DOJ releases 'new' policy on medical marijuana
More "war on some drugs" news this morning, although the only new part is the DOJ issued an official memorandum outlining its policy on medical marijuana prosecutions in the 14 states that have enacted laws allowing its use. Not really ready to pop the champagne corks just yet myself considering Holder made an unofficial announcement last spring and then the DEA almost immediately busted four California dispensaries.
It's certainly progress that they commited the policy to a written policy document. However, the language leaves plenty of discretion for the feds to get involved. Still one hopes that the new tenor will at least end the Bush era grudge cases against marijuana reform activists that ushered in the incarcerations of people like Tommy Chong and Ed Rosenthal, who clearly pose no danger to society.
You can read the memorandum here and click over to Alan Colmes link, where I saw the story first, for the best graphic.
Update: While I'm unwilling to read too much into this announcement until we see how it plays out in real world prosecutions, Adam Serwer rightly points out that sanity is slowly seeping into our drug policy on the Congressional level and the White House has been supportive of these positive policy changes as well. So there's that.
[More posts daily at The Detroit News]
It's certainly progress that they commited the policy to a written policy document. However, the language leaves plenty of discretion for the feds to get involved. Still one hopes that the new tenor will at least end the Bush era grudge cases against marijuana reform activists that ushered in the incarcerations of people like Tommy Chong and Ed Rosenthal, who clearly pose no danger to society.
You can read the memorandum here and click over to Alan Colmes link, where I saw the story first, for the best graphic.
Update: While I'm unwilling to read too much into this announcement until we see how it plays out in real world prosecutions, Adam Serwer rightly points out that sanity is slowly seeping into our drug policy on the Congressional level and the White House has been supportive of these positive policy changes as well. So there's that.
[More posts daily at The Detroit News]
Labels: Justice, Obama administration, war on drugs
posted by Libby Spencer at 12:46 PM
2 Comments:
Facsinating article in the October Harper's about medical marijuana and the folks who grow it ... recommend it highly for anyone interested in this topic.
Thanks for the tip. I'll check out. I'm king of drifted out of the scene but I started as a drug policy reform blogger back in the Dark Ages, so I like to keep up with the latest buzz.
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