Pubdate: Fri, 14 Oct 2011
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2011 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Debra J. Saunders

BARACK OBAMA, DRUG WARRIOR

President Obama has become quite the drug warrior.

Last month, his Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives 
issued a memo that stated that it is unlawful for anyone with a 
state-issued medical marijuana card to possess a gun or ammunition. 
This month, four U.S. attorneys in California announced that they are 
escalating prosecution of medical marijuana clubs by going after the 
assets of their landlords and property owners.

As a senator and presidential candidate, Obama supported states' 
rights on medical marijuana. In 2008, campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt 
told me Obama "believes that states and local governments are best 
positioned to strike the balance between making sure that these 
policies are not abused for recreational drug use and making sure 
that doctors and their patients can safely access pain relief."

When he was first in office, it looked as if Obama would do as he had 
said. Drug war opponents were pleasantly surprised in 2009 when a 
Department of Justice memo advised U.S. attorneys not to "focus 
federal resources" on "individuals with cancer or other serious 
illnesses who use marijuana as part of a recommended treatment 
regimen" consistent with state law or their caregivers.

But this year, charges Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the 
anti-drug-war Drug Policy Alliance, Obama seems controlled by 
"over-zealous prosecutors and anti-marijuana ideologues."

Now I believe marijuana should be legal, and not simply for medical use.

But I also recognize that federal law trumps state law. Many 
marijuana suppliers hide behind the mantle of palliative care to 
profit from recreational use and abuse. It must drive prosecutors 
nuts to watch what are basically criminal enterprises cash in by 
taking legal cover under state law while flouting federal law. 
Washington could remedy that by legalizing marijuana.

But when U.S. attorneys in California send out dozens of letters 
threatening landowners and lien holders with the seizure of their 
property and assets, they're not going after the drug trade. They are 
using the full force of the federal government to threaten people 
whose crime is renting, not breaking federal criminal law. Make that 
renting to businesses allowed under state law.

"Although our initial efforts in the Northern District focus on only 
certain marijuana stores," San Francisco's U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag 
explained in a statement, "we will almost certainly be taking action 
against others. None are immune from action by the federal government."

You don't have to sell or distribute marijuana to have a target on 
your back. It's easier to go after landlords. Prosecutors have to 
prove defendants guilty beyond reasonable doubt in criminal court, 
but asset forfeiture law allows the government to seize property in 
civil court.

U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy of Southern California has said that she is 
ready to go after newspapers, radio stations and other outlets that 
run ads for medical marijuana shops because federal law targets those 
who place ads for an illegal substance. Duffy told California Watch, 
"I am willing to read (the law) expansively, and if a court wants to 
more narrowly define it, that would be up to the court."

I should note that The Chronicle has run such ads.

Nadelmann told me that he now thinks Obama today is as bad as his 
predecessors when it comes to the drug war.

One could argue that Obama is worse; President George W. Bush didn't 
go after newspapers.

In 1996, Californians voted to legalize medical marijuana; as of 
today, 15 other states have followed suit. In 2008, Obama respected 
states' rights. In 2011, his administration is ready to bulldoze its 
2009 advisory that the feds not pick on sick people.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., protested that the ATF memo is unacceptable 
because "law-abiding citizens would be stripped of their Second 
Amendment rights simply because they hold a state-issued card 
authorizing the possession and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes."

Nadelmann cannot understand why the Obama Justice Department is 
willing to alienate real estate agents, property owners, gun owners 
and the Democratic base. "Typically, as an advocate," he said, "your 
best opportunities emerge when the other side overreaches."

Bingo.

I've talked to folks in law enforcement who stew over medical 
marijuana businesses serving as fronts for criminal enterprises. But 
now the administration is threatening to go after cancer patients who 
own guns and small businesses that rent to marijuana shops. They are 
going after people whom they do not consider to be criminals.

That's why some states decided to pass medical marijuana laws in the 
first place. They do not want the heavy boot of federal law 
enforcement stomping on the wrong people.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart