StopTheDrugWar
US Attorney General Eric Holder appeared before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday and defended his Justice Department's crackdown on medical marijuana cultivation and distribution. Holder told committee members the agency was only targeting only those medical marijuana businesses that were "acting out of conformity…with state law."
That had medical marijuana defenders up in arms at what they called his falsehoods. Advocates pointed to numerous dispensaries and other medical marijuana-related enterprises that were operating in compliance with state laws and with the support of local elected officials that have been raided by the DEA or subjected to other federal enforcement actions.
Holder's comments came in response to questioning from Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who pointed out that during his 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama had promised that he wouldn't use "Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue."
Holder agreed that the Justice Department had broken with Bush administration policy and promised not to go after people operating in compliance with state laws. But large-scale growers and dispensaries have "come up with ways in which they are taking advantage of these state laws and going beyond that which the states have authorized," Holder added. "Those are the only cases we've being going after."
Nadler pointed out that since 2009, the DEA and federal prosecutors have raided almost 200 dispensaries and growers and indicted more than 60 medical marijuana providers on federal drug charges and again asked Holder to clarify.
Holder responded that the Justice Department is only going after "those individuals (and) organizations that are acting out of conformity ... with state laws."
Holder added, however, that in some cases, mainly in Colorado, the department was also targeting dispensaries located "too close" to schools. Those enforcement actions were taken not because the dispensaries were violating state laws, but because they were inside the 1,000-foot range specified by an enhanced federal sentencing statute.
Holder "lied to the House Judiciary Committee" in saying the Justice Department was only going after dispensaries and growers that were not in compliance with state laws," California NORML (CANORML) retorted bluntly. "The Justice Department's bad faith seriously impugns the credibility and competence of Attorney General Holder and his administration."
Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), was only slightly more politic.
"What he said to our congressional representatives should be alarming not only to medical cannabis patients, but also to policy makers and the general public, because, based on all of the available information we have, it surely must be a lie," she wrote on the Huffington Post.
The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) was a bit more diplomatic."The problem with Holder's statements is that the federal government's determination of compliance with state law is still fairly ambiguous, even arbitrary," MPP spokesman Morgan Fox told the Chronicle. "This makes it difficult for medical marijuana providers to know if they are safe, creating a chilling effect on the entire industry and resulting in pain, suffering, and potential danger for patients forced to resort to the illicit market."
The states should decide whether a dispensary is violating state law, he added.
"At the end of the day, it should be state authorities who determine if operators are in compliance with state law, not federal prosecutors who view the entire industry through a filter of illegality," Fox said. "Beyond that, using any federal resources to interfere with medical marijuana in states where it is legal is an inexcusable waste when there are far more serious problems that need attention."
CANORML was quick to point to a long list of California medical marijuana facilities that had been raided, threatened, or driven out of business by federal enforcers despite having sterling reputations, local official support, and complying with state laws and local regulations. Among them are some of the most well-known and –respected folks in the industry, including the Berkeley Patients Group, the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, Richard Lee's Oaksterdam University and Blue Sky Coffee Shop, Mendocino County's Northstone Organics, and at least five San Francisco dispensaries, including the Vapor Room, Hope Net, Divinity Tree, Shambhala, and Medithrive.
CANORML noted that in all of those cases, local officials denounced the Justice Department enforcement actions, "but US Attorneys have insolently disregarded community sentiment."
And that's just in Northern California. US Attorneys in other parts of the state have been equally—if not more—active in going after medical marijuana providers. Just one day before Holder addressed the committee, federal prosecutors in Southern California announced a crackdown on Los Angeles County dispensaries, with the DEA raiding two dispensaries and federal prosecutors sending threat letters to 34 more.
The statewide crackdown has been ongoing since last October, when the state's four US Attorneys jointly announced their campaign to rein in the industry. According to ASA, the federal actions have forced more than 300 medical marijuana operations to shut down.
"It's simply not believable that all of these tax-paying businesses were operating in violation of state law," Sherer noted, before asking a series of pointed questions. "If they were, why didn't the state take part in the raids? Why didn't the state or local authorities issue arrest warrants? Why would state and local politicians stand up for businesses breaking state and local laws?"
And stand up they have. Local elected officials, state representatives, state officials, even California Attorney General Kamala Harris have all urged the feds to butt out. Harris wrote to all four US. Attorneys in December, telling them the federal government was "ill-equipped" to interpret and enforce state medical marijuana laws.
The fight continues. On Wednesday, the same day the feds announced a new phase of their offensive in Southern California and the same day President Obama visited the Bay Area on a fund-raising trip, three San Francisco supervisors wrote an op-ed asking him to "keep the commitment he made to stop the federal government's attacks on medical cannabis."
For medical marijuana advocates, listening to Attorney General Holder saying he is only targeting operations in violation of state laws is bringing back memories of that old country and western music song: "Who are You Gonna Believe? Me or Your Lying Eyes?"
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12 comments:
What gives this shithead the right to enforce state law?
Holder is a lying P.O.S. When will we out slime like him harming America and challenging decisions made on a state level? He is a Criminal from the Fast and Furious false flag flop. He does not represent the people. Time to go!! Out with the trash and a well deserved criminal prosecution.
What happened in CA mirrors exactly what happened in Montana. Feds raided every dispensary, confiscated their equipment and inventory, and in one case actually put the landlord of a dispensary in prison even though the dispensary was in compliance with state laws. Holder is clearly lying, he lied to Congress about Fast and Furious, yet he's still the AG, not even a slap on the wrist. Isn't lying to Congress more egregious than operating a store front MM dispensary? Yo.
I thought the attack on Arizona's immigration laws was based on the idea that the states cannot enforce federal laws. How is Holder going to enforce a state law?
"Holder told committee members the agency was only targeting only those medical marijuana businesses that were "acting out of conformity…with state law."
Since when does the feds enforce STATE laws?
When the state governments abandoned their de jure seats and formed themselves into corporations they became subservient debtors to the corporation calling itself the United States and were therefore bound to follow the rules of the parent corp. This is how the US keeps the states in line. It's much more profitable to keep the marij illegal so why endorse legalization when it's making huge money for the courts and the fed to keep it on the forbidden list ;)
This scumbag is a mass murdering terrorist, PERIOD. What else would one expect? You really think the enemy is going to be truthful to it's lowly subjects?
ANYONE, and I mean anyone who believes anything that comes out of the mouth of that POS Holder and his boss deserve everything they get. .They are nothing more than criminals, thugs and worse they use and abuse "Federal" law to undermine "We The People's", God given rights. . enough is enough. . Remove every incumbent, and replace every last one of them
"Holder is a lying P.O.S." - Anon.
He, and his ilk, are also "cop killers' as far as many are concerned (say, Fast and Furious). Lest we forget!
The sun came up this morning; Yawn... Eric Holder lies, "pretty boy" Romney lies. Government personalities lie; that's what they do, their job; all of them, all the time. Ain't modern life wunerful? Smile and be well, Rob
The facts are clear.
DOJ is putting a lid on the successful medical mj programs in Calif and Colo. The effect has been to dissuade new participants from provider, dispensary, or other support industries.
AG Holder is probably carrying water for someone up the food chain. He is not known as an anti-drug crusader. Totally out of character for him. Why else would he waste his department's precious resources on helping to enforce state laws instead of going after much more serious violations of federal law? The AG is not very convincing, he's lying through his teeth and most people can see that.
The question is WHO - someone from K Street, perhaps. Big Pharma, Big Tobacco, Adult Beverage Industry? There are several likely suspects with the motive and the money, who have already cut their deal through POTUS, who tells Holder to damp down the medical cannabis industry, and portray them in media as criminals with perp walks and don't forget "the children".
It can't be a cultural driver. Holder is not known for his evangelical practices or his moral achievements.
These arbitrary enforcement actions would appear to be conducted to address the contagion that could spread from California and Colorado to the other states. With the publicity on CNBC, cable, the movies, and the success of institutions such as Oaksterdam and the iGrow superstore, the entire country is experiencing the inevitable "coming out" of this movement.
The efforts of AG Holder and DOJ are fruitless. Fact is, cannabis will be legalized by the feds before the decade is out.
Look, Obama is the same as all the other corrupt, sold out a-holes who are allowed to become president of these United States. What change? And where are my Colorado representatives in this? All at Georgetown parties, which is why they got into this gig in the first place. Why fool yourselves any longer? Don't vote for Obamney and don't vote for Rombama.
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