DEA Will No Longer Persecute Medical Marijuana Patients

Attorney General Eric Holder announced last week that the DEA will no longer raid medical marijuana dispensaries as long as they’re in compliance with state laws.

During a campaign speech in late 2007, Obama said: “My attitude is if the science and the doctors suggest that the best palliative care and the way to relieve pain and suffering is medical marijuana, then that’s something I’m open to. There’s no difference between that and morphine when it comes to just giving people relief from pain.”

Did he say — “Science???” OMG, there really IS a new sheriff in town.

It’s been a slow change. During the first week of February, the DEA raided two medical marijuana dispensaries in California. And here is a White House website that hasn’t been updated recently.

But there have been signs of intelligence — sanity — since November. On Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, where I live, there’s a local version of this issue. Last summer the Border Patrol started conducting the occasional highway roadblock. The stated purpose of these checkpoints is to look for terrorists and illegal aliens. In spite of the agency’s name, the “Border” Patrol can stop anybody for any reason if they’re within a hundred miles of the border.

Last summer one of their checkpoints snagged a medical marijuana patient. He was in total compliance with Washington state laws — and he was in Washington — but the Border Patrol arrested him. (Your tax dollars at work.)

Then in mid-November the U.S. Attorney’s Office informed the Border Patrol that they would no longer prosecute anybody for possession of medical marijuana, or any other cases where small amounts of marijuana were involved. And they instructed the Border Patrol not to bring them any more such cases.

Great news for everybody, except for the arresting Border Patrol agent, who broke into a screeching tantrum when he was told that his heroic drug bust wouldn’t be prosecuted. (Here’s the full story.)

Enjoy this window of sanity. At some point we’ll probably get another one of those “states’ rights” “limited government” Republicans in the White House again, and our “morals” will be back under the microscope.

cross-posted at Bring It On!