IS MEDICINAL MARIJUANA LEGAL YET? DrugSense FOCUS Alert #398 - Saturday, 28 February 2009 Wednesday a reporter pointed out that after the inauguration, the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted several raids in California despite President Barack Obama's promises, and asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder if those raids were a reflection of the government's policy going forward. "No," Holder said in response. "What the president said during the campaign, you'll be surprised to know, will be consistent with what we'll be doing in law enforcement. He was my boss during the campaign. He is formally and technically and by law my boss now. What he said during the campaign is now American policy." Video of the statement is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjZeW2fcQHM Among the first headlines in the press was 'Medical Pot Supporters Cheer End of DEA Raids' http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n230/a05.html No doubt the announcement is a step forward at the federal level. But local reaction varies, as reporters writing articles found out. In a Bakersfield Californian article http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n236/a06.html we read "Sheriff Donny Youngblood said he hadn't heard Holder's statement. He did say, however, that the attorney general doesn't write the law and that unless the U.S. Supreme Court or Congress changes the law he's not sure what impact Holder's statement will have." and "District Attorney Ed Jagels said his office has periodically prosecuted people who have had such large amounts of marijuana that it couldn't possibly have been for medical use. If what Holder said is actually going to happen, it wouldn't impact the prosecutor's office because they target people who aren't obeying state law, he said. They do not prosecute federal crimes. "I haven't seen these comments, but if what you're saying is accurate then it sounds like the Obama administration is saying they won't do their duty and enforce federal law," Jagels said. "Given the constituency that elected Obama, I'm not surprised."" In The Oregonian we read http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n235/a02.html "Because Oregon does not have state-regulated dispensaries such as those in California, Oregon was at less risk of being raided by federal agents. Individual patients and growers, however, have been targeted by law enforcement at the local and federal level, said Jim Klahr of medical marijuana education group Oregon Green Free." So is medicinal marijuana is not legal yet. Your letters to the editor are still needed. Articles about dispensaries are posted at http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries and about medicinal marijuana at http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm Attorney General Eric Holder's statement may be a useful to use as you confront elected officials from the local to federal level - along with all the other evidence supporting medicinal marijuana use. What you do does make a difference. Prepared by: Richard Lake, Senior Editor www.mapinc.org =.

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