Obama Administration Will Not Block State Marijuana Laws, If Distribution Is Regulated

[sano]

Obama administration will not block state marijuana laws, if distribution is regulated

By Brady Dennis, Thursday, August 29, 2:42 PM E-mail the writer

The Obama administration on Thursday said it will not stand in the way of Colorado,Washington and other states where voters have supported legalizing marijuana either for medical or recreational use, as long as those states maintain strict rules involving distribution of the drug.

In a memo sent Thursday to U.S. attorneys in all 50 states, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole detailed the administration’s new stance, even as he reiterated that marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

Video

Irv Rosenfeld has received shipments of marijuana cigarettes from the federal government for more than 30 years. They’ve eased the impact of his rare illness and created some awkward moments at airport security.

Related Stories

At White House, media questions once again go to pot

David Nakamura AUG 22

Obama has been asked repeatedly about his stance since Washington and Colorado legalized marijuana.

Too high to drive? Marijuana-friendly Colorado debates blood-level limits.

Brady Dennis and T.W. Farnam MAR 1

Since it legalized pot, the state has been wrestling with how to regulate the drug — and drugged driving.

Legal battle looms on marijuana use

Sari Horwitz NOV 7, 2012

Approval of ballot measures in Colorado, Washington state put laws at odds with federal drug policy.

The memo directs federal prosecutors to focus their resources on eight specific areas of enforcement, rather than targeting individual marijuana users, which even President Obama has acknowledged is not the best use of federal manpower. Those areas include preventing distribution of marijuana to minors, preventing the sale of pot to cartels and gangs, preventing sales to other states where the drug remains illegal under state law, and stopping the growing of marijuana on public lands.

A Justice Department official said that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. had called the governors of Colorado and Washington around noon Thursday to inform them of the administration’s stance.

The official said Holder also told them that federal prosecutors would be watching closely as the two states put in place a regulatory framework for marijuana in their states, and that prosecutors would be taking a “trust but verify” approach. The official said the Justice Department reserves the right to revisit the issue.

Washington state and Colorado last fall approved initiatives to decriminalize the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. Those laws go beyond provisions for the medical use of marijuana. The District and 18 states have passed laws making it legal to manufacture, distribute and possess marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Until Thursday, the Justice Department and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy had remained silent about those initiatives, despite repeated requests for guidance from state officials.

Obama told ABC News’s Barbara Walters in a December interview that recreational pot smoking in states that have legalized the drug is not a major concern for his administration.

“We’ve got bigger fish to fry,” Obama said. “It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it’s legal.”

The issue has been percolating since Obama took office, and he has repeatedly faced questions about the tension between differing federal and state laws.

When the White House created an online petition program called “We the People” in 2011, marijuana-related petitions were so prevalent that the administration issued four responses to 13 petitions, which had garnered hundreds of thousands of signatures.

Fonte

[biscoito71]

finalmente saiu de cima do muro.

vamos ver se na prática é assim mesmo.

[HST]

Enfim um avanço, o Obamis prometeu, prometeu, mas não cumpriu nada, agora é a sua vez de agir OBONGA!

[tyr]

Good news....

[serelepe22]

um passo de cada vez!

é isso aí! rumo a legalizacao mundial!

valeu pela noticia

[ErvaIsraelense]

Alguém regule a distribuição

[PPerverso]

http://www.drugpolicy.org/blog/white-house-green-lights-marijuana-laws-washington-and-colorado-time-celebrate

White House Green Lights Marijuana Laws in Washington and Colorado. Time to Celebrate?

August 29, 2013 - By Amanda Reiman

Jump for joy! Then get back to work.

Today the Justice Department made history when they announced that they will allow Colorado and Washington to proceed with the recreational marijuana laws passed by voters last November. The DOJ had been relatively silent on the issue until now, but the states themselves have been pushing ahead with designing these new systems of regulation.

Those of us in the marijuana reform movement don’t get to celebrate very often. The victories in Washington and Colorado last November were
exciting, but there was a feeling of looking over our shoulder and waiting for the Feds to swoop in and take it all away. Is today a sign that they indeed have “bigger fish to fry,” as Obama now famously put it when asked about this issue after the November election? It seems to be. Not only is the DOJ claiming that Colorado and Washington can proceed with their new laws, they have directed U.S. Attorneys in medical marijuana states to ease off dispensaries that are in compliance with state law, and not to go after businesses due to sheer size. Make no mistake, this is a step forward.

However (and there is always a “however”), cognitive dissonance in the DOJ still exists on this issue. In the memo they released today, they
list eight areas where the Feds will continue to enforce the Controlled Substances Act, even in states that permit marijuana use. They are:

• 
  Preventing the distribution of marijuana to minors;
• 
  Preventing revenue from the sale of marijuana from going to criminal enterprises, gangs and cartels;
• 
  Preventing the diversion of marijuana from states where it is legal under state law in some form to other states;
• 
  Preventing state-authorized marijuana activity from being used as a cover or pretext for the trafficking of other illegal drugs or other illegal activity;
• 
  Preventing drugged driving and the exacerbation of other adverse public health consequences associated with marijuana use;
• 
  Preventing the growing of marijuana on public lands and the attendant public safety and environmental dangers posed by marijuana production on public lands; and
• 
  Preventing marijuana possession or use on federal property.

I am sure I am not the first one to notice that these issues are largely an effect of prohibition. The memo notes that state regulation may further federal interests by reducing organized crime and making marijuana less available to youth. If the states do a good job of regulation, then the DOJ’s role in those states should continue to shrink.

Today is important, and exciting. But the continued classification of marijuana as a Schedule I substance, and the blindness of the Federal
government around the REAL impacts of marijuana prohibition continue to make this an uphill battle. But, please enjoy this small patch of flat
road.

Amanda Reiman is marijuana policy manager for the Drug Policy Alliance.

[urubuz]

hehehehe democratas forever !! :}

[fingergreenboy]

O Obama é um BOSTA Enrustido ! Assim como seus Antecessores , mas estes pelo menos eram BOSTAS ASSUMIDOS !!!!

Tai um Belo exemplo de Bosta Assumido !!!!

[politicweed]

“We’ve got bigger fish to fry" - Deve estar falando, entre outros, da Síria e o novo golpe norte americano pela paz mundial.

[Juniaum]

Anyway!!!! Há tanta coisa mais essêncial para se fazer do que cultivar o proibiscionismo.

Acorda Brasil!!!