Thursday, October 27, 2011

Whatever Happened To The Promises?

It seems the crackdown the Feds are doing on medical marijuana dispensaries is none too popular among Democrat voters.

Medical marijuana advocates have reacted angrily to reports of the Obama administration threatening dispensaries, including some in the Bay Area. California voters passed a medical marijuana law in 1996, and many people use the drug to help ease pain related to HIV and AIDS and other illnesses.

But in recent weeks, federal prosecutors have announced broad prosecutions against medical marijuana dispensaries across California, reportedly threatening landlords with eviction, property seizures, and imprisonment.
That sort of action in a state where medical marijuana is legal is leading even California politicians to protest.
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano and state Senator Mark Leno, both out gay Democrats from San Francisco, held a press conference Wednesday, October 19, to call for an end to the federal crackdown.

In a recent statement, Ammiano said the Department of Justice's stance means "a tragic return to failed policies that will cost the state millions in tax revenue and harm countless lives."

He continued, "Whatever happened to the promises [Obama] made on the campaign trail to not prosecute medical marijuana or the 2009 DOJ memo saying that states with medical marijuana laws would not be prosecuted? Change we can believe in? Instead we get more of the same.
It is too bad most Republican politicians are too stupid to capitalize on this discontent. Well not too stupid in their minds. Cracking down on people using the wrong kind of plants for medicine make perfect sense if it keeps even one person from abusing pot. Especially if the pain, suffering, and premature deaths caused by the denial of medicine are not assigned to their actions. It is how politicians traditionally get away with murder.

H/T Drug Policy Forum of Texas

Cross Posted at Classical Values

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