Pubdate: Fri, 30 Aug 2013
Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Copyright: 2013 Sun-Sentinel Company
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/mVLAxQfA
Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159
Author: David G. Savage, Tribune Washington Bureau

U.S. BOWS TO STATE POT LAWS

Feds Shift Focus to Interstate Trade, Sales to Minors

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration pulled back Thursday on federal 
enforcement of the laws against marijuana, telling U.S. prosecutors 
they should not target state-regulated dispensaries or businesses 
that sell medical or personal marijuana to adults in the 20 states, 
plus the District of Columbia, where it is legal to do so.

Moreover, the Justice Department said it will not challenge in court 
new laws in Colorado and Washington state that legalize the personal 
use of small amounts of marijuana, regardless of a medical need.

But officials stressed that marijuana remains illegal under federal 
law and that U.S. prosecutors will bring charges against drug 
traffickers who deal in marijuana as well as those who sell it to minors.

The announcement was hailed by drug law reformers as both welcome and 
overdue. California's voters passed the first medical marijuana law 
in 1996, and recent polls have shown most Americans support 
legalizing marijuana. But Congress has not revised federal law, which 
classifies marijuana as a highly dangerous drug like heroin.

Dan Riffle, a director of the Marijuana Policy Project, called the 
new policy "a major and historic step toward ending marijuana prohibition."

"It is time for the federal government to start working with state 
officials to develop enforcement policies that respect state voters," 
Riffle said.

This "demonstrates the sort of political vision and foresight from 
the White House we've been seeking for a long time," said Ethan 
Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance.

It was the second time this month that Attorney General Eric Holder 
has announced a major change in enforcement policy for strict federal 
drug laws. On Aug. 12, Holder told federal prosecutors they should 
not charge low-level, nonviolent offenders under laws that call for 
long "mandatory minimum" prison terms.

On Thursday, Holder sent new guidance to U.S. attorneys nationwide 
telling them to limit federal marijuana cases to "certain federal priorities."

These include preventing the sale of marijuana to minors, preventing 
revenue from drug sales from flowing to criminal enterprises and 
preventing "diversion" of marijuana from states where it is legal to 
those where it is not.

In one section, the guidance memo retreats from what Holder's 
department told prosecutors two years ago.

In 2011, prosecutors were advised they should not pursue charges 
against patients or their caretakers over their use of medical 
marijuana, but that "large-scale, for-profit commercial enterprises" 
that sold marijuana were appropriate targets for prosecution.

Since then, federal prosecutors in California and elsewhere have 
brought charges against dispensaries and stores because they sold 
marijuana in volume.

The new memo says "prosecutors should not consider the size or 
commercial nature of a marijuana operation alone" as a reason to 
bring federal charges. A department official who briefed reporters 
said the sheer size of a dispensary or its volume of business should 
not trigger a prosecution.

However, he said, federal agents remain free to pursue charges 
against a dispensary for other reasons, such as because it sold 
marijuana to minors or because it was a front for a criminal enterprise.

The new memo also says that states that have "strong and effective 
regulatory and enforcement systems" are less likely to see aggressive 
federal prosecutions.

Many voiced caution because of past pledges by the Obama administration.

"It remains to be seen how individual U.S. attorneys will interpret 
the new guidance," said Tom Angell, chair of Marijuana Majority.

"It's significant that U.S. attorneys will no longer be able to use 
the size or profitability of a legal marijuana business to determine 
whether or not it should be a target for prosecution, but the 
guidelines seem to leave some leeway for the feds to continue making 
it hard for state legal marijuana providers to do business," he said.

Last November, voters in Colorado and Washington became the first in 
the nation to legalize personal marijuana use. By doing so, they 
created a clear conflict with federal law.

The Justice Department could have gone to court to seek a ruling that 
the federal drug laws pre-empted or trumped the state's legalization measure.

Thursday's announcement is consistent with what President Barack 
Obama said shortly after the election. He said he could not approve 
state legalization measures because marijuana remained illegal under 
federal law but added that pursuing "recreational drug users" was not 
a priority for federal prosecutors.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom