Next president might be gentler on pot clubs
Ever since California voters became the first in the nation to legalize medical marijuana in 1996, the state has faced unyielding opposition from the federal government, which insists it has the power to prohibit a drug it considers useless and dangerous.

That could all change with the next presidential election.

As the candidates prepare for a May 20 primary in Oregon, one of 12 states with a California-style law, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois has become an increasingly firm advocate of ending federal intervention and letting states make their own rules when it comes to medical marijuana.

His Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, is less explicit, recently softening a pledge she made early in the campaign to halt federal raids in states with medical marijuana laws. But she has expressed none of the hostility that marked the response of her husband’s administration to California’s initiative, Proposition 215.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican nominee-in-waiting, has gone back and forth on the issue - promising a medical marijuana patient at one campaign stop that seriously ill patients would never face arrest under a McCain administration, but ultimately endorsing the Bush administration’s policy of federal raids and prosecutions.

Senator Obama seems to understand that there is legitimate medical use for marijuana, comparing doctor-prescribed morphine to doctor-recommended marijuana.  Senator Clinton seems to have waffled a bit, saying first that the DEA raids in medical marijuana states should end, but later saying instead that DEA raids shouldn’t be a “high priority”, which leaves the possibility open that the DEA raids would be a priority to some lesser extent.  She also seems unaware of marijuana’s proven medicinal benefits, calling for more research despite the dozens of studies that have confirmed marijuana as medicine.  And Senator McCain has flip-flopped numerous times on this issue, telling one patient he’d never be arrested for using medical marijuana, but then stating that he would not end DEA raids in medical marijuana states.

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Download the NORML Daily Audio Stash for 2008-04-11

Friday is Cannabis Community day on the Stash, and coming up after the news, we’re speaking with our regular guest Steve Bloom, the webmaster at CelebStoner.com. We’ll be discussing the Democratic presidential candidate’s latest stands on medical marijuana, some crazy opinions offered lately by Snoop Dogg about Barack Obama, a CelebStoner Harold & Kumar contest, and Steve’s tour dates to promote his new book, Pot Culture, The A-Z Guide to Stoner Language & Life.

Next, Cannabis Karri brings back one of her favorites, the jazz group The Tallbrothers, with their song “You Get Me Too High”. These hep cats from British Columbia will get you the right kind of mellow for your weekend.

We wrap things up today with director/producer Craig Nisker and writer/actor Chris Iverson who are here to promote their new film, The Green Goddess, based on the true exploits of Iverson and friends growing six football fields’ worth of marijuana in Switzerland in the 1990s.

Finally, don’t forget that every Saturday we’re now posting the NORML Weekend Music Stash, where you can get all of the last ten songs from our daily musical breaks in one podcast, suitable for your weekend party pleasure. If you have a band that would like to be featured on our podcast, please send us an email at stash ‘at’ norml.org.

So sit back and relax with your favorite strain and enjoy your NORML Daily Audio Stash…

Presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton swung through Oregon this week.  My local weekly newspaper interviewed her about many subjects, including Oregon’s successful medical marijuana program.  It looks like she’s waffling a bit from her earlier statements that she’d end the DEA raids on medical marijuana states:

Willamette Week | “Twenty Minutes With Hillary” | April 9th, 2008
What would you do as president about the federal government not recognizing Oregon’s Medical Marijuana Program as legal?

We’ve got to have a clear understanding of the workings of pain relief and the control of pain. And there needs to be greater research and openness to the research that’s already been done. I don’t think it’s a good use of federal law-enforcement resources to be going after people who are supplying marijuana for medicinal purposes.

So you’d stop the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s raids on medical marijuana grows?

What we would do is prioritize what the DEA should be doing, and that would not be a high priority. There’s a lot of other more important work that needs to be done.

So does that mean that when the DEA finishes up with its important work, then the DEA should be tackling the low-priority issue of raiding medical marijuana states?

Look, Senator Clinton, it’s not a fiscal issue, it’s a medical issue and it’s a states rights issue.  It’s not a question of it being a poor use of federal resources; even if it were an efficient use of federal resources, it would be wrong, period.  Medical marijuana raids do not need to be re-prioritized, they need to be eliminated.

(HuffingtonPost) Hillary Clinton has come out against making retroactive the small change in sentencing guidelines that allows some people convicted under the overly harsh crack laws to have their sentences reviewed by a judge, and if they are found eligible, given early release. Most blacks affected will still serve more than a decade in prison for a nonviolent crime for which whites often escape incarceration entirely– but nevermind.

Hillary has bought into fears that this means a sudden massive release of an army of Willie Hortons. But over 90% of crack prisoners sentenced under these laws have no record of violent crime– and 94% were not classified as “kingpins” or even mid-level drug dealers. Further, the judge reviewing the sentences provides a safety net to ensure that those who are a risk to the public are not released early.

Obama, meanwhile, supports making the sentencing change retroactive. Even though politically, given his admission about his own drug use, he has far more to lose than she does by doing the right thing.

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DAYTON — Chelsea Clinton is a daughter who is very proud of her mom. She said so repeatedly during a talk on Wednesday, Feb. 13, at Sinclair Community College.

In a forum where she answered dozens of questions from the crowd of mostly students and staff, Clinton, 27, displayed a practically encyclopedic knowledge of policies proposed by presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton.

“I do believe this is the most important election in my lifetime,” Clinton said. “My mom is the better candidate.”

Questions posed by audience members ran the gamut, with just one person asking the stereotypical “college kid” question. Clinton parried his question about her mother’s stance on marijuana prohibition by saying that, given the problems facing the nation, Sen. Clinton had no plan to crack down on marijuana.

Stereotypical “college kid” question?  Once again, the media downplays the seriousness of the War on Marijuana.  That college kid could lose his scholarships and grant money and student loans if caught with marijuana.  830,000 lives are shattered every year due to the ancillary harms of a marijuana arrest.  Our domestic police are militarized against our own citizens, breaking down doors and terrifying Americans who might be gardening in their basement.

No plans to crack down… but apparently no plans to lighten up, either…