States to make own rules about medical marijuana usage

Drug Enforcement Administration raids on pot dispensaries in California may soon end, suggested Attorney General Holder at a recent news conference. Asked about raids that had occurred since President Obama took office last month, Holder said the administration has changed its policy: "What the president said during the campaign, you'll be surprised to know, will be consistent with what we'll be doing here in law enforcement," he said. "What he said during the campaign is now American policy."

The questions came following a DEA raid of a marijuana dispensary in South Lake Tahoe and four others in the Los Angeles area - all of which occurred after Obama's inauguration. Advocacy groups like the Drug Policy Alliance protested, noting that President Obama had not yet appointed his drug policy team. Bill Piper, the National Affairs Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said of Holder's statement: "I think the statement definitely signals that Obama is moving in a new direction, that it means what he said on the campaign trail that marijuana should be treated as a health issue rather than a criminal justice issue."

The Federal Government has been fighting state medicinal pot laws since 1996, when Californians voted to reject criminal penalties for those using marijuana for medical purposes. The Clinton Administration won a Supreme Court case, which allowed Federal authorities to close non-profit agencies that supplied marijuana to their members. President Bush's Administration even raided medical marijuana growers and clinics, as well as prosecuted suppliers. It also stopped a researcher at the University of Massachusetts from growing pot to use in studies of its medicinal properties.

News Release: U.S. to yield marijuana jurisdiction to states www.sfgate.com February 27, 2009