By "Radical" Russ Belville on February 25, 2009
Speaking at a press conference with DEA administrator Michelle Leonhart, Attorney General Eric Holder declared that ending medical marijuana raids ”is now American policy.”
A reporter asked, “shortly after the inauguration there were raids on California medical marijuana dispensaries…do you expect these to continue?”, noting that the President had promised to end the raids in the campaign.
Holder responded, “What the President said during the campaign…is consistent with what we will be doing here in law enforcement. He was my boss in the campaign….He is my boss now. What he said in the campaign is now American policy.”
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The question appears about 25 minutes into the press conference, which was devoted to an operation against the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel.
February 25th, 2009. Mark it as the day on your calendar when the beginning of the end of adult marijuana prohibition happened. With federal pressure off of California and other medical marijuana states, the acceptance of cannabis will grow… like a weed!
I think I am crying… Good night, y’all!
Posted in ACTIVISM, ENTERTAINMENT, LAW ENFORCEMENT, SCIENCE | Tagged Administrator Michele Leonhart, Attorney General, C-SPAN, California, DEA, DEA Raids, dispensaries, Eric Holder
I am the host of the NORML SHOW LIVE and The NORML Stash Blog. I'm married, live in Portland, Oregon, and I am a registered medical marijuana caregiver in this state. I've worked days as an IT geek and nights as a professional musician. Previously, I have been the host of my own political talk radio show on satellite radio. I've been the High Times "Freedom Fighter of the Month" for my work producing Oregon NORML's TV show, "A Cannabis Community Forum", and for helping to institute Portland's wildly successful medical marijuana cardholders meetings, where we help sick and disabled Oregonians acquire cannabis plant starts, learn gardening, and understand the medical marijuana law. I've dedicated my life to bringing an end to adult marijuana prohibition and re-legalizing cannabis hemp, and I'm honored to be chosen by NORML to be our daily voice.
WTF? Why are my comments being censored?
It is about damn time!
Another brick falls from the wall!
This is a big brick.
Federal law does not prevent states from accepting the medical use of marijuana. When the federal drug law was written in 1970, marijuana was placed in Schedule I because it had no accepted medical use in the United States. Since 1996, 13 states have accepted the medical use of marijuana. Federal drug law requires that anything in Schedule I must have no accepted medical use in the United States. Obviously, the federal drug law requires that marijuana be removed from Schedule I and the federal government has failed to do that for 13 years now.
President Bush didn’t tell the DEA to obey federal law and remove marijuana from Schedule I, and neither is President Obama. What President Obama should be saying is that we need to obey the drug law as it was written and remove marijuana from Schedule I. Having Eric Holder tell everybody that federal law will not be enforced against medical marijuana users in states that have accepted its use is nonsense.
Federal law should be enforced as it was written. The federal government has been breaking the law since 1996 when California accepted the medical use of marijuana.
This is great news to wake up to this morning. WOW, what a great day!!!!!
Change the law, not just the policy.
[...] The first to break this story was “Radical Russ”, producer of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law’s Daily Audio Stash. Here is his post that includes an audio excerpt of the press conference. http://stash.norml.org/attorney-general-eric-holder-ending-medical-marijuana-raids-now-american-poli... [...]
Forget taxing cannabis. It’s our right to use this amazing plant as we see fit. I no more support taxing it than I do taxing oregano. Regrettably, the government will inevitably do just that.
Yeah, I was tired. Fixed now!
Ha! Of course I meant “beginning of the end”. I couldn’t type well through my tears. I’ll go fix that now.
And who’s grass would be greener if it were legal.
!. Get rid of the Federal Reserve.
2. Tax and regulate marijuana like Alcohol.
I hope it holds – but I don’t trust anything any government official says anymore..
Also:
“February 25th, 2009. Mark it as the day on your calendar when the beginning of adult marijuana prohibition happened.”
I certainly hope not! lol
This is a historic statement to be sure. It is a real step foreward. But I wonder when the first time we will ever hear one of Obama’s cabinet members use the actual WORD MARIJUANA?!? I only hope the new Drug Czar isn’t so allergic to the word! We need actual discussion, not beating around the bush.
He needs to say “It is the belief of the administration that raiding state-legal Medical Marijuana dispensaries is wasteful spending, takes DEA agents off important cases that pose a threat to the security of the US, and violates the civil rights of terminally ill patients. Therefore we will no longer conduct these raids.”
Not “My boss said something during the campaign, so I feel obligated to follow the apparent wishes of my boss. I don’t really understand the details, and I havent spoken to him about it specifically, but uuuuuuhhhhh yeah if he thinks that then so do I , I guess”
The federal drug law requires the federal government to accept the medical use of marijuana by any state that enacts a medical marijuana law. All you have to do is read the required findings for Schedule I (“no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States”), 21 U.S.C. 812(b)(1)(B). It’s just that simple. No change in fejderal law is required. All that is required is that the DEA obey the federal drug law and remove marijuana from ScheduleI like Congress intended when it wrote the law.
In 1970, when the federal drug law was written, there were no state laws accepting the medical use of marijuana or anything else in Schedule I. The only thing that has changed since then is 13 state medical marijuana laws.
So, you had the Bush Administration refusing to order the DEA to obey the federal drug law, and now you have the Obama Administration doing the same thing, only Obama is saying it is now federal policy not to enforce federal law, when the reality is that it has never been enforced (against the DEA). What a mess.
I’m not waiting for Presidents to obey federal law. I’ve filed civil complaints in the federal and state courts. You can read them on my web site.
Carl Olsen
Iowans for Medical Marijuana
Post Office Box 4091
Des Moines, Iowa 50333
http://www.iowamedicalmarijuana.org/
“Mark it as the day on your calendar when the beginning of adult marijuana prohibition happened.”
I was nervous there for a second! I gather you were beat tired when you wrote this, but I think you meant to say:
“Mark it as the day on your calendar when the beginning of the end of adult marijuana prohibition happened.”
Otherwise, I truly hope that the momentum that seems to be occurring is going to continue to gather strength.
Good and now put it into law.
Policies can change over night, Laws take a longer time to change.
WOW!
PRAISE JAH !!!!!!!
[...] 2/25/09 MARK THIS DAY. A DAY THAT MARIJUANA POLICY HAS SHIFTED IN THE UNITED STATES. HEAD TO NORML AUDIO STASH FOR THIS ENTRY: Attorney General Eric Holder: ending medical marijuana raids “now American policy” | NORML’…/ [...]
Well hell yes!!!