Pubdate: Thu, 05 Sep 2013
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Copyright: 2013 PG Publishing Co., Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/pm4R4dI4
Website: http://www.post-gazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/341
Author: Matt Volz, Associated Press
Webpage: A11

MEDICAL POT LOOKS TO 'COLOR INSIDE THE LINES'

U.S. Says It Won't Intervene in States Where Drug Is Legal

HELENA, Mont. (AP) - Medical marijuana businesses worried that federal
agents will close them down now have a roadmap to avoid prosecution,
courtesy of the Justice Department's decision to allow legal pot in
Colorado and Washington state.

The agency last week said that even though the drug remains illegal
under federal law, it won't intervene to block state pot laws or
prosecute as long as states create strict and effective controls that
follow eight conditions.

"The DOJ is saying you guys need to color inside the lines," said Teri
Robnett, founder of the Cannabis Patients Action Network, a
Westminster, Colo.based medical marijuana advocacy group. "If you
color inside the lines, we'll let you keep your crayons. If you don't,
we can come in and take your crayons away."

The department's policy memo comes after voters in Colorado and
Washington last fall passed first-in-the-nation laws to allow
recreational pot use and follows similar agency statements in recent
years that helped spur creation of medical marijuana systems across
the United States.

In states such as Montana and California, an explosion in medical
marijuana use spawned a backlash, stricter laws and tougher federal
enforcement.

U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner, whose office covers the Eastern
District of California, said more than half of the cases his office
prosecutes comply with the criteria set out by the policy memo. Mr.
Wagner said the memo wasn't so much a message to the marijuana
industry, but one to ensure that there is better collaboration between
state and federal authorities.

In California, "some cities and counties are banning [dispensaries],
while others are licensing them and encouraging them," he said. "It's
hard to see how the current system fits the description laid out in
the memo."

With legal, recreational pot on the horizon in two states, the memo is
raising questions about medical marijuana's future not just in
Washington and Colorado, but also in the 18 other states and
Washington, D.C., that allow it.

While advocates say it's too early to gauge the impact of the new
recreational pot push, there were signs that it could hurt medical
marijuana.

In Washington, the governor and many lawmakers were already looking to
rein in the state's unregulated medical marijuana market because they
worried that its untaxed cannabis would undercut the highly taxed
recreational pot.

There may be some attrition in the beginning, as bargain hunting
medical marijuana users or those wanting to avoid the government
bureaucracy of state registries dabble in the recreational market, Ms.
Robnett said. But most patients will stay, she said, because the
medical marijuana strains are tailored for their illnesses, can be
more potent and don't necessarily create a high while relieving their
symptoms.

The Justice Department memo outlines eight areas of "marijuana-related
conduct" it won't tolerate, from distribution to kids to use of
firearms and drugged driving. Marijuana advocates say they welcome
them as guidelines for medical marijuana states to tailor their laws
and a way for other states to enact new laws without fear of federal
reprisal.

Advocates say states with regulations that meet or exceed regulations
in those areas should not be worried about increased federal scrutiny.
"It should give growers and dispensers a level of comfort that the
federal government is becoming clearer in what [its] guidance is to
U.S. attorneys," said Roseanne Scotti, the New Jersey director of the
Drug Policy Alliance.

In Oregon, state health officials are drawing up regulations for a new
medical marijuana program for next year. U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall
has said the state will need to create strong teeth when it writes the
regulations, and make sure that it can enforce them.

Repercussions can be harsh for those who do color outside the lines.
In Montana, a 2004 voter-approved medical pot law was vague on local
law enforcement's abilities to regulate commercial activity. The feds
stepped in when registered pot providers topped 4,800, with billboard
ads and huge greenhouses operating in the open.

Raids in 2011 led to convictions of 33 providers and, along with a
major state law rewrite, led to the demise of most commercial sales.
U.S. Attorney Mike Cotter, who orchestrated the crackdown and vows to
prosecute large pot providers, said the new federal memo is "not going
to affect the way we do business here in Montana."
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MAP posted-by: Matt