Medical cannabis patients and providers breathed a sigh of relief, on Wednesday, when US Attorney General Eric Holder promised an end to DEA raids on Medical Cannabis Dispensaries.
About 25 minutes into a press conference to announce the results of Operation Xcellerator, a crackdown on the the Mexican Drug cartel, Sinaloa, there were 50 seconds which are destined to bring joy to the hearts of numerous medical cannabis patients in the 13 states where it is legal.
This was the exchange, and it was explicit
Q. “. . . a second thing on Drug Policy: right after the inauguration there were some raids on California medical marijuana dispensaries. Was that a deliberate decision by you, by the Justice Department? Is that a prediction of policy going forward? Do you expect those raids to continue despite what the president said during the campaign?”
A. (Holder) “What the president said during the campaign, you will be surprised to know, will be consistent with what we will be doing here in law enforcement (general laughter). He was my boss during the campaign. He is formally and technically, and by law, my boss now, and so, what he said during the campaign is now American policy.”
What impact this will have on the dispensary owners who have already been Federally prosecuted and convicted, and are now serving time in Federal prison, or who are awaiting sentencing, as in the case of San Luis Obispo dispensary owner, Charles Lynch, is yet to be seen.
Watch the full press conference here.
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Comments
Cali suffered the worst under those misguided harassment raids....it must be a beautiful day there for sure today!
Thanks Brinna for the post!
Monte
I am sure the talking heads at FOX will try and make it an issue, but even the viewers of FOX do not consider medical marijuana an issue and it will fad.
What need to be done is the federal law needs to be resend and allow each states to make their own decisions as to what level of deregulation or legalization they want.
Bernie, I remember your comments on JT. And what a goofball your adversary was. But then again, prohibition proponents don't have an easy time with either logic or facts. Also, just read your first post, and it was great! You are a very engaging writer, and I felt that I just met Miz Lilla.
Mary it is important! And I am thinking this will shift the dialogue in states that are trying to legislate for medical cannabis (NH and NY and NJ and Ohio and Illinois).
You are so right about change, suede. There is an old saying: given the choice of making a change, or giving a reason not to do so, most folks get busy on the reason.