tremendous step forward," said Joe Elford, general counsel for Americans for Safe Access. "It suggests the feds are taking seriously enough the idea that there should be a carve-out for states with marijuana laws."
Obama's statements on recreational use mirror the federal policy toward states that allow marijuana use for medical purposes.
"We are not focusing on backyard grows with small amounts of marijuana for use by seriously ill people," said Lauren Horwood, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner in Sacramento. "We are targeting money-making commercial growers and distributors who use the trappings of state law as cover, but they are actually abusing state law."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/15/obamas-marijuana-comments_n_2308601.html

 

[Valli6]

Obama's comment about the federal government arresting marijuana users

Tim Lynch (Project on Criminal Justice, Director) at Cato believes Obama's comment means nothing will be any different.

...The President said that the federal government has “higher priorities” than arresting marijuana users. At first glance, that may seem like a good answer for those supportive of drug policy reform, but it is not.

Here’s why: Arresting marijuana users has never been a high priority of federal law enforcement. There are about 800,000 marijuana arrests in the U.S. every year. The feds are responsible for about 1% of those. The feds rely on state and local police to conduct domestic drug investigations–especially users with small amounts. The feds want to focus their resources on the big international cartels operating outside the country. Of course, the DEA also gets involved with the larger smuggling operations inside the U.S. In California, where marijuana is quasi-legal for users (in a de facto sense) federal prosecutors focus on the supply side–raiding, harassing, arresting. The feds bypass juries by using civil asset forfeiture laws against persons opening dispensaries.

Against that background, listen again to Obama: My administration has higher priorities than going after marijuana users. Hmm. That’s ust another way of saying “nothing has changed as far as I’m concerned.” I expect Attorney General Eric Holder to announce a legal challenge to the Colorado and Washington initiatives sometime soon. And federal raids will begin soon also.

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/obama-barbara-walters-and-marijuana-users/

 

[adams101]

Tim Lynch (Project on Criminal Justice, Director) at Cato believes Obama's comment means nothing will be any different.


http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/obama-barbara-walters-and-marijuana-users/

It is not about the "arrests" but about the massive "confiscations" of cash, land, cars, boats, PM, bank accounts, fines etc etc etc. The DEA is the only federal agency that does not need one single taxpayer dollar to meet its budget. It can do it entirely on citizen property confiscations. It is an absolute frightening abuse of power to let a government agency confiscate to the extent it is actually "profitable". Then you also have the tens of thousands of high paying jobs with the best healthcare and retirement on the planet. Then we have all the contracts supplying prison systems etc. The more drugs... the more job security, pay raises, promotions etc etc etc. Then you have to lobby contributions from the pharmaceutical industries etc.

Then you have the banks involved in all the money laundering profits as high as 40% to launder the money through the US banking system. We are talking close to a trillion dollars a year globally. Then the IRS gets their cut of property confiscations. Don't forget those same banks buy the Treasury Bonds the government sells to acquire its deficit spending money each year. Don't forget only the US banks are buying these bonds anymore.

The federal government and now the states too have MASSIVE conflicts of interests in the "war on marijuana" or drugs in general. You would have to be a complete fool to believe our government is trying to "save us" from marijuana while it lets alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs destroy our bodies all day every day with their blessing. They don't give a crap about saving us. It is simply more profitable being illegal than legal for all the right people. The profits would shift to different groups of people if made legal.

Remove all confiscations, fines and pay the government employees prevailing labor wages and you would see the government legalize marijuana for tax income in a heartbeat. Simply move the profiteering and you will find the government right there with their hands out.