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geokills
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Registered: 05/08/01
Posts: 1,287
Loc: city of angels
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Obama Ends Medical Marijuana Raids in 13 States
#300094 - 10/19/09 10:11 AM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
From the US Department of Justice:
October 19,2009
MEMORANDUM FOR SELECTED UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS
FROM: David W. Ogden, Deputy Attorney General
SUBJECT: Investigations and Prosecutions in States Authorizing the Medical Use of Marijuana
This memorandum provides clarification and guidance to federal prosecutors in States that have enacted laws authorizing the medical use of marijuana. These laws vary in their substantive provisions and in the extent of state regulatory oversight, both among the enacting States and among local jurisdictions within those States. Rather than developing different guidelines for every possible variant of state and local law, this memorandum provides uniform guidance to focus federal investigations and prosecutions in these States on core federal enforcement priorities.
The Department of Justice is committed to the enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act in all States. Congress has determined that marijuana is a dangerous drug, and the illegal distribution and sale of marijuana is a serious crime and provides a significant source of revenue to large-scale criminal enterprises, gangs, and cartels. One timely example underscores the importance of our efforts to prosecute significant marijuana traffickers: marijuana distribution in the United States remains the single largest source of revenue for the Mexican cartels.
The Department is also committed to making efficient and rational use of its limited investigative and prosecutorial resources. In general, United States Attorneys are vested with “plenary authority with regard to federal criminal matters” within their districts. USAM 9-2.001. In exercising this authority, United States Attorneys are “invested by statute and delegation from the Attorney General with the broadest discretion in the exercise of such authority.” Id. This authority should, of course, be exercised consistent with Department priorities and guidance.
The prosecution of significant traffickers of illegal drugs, including marijuana, and the disruption of illegal drug manufacturing and trafficking networks continues to be a core priority in the Department’s efforts against narcotics and dangerous drugs, and the Department’s investigative and prosecutorial resources should be directed towards these objectives. As a general matter, pursuit of these priorities should not focus federal resources in your States on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana. For example, prosecution of individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses who use marijuana as part of a recommended treatment regimen consistent with applicable state law, or those caregivers in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state law who provide such individuals with marijuana, is unlikely to be an efficient use of limited federal resources. On the other hand, prosecution of commercial enterprises that unlawfully market and sell marijuana for profit continues to be an enforcement priority of the Department. To be sure, claims of compliance with state or local law may mask operations inconsistent with the terms, conditions, or purposes of those laws, and federal law enforcement should not be deterred by such assertions when otherwise pursuing the Department’s core enforcement priorities.
Typically, when any of the following characteristics is present, the conduct will not be in clear and unambiguous compliance with applicable state law and may indicate illegal drug trafficking activity of potential federal interest:
- unlawful possession or unlawful use of firearms;
- violence;
- sales to minors;
- financial and marketing activities inconsistent with the terms, conditions, or purposes of state law, including evidence of money laundering activity and/or financial gains or excessive amounts of cash inconsistent with purported compliance with state or local law;
- amounts of marijuana inconsistent with purported compliance with state or local law;
- illegal possession or sale of other controlled substances; or
- ties to other criminal enterprises.
Of course, no State can authorize violations of federal law, and the list of factors above is not intended to describe exhaustively when a federal prosecution may be warranted. Accordingly, in prosecutions under the Controlled Substances Act, federal prosecutors are not expected to charge, prove, or otherwise establish any state law violations. Indeed, this memorandum does not alter in any way the Department’s authority to enforce federal law, including laws prohibiting the manufacture, production, distribution, possession, or use of marijuana on federal property. This guidance regarding resource allocation does not “legalize” marijuana or provide a legal defense to a violation of federal law, nor is it intended to create any privileges, benefits, or rights, substantive or procedural, enforceable by any individual, party or witness in any administrative, civil, or criminal matter. Nor does clear and unambiguous compliance with state law or the absence of one or all of the above factors create a legal defense to a violation of the Controlled Substances Act. Rather, this memorandum is intended solely as a guide to the exercise of investigative and prosecutorial discretion.
Finally, nothing herein precludes investigation or prosecution where there is a reasonable basis to believe that compliance with state law is being invoked as a pretext for the production or distribution of marijuana for purposes not authorized by state law. Nor does this guidance preclude investigation or prosecution, even when there is clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state law, in particular circumstances where investigation or prosecution otherwise serves important federal interests.
Your offices should continue to review marijuana cases for prosecution on a case-by-case basis, consistent with the guidance on resource allocation and federal priorities set forth herein, the consideration of requests for federal assistance from state and local law enforcement authorities, and the Principles of Federal Prosecution.
cc: All United States Attorneys
Lanny A. Breuer Assistant Attorney General Criminal Division
B. Todd Jones United States Attorney District of Minnesota Chair, Attorney General’s Advisory Committee
Michele M. Leonhart Acting Administrator Drug Enforcement Administration
H. Marshall Jarrett Director Executive Office for United States Attorneys
Kevin L. Perkins Assistant Director Criminal Investigative Division Federal Bureau of Investigation
Quote:
From MPP:
The Obama administration is directing federal prosecutors not to arrest medical marijuana patients and caregivers who are complying with state laws.
On Monday, federal prosecutors, as well as top officials at the FBI and DEA, will reportedly be told that it isn’t a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana, if they are complying with state law.
This is the most significant, positive policy development on the federal level for medical marijuana since 1978.
Under the Bush administration, the feds had continued to raid, arrest, and otherwise terrorize medical marijuana and their caregivers in the 13 states that have passed medical marijuana laws. This new policy is a major change.
MPP was instrumental in obtaining a promise from President Obama during the presidential campaign that, if elected, he would halt these arrests. MPP was the only reform organization to testify on Capitol Hill urging the issuance of the guidelines and, later, was the only group to work with leaders in Congress to get a House committee to urge the administration to adopt the written guidelines. Our lobbyists have also been in contact with top officials at the Justice Department about the guidelines.
(In fact, you can watch a one-minute video clip of Obama responding to one of our campaign volunteers in New Hampshire on August 21, 2007, in the heat of the presidential primary campaign here, and a clip of MPP's lobbyist following his testimony on the Hill here.)
We're thrilled to see this promise come to fruition, and I hope you’ll join me in celebrating this news -- some of the best we’ve had for medical marijuana patients in years.
Thank you for helping to make this momentous change happen. And if you’d like to help keep pushing, please use MPP's easy online action center to tell your members of Congress that you support this new policy.
Quote:
From Bloomberg
Medical Marijuana Policy Eased by Justice Department By Justin Blum
Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration is advising federal prosecutors not to seek criminal charges against those who use medical marijuana in accordance with state laws, reversing a Bush administration approach.
The guidelines, released today by the U.S. Justice Department, put in writing an approach that already was being used by the Obama administration.
Fourteen states, including California, have laws allowing some marijuana use for medical purposes, according to a Justice Department statement. The Bush administration had said it would pursue charges in medical marijuana cases, even in those states.
“It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in the statement. “But we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal.”
The guidelines don’t legalize marijuana. The Justice Department will focus its resources on “serious drug traffickers while taking into account state and local laws,” Holder said.
Prosecution of people with cancer or other serious illnesses who use marijuana consistent with state laws, or their caregivers, is “unlikely to be an efficient use of limited federal resources,” according to the guidelines.
Prosecution of commercial operations that unlawfully sell marijuana for profit will continue to be an enforcement priority, according to the guidelines.
Quote:
From Washington Post:
Obama administration issues new policy on medical marijuana By Carrie Johnson Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, October 19, 2009; 11:02 AM
The Obama administration delivered new guidance on medical marijuana to federal prosecutors Monday, signaling a broad policy shift that will mean fewer crackdowns against dispensaries and the people who use them.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. instructed government lawyers that in 14 states where medical marijuana use is legal, federal prosecutors should focus only on cases involving higher level drug traffickers or people who use the state laws as a cover story.
"It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana, but we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal," Holder said. "This balanced policy formalizes a sensible approach that the Department has been following since January: effectively focus our resources on serious drug traffickers while taking into account state and local laws."
The Justice Department action is the latest in a series of developments in President Obama's approach to drug policy. It follows by only a few days the introduction of a Senate bill that would eliminate the disparity between sentences for cocaine possession in powder versus rock form, a change long sought by drug reform advocates, judges and civil rights activists.
During last year's election campaign, Obama and his running mate, Joseph R. Biden Jr., backed an overhaul of the nation's treatment of drug offenders, supporting more education, treatment and drug courts for people caught in the throes of addiction. They handpicked former Seattle police chief R. Gil Kerlikowske, who shares many of those views, as their drug czar.
In Monday's memo, first reported by the Associated Press, authorities make clear that in states with medical marijuana laws, federal prosecutors should train their aim on bigger cases involving violence, money laundering, sales to juveniles and the unlawful use of firearms.
Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden, who sent the policy directive to U.S. attorneys Monday morning, cautioned that marijuana distribution in the United States remains the highest profit source for powerful Mexican drug cartels whose violence increasingly spills over the Southwest border.
In the document, posted on the department Web site Ogden makes clear that the department is not "legalizing" marijuana or creating a new legal defense for people who may have violated the Controlled Substances Act. Instead, the memo is intended to guide prosecutors on where to train their scarce investigative resources.
Tom Angell, a spokesman for the advocacy group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, said in an e-mail message that the shift appears to be a "major step" in the right direction.
The issue has flared in several states, particularly California, where drug-control agents raided dispensaries earlier this year.
-------------------- Do Your Part! --------------------
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NobodyImportant
Science Is Subculture
Registered: 05/03/08
Posts: 4,981
Loc: Jawjuh.
Last seen: 11 years, 5 months
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Re: Obama Ends Medical Marijuana Raids in 13 States [Re: geokills]
#300097 - 10/19/09 10:14 AM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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Im gonna have to celebrate this with a HUGE BONG RIP
Now I just need to move to one of the 13 states
-------------------- Glass By: US Tubes, ZOB, Roor.de, Sheldon Black, Jerome Baker, Medicali, Kennaroo, Sand, Alex K, Local and Unknown Artists
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NobodyImportant
Science Is Subculture
Registered: 05/03/08
Posts: 4,981
Loc: Jawjuh.
Last seen: 11 years, 5 months
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Re: Obama Ends Medical Marijuana Raids in 13 States [Re: NobodyImportant]
#300102 - 10/19/09 10:22 AM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
Typically, when any of the following characteristics is present, the conduct will not be in clear and unambiguous compliance with applicable state law and may indicate illegal drug trafficking activity of potential federal interest:
* unlawful possession or unlawful use of firearms; * violence; * sales to minors; * financial and marketing activities inconsistent with the terms, conditions, or purposes of state law, including evidence of money laundering activity and/or financial gains or excessive amounts of cash inconsistent with purported compliance with state or local law; * amounts of marijuana inconsistent with purported compliance with state or local law; * illegal possession or sale of other controlled substances; or * ties to other criminal enterprises.
Do you guys remember the post from a few days ago that said "almost 100% of dispensaries are illegal"
I hope they dont just start calling the ones they go after "illegal"
-------------------- Glass By: US Tubes, ZOB, Roor.de, Sheldon Black, Jerome Baker, Medicali, Kennaroo, Sand, Alex K, Local and Unknown Artists
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FarBeyondDriven
Truthfully, I'm a bullshitter
Registered: 04/22/08
Posts: 13,834
Loc: Greenbow, Alabama
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Re: Obama Ends Medical Marijuana Raids in 13 States [Re: geokills]
#300139 - 10/19/09 10:59 AM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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step in the right direction
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Tcrib
Stranger
Registered: 09/03/09
Posts: 125
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Re: Obama Ends Medical Marijuana Raids in 13 States [Re: FarBeyondDriven]
#301106 - 10/20/09 10:57 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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Just a small clip on the matter...Nothing big or anything I use it for the same reasons - Broke my neck, back, and nerves are messed up and makes my entire body ache so I can relate to this guy...Especially not having to take so many damn pills.
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42047
Registered: 05/23/08
Posts: 268
Last seen: 14 years, 1 month
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Re: Obama Ends Medical Marijuana Raids in 13 States [Re: geokills]
#302797 - 10/23/09 09:31 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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doesnt say that at all.
what it says is that it shouldnt be a high priority, but the federal government will still take cases regarding medical cannabis if presented to them by prosecutors. Its a media ploy and doesnt really change anything. at most its gauging intrest and weighing public outcry.
this also does nothing for dispenseries and people operating ouside of complience with prop215 and sb420. There will still continue to be raids, and people will still go to jail, this does NOTHING to change the laws.
-------------------- notapillow said: have fun and remember... your a beautifuly scummy selfish wreck of an ego stuck to a rock twirling around in an incomprihensible land of chaos explore
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geokills
······· º¿° ·······
Registered: 05/08/01
Posts: 1,287
Loc: city of angels
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
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Re: Obama Ends Medical Marijuana Raids in 13 States [Re: geokills]
#303087 - 10/24/09 02:36 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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-------------------- Do Your Part! --------------------
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42047
Registered: 05/23/08
Posts: 268
Last seen: 14 years, 1 month
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Re: Obama Ends Medical Marijuana Raids in 13 States [Re: geokills]
#303196 - 10/24/09 06:42 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
KeefTokesAlot said: Man all I was saying is this is a step twords something that could turn into something good, I never said it was good or any of that chicken shit bullshit, I'm just saying this COULD be good.
And Obama Should get his black ass up, and decriminalize!
quick reply error, that was to the subject of the bill not directly to you.
-------------------- notapillow said: have fun and remember... your a beautifuly scummy selfish wreck of an ego stuck to a rock twirling around in an incomprihensible land of chaos explore
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MasterHerbalist
MH:Jahsun
Registered: 02/18/09
Posts: 203
Loc: middle a
Last seen: 11 years, 5 months
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Re: Obama Ends Medical Marijuana Raids in 13 States [Re: geokills]
#303398 - 10/25/09 12:55 AM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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Someone has to keep this big buisness goverments hands outta my medicine cabnet!
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urk
Registered: 09/08/09
Posts: 415
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Re: Obama Ends Medical Marijuana Raids in 13 States [Re: MasterHerbalist]
#304354 - 10/26/09 10:34 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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i wish i worked for the secret service so i could toke with obama in the limo while his wifes away doing wife things like baking cookies for us to eat afterwards
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Keith22
Registered: 10/06/09
Posts: 217
Loc: Canada
Last seen: 13 years, 8 months
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Re: Obama Ends Medical Marijuana Raids in 13 States [Re: urk]
#304373 - 10/26/09 10:52 PM (14 years, 11 months ago) |
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Most definately a positive step forward. I love your avatar masterherbalist lmao, good ol' Jay and silent Bob.
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