Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Obama's medical marijuana directive not likely to change anything

The Obama Administration’s announcement of a new set of guidelines for marijuana prosecutions is sure to please liberals who seek relaxed drug policies and conservatives alike who champion state’s rights, but is it all just political rhetoric, or will the new policy have any teeth at all?

The Justice Department sent a memo Monday to federal prosecutors in the 14 states that allow medical use of marijuana. The memo contained guidelines to implement the policy that Attorney General Eric Holder announced in March: that the Feds should not prosecute medical marijuana patients who are in compliance with state laws.

Deputy Attorney General David Ogden stated that federal prosecutors should focus on major drug traffickers and networks, rather than on those who “are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws.”  He added that prosecutors can continue to go after those who sell marijuana for profit

What most people don’t understand is that most if not all medical marijuana dispensaries at least in California, are not in compliance with state law. The California medical marijuana laws state that qualified patients can use, possess, grow, and even collectively manufacture marijuana for medical purposes, but it does not authorize anyone to make a profit off of medical marijuana. And you guessed it, the dispensaries are making obscene profits.



No comments:

Post a Comment