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The Huffington Post | By Nick Wing
US Attorney General Lies to House Judiciary Committee about Medical Marijuana Crackdown
Cal NORML Release Jun 8,2012
Feds to Pot Shops: We're Coming For You
Petitions
A LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA:
April 4, 2012
President Barack Obama
The White House
Washington D.C. 20500
Via Fax: 2024562461
Dear Mr. President:
Our coalition represents the views of tens of millions of Americans who believe the war on medical marijuana patients and providers you are fighting is misguided and counterproductive. As your administration prepares to release its annual National Drug Control Strategy, we want to speak with one voice and convey our deep sense of anger and disappointment in your lack of leadership on this issue.
Voters and elected officials in sixteen states and the District of Columbia have determined that the medical use of marijuana should be legal. In many of these states, the laws also include means for providing medical marijuana patients safe access to this medicine. These laws allowing for the cultivation and distribution of medical marijuana actually shift control of marijuana sales from the criminal underground to state-licensed, taxed, and regulated producers and distributors.
Instead of celebrating – or even tolerating – this state experimentation, which has benefited patients and taken profits away from drug cartels, you have turned your back as career law enforcement officials have run roughshod over some of the most professional and well-regulated medical marijuana providers. We simply cannot understand why you have reneged on your administration’s earlier policy of respecting state medical marijuana laws.
Our frustration and confusion over your administration’s uncalled-for attacks on state-authorized medical marijuana providers was best summed up by John McCowen, the chair of the Mendocino County (CA) board of supervisors, who said, “It’s almost as if there was a conscious effort to drive [medical marijuana cultivation and distribution] back underground. My opinion is that’s going to further endanger public safety and the environment – the federal government doesn’t seem to care about that.”
The National Drug Control Strategy you are about to release will no doubt call for a continuation of policies that have as a primary goal the ongoing and permanent control of the marijuana trade by drug cartels and organized crime. We cannot and do not endorse the continued embrace of this utterly failed policy. We stand instead with Latin American leaders, members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, and the vast majority of people who voted you into office in recognizing that it is time for a new approach on marijuana policy.
With approximately 50,000 people dead in Mexico over the past five years as the result of drug war-related violence, we hope that you will immediately reconsider your drug control strategy and will work with, not against, states and organizations that are attempting to shift control of marijuana cultivation and sales, at least as it applies to medical marijuana, to a controlled and regulated market.
Sincerely,
Drug Policy Alliance (DPA)Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP)Marijuana Policy Project (MPP)National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA)National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP)
cc: Eric Holder, Attorney General, Department of Justice
James Cole, Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice
Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Letter to Obama and the Federal Government
April 2, 2012
Over the last two decades, 16 states and the District of Columbia have
chosen to depart from federal policy and chart their own course on the
issue of medical marijuana, as states are entitled to do under our
federalist system of government. These states have rejected the fallacy
long promoted by the federal government -- that marijuana has
absolutely no accepted medical use and that seriously ill people must
choose between ignoring their doctors' medical advice or risking arrest
and prosecution. They have stopped using their scarce law enforcement
resources to punish patients and those who care for them and have
instead spent considerable resources and time crafting programs that
will provide patients with safe and regulated access to medical
marijuana.
States with medical marijuana laws have chosen to embrace an approach
that is based on science, reason, and compassion. We are lawmakers from
these states.
Our state medical marijuana laws differ from one another in their
details, such as which patients qualify for medical use; how much
marijuana patients may possess; whether patients and caregivers may grow
marijuana; and whether regulated entities may grow and sell marijuana
to patients. Each of our laws, however, is motivated by a desire to
protect seriously ill patients from criminal penalties under state law;
to provide a safe and reliable source of medical marijuana; and to
balance and protect the needs of local communities and other residents
in the state. The laws were drafted with considered thoughtfulness and
care, and are thoroughly consistent with the American tradition of using
the states as laboratories for public policy innovation and
experimentation.
Unfortunately, these laws face a mounting level of federal hostility
and confusing mixed messages from the Obama Administration, the
Department of Justice, and the various United States Attorneys. In
2008, then candidate Obama stated that as President, he would not use
the federal government to circumvent state laws on the issue of medical
marijuana. This promise was followed up in 2009 by President Obama with
a Department of Justice memo from former Deputy Attorney General David
W. Ogden stating that federal resources should not generally be focused
"on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance
with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana."
This provided welcome guidance for state legislators and administrators
and encouraged us to move forward with drafting and passing responsible
regulatory legislation.
Nonetheless, the United States Attorneys in several states with
medical marijuana laws have chosen a different course. They have
explicitly threatened that federal investigative and prosecutorial
resources "will continue to be directed" towards the manufacture and
distribution of medical marijuana, even if such activities are permitted
under state law. These threats have generally been timed to influence
pending legislation or encourage the abandonment of state and local
regulatory programs. They contradict President Obama's campaign promise
and policy his first year in office and serve to push medical marijuana
activity back into the illicit market.
Most disturbing is that a few United States Attorneys warn that state
employees who implement the laws and regulations of our states are not
immune from criminal prosecution under the federal Controlled Substances
Act. They do so notwithstanding the fact that no provision exists
within the Controlled Substances Act that makes it a crime for a state
employee to enforce regulations that help a state define conduct that is
legal under its own state laws.
Hundreds of state and municipal employees are currently involved in
the licensing and regulation of medical marijuana producers and
providers in New Mexico, Colorado, Maine, and California, and have been
for years. The federal government has never threatened, much less
prosecuted, any of these employees. Indeed, the federal government has
not, to our knowledge, prosecuted state employees for performing their
ministerial duties under state law in modern history. It defies logic
and precedent that the federal government would start prosecuting state
employees now.
Recognizing the lack of any real harm to state employees, a number of
states have moved forward. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie drew on
his own experience as a former United States Attorney in deciding that
New Jersey state workers were not realistically at risk of federal
prosecution in his decision to move forward implementing New Jersey’s
medical marijuana program. Rhode Island, Vermont, Arizona, and the
District of Columbia are also in the process of implementing their state
laws.
Nonetheless, the suggestion that state employees are at risk is have a
destructive and chilling impact. Washington Governor Christine
Gregoire vetoed legislation to regulate medical marijuana in her state
and Delaware Governor Jack Markell suspended implementation of his
state's regulatory program after receiving warnings from the United
States Attorneys in their states about state employees. Additionally, a
number of localities in California ended or suspended regulatory
programs after receiving similar threats to their workers.
We, the undersigned state legislators, call on state and local
officials to not be intimidated by these empty federal threats. Our
state medical marijuana programs should be implemented and move forward.
Our work, and the will of our voters, should see the light of day.
We call on the federal government not to interfere with our ability
to control and regulate how medical marijuana is grown and distributed.
Let us seek clarity rather than chaos. Don’t force patients underground,
to fuel the illegal drug market.
And finally, we call on President Obama to recommit to the principles
and policy on which he campaigned and asserted his first year in
office. Please respect our state laws. And don't use our employees as
pawns in your zealous and misguided war on medical marijuana.
Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-CA)
Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-WA)
Representative Antonio Maestas (D-NM)
Senator Cisco McSorley (D-NM)
Assemblymember Chris Norby (R-CA)
Representative Deborah Sanderson (R-ME)
Senator Pat Steadman (D-CO)
Medical marijuana coalition asks U.S. Attorney Walsh to back off
John Walsh, Esq.Dear Mr. Walsh,
United States Attorney
1225 17th Street
Suite 700
Denver, CO 80202
April 11, 2012
As parents, patients, business owners, and Colorado citizens, we are concerned by the recent letters sent by your office demanding certain state-approved medical marijuana businesses cease operations.
Since the dawn of this new health care field, we have worked closely with Colorado state and local governments to safely regulate medical marijuana sales and production, and have made great efforts – and gone to great expense — to establish a thorough and safe regulatory structure. Because of this collaboration between stakeholders and state and local officials, Colorado has emerged as the model among states that legally recognize the medicinal value of marijuana.
We stand in unison with patients and governing bodies across Colorado in our active commitment to continue the careful implementation of a secure and community-minded system of regulation. Here is a partial list of our contributions to the Colorado community:
· We have provided vital medicine to 164,000+ sick and disabled Colorado citizens whose doctors have recommended medical marijuana to them.
· We helped author and endorse SB 12-154 to establish a responsible vendor program similar to what many Colorado jurisdictions currently require for alcohol sales.
· We are working with the Denver City Council to foster sensible regulations, including currently working on language to limit inappropriate advertisements, specifically public advertisements near schools and other sensitive areas.
· We worked with local papers, like the Colorado Springs Gazette, to establish community-conscious advertising with a proper healthcare focus.
· We employ over 5,000 Coloradans and provide them with a living wage so they can support their families. We also provide substantial support for ancillary businesses like electricians, carpenters, and engineers.
· Our businesses produce tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue with the first $2 million earmarked annually for programs critical to helping Colorado fight addiction and accompanying mental health issues. The Circle Program at Pueblo’s Colorado Mental Health Institute was on its last legs before this new tax supported it.
· We help create safer neighborhoods through the extensive use of security cameras and guards, by increased lighting in commercial areas, and by occupying otherwise vacant retail or warehouse space.
As committed members of the communities we live in, we believe in responsible regulation of this important, and growing, health care field. We also share your concern about teens accessing medical marijuana and have taken serious steps to reduce any redistribution. We welcome a thoughtful discussion about the potential areas for improvement in the current regulatory structure.
Sincerely,
Association of Cannabis Trades for Colorado (ACT4CO)
Cannabis Business Alliance (CBA)
Coloradans 4 Cannabis Patients Rights (C4CPR)
Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Council (CSMCC)
Green Faith Ministry
In Harmony Wellness Services
Medical Marijuana Assistance Program of America (MMAPA)
Medical Marijuana Business Alliance (MMBA)
Sensible Colorado
Women’s Marijuana Movement
United Food and Commercial Workers Union: Local 7
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