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View Full Version : Hopey/Changey - Obama sticks by DEA nominee in favor of Med. Marijuana raids




Anti Federalist
08-23-2010, 01:31 PM
The Forgotten Ban: Obama sticks with DEA nominee Michele Leonhart despite criticism of raids

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/08/18/the-forgotten-ban-obama-stands-by-dea-nominee-michele-leonhart-despite-outcry-from-progressives/#ixzz0xSXVUVCW


In response to this message, critics have pointed out that Obama is shifting his stance on marijuana policy.

“It’s unfortunate — and outright baffling — that the Obama administration would choose someone for this post whose resume is so strongly at odds with the ‘new direction’ this administration had promised for drug policy in general and medical marijuana in particular,” the Marijuana Policy Project’s Mike Meno told The Daily Caller. “During the election campaign, and again through the Department of Justice memo in October, President Obama vowed to stop the outrageous Bush-era practice of raiding and prosecuting medical marijuana patients and providers who operate under state law. If change is what they seek, why would the administration nominate a Bush holdover under whom the DEA continues to raid the private property of citizens obeying state law? It makes no sense.”

MPP and other marijuana activists have pointed to a series of raids the DEA conducted in California as recently as last month as evidence that Leonhart is continuing the Bush-era strategy of cracking down on medical marijuana dispensaries and growers, even if they are operating legally under California law. They say this conflicts directly with statements Obama made on the campaign trail, such as this one from April 2008:

“When it comes to medical marijuana, I have a practical view more than anything. My attitude is that if it’s an issue of doctors prescribing medical marijuana as a treatment for glaucoma or a cancer treatment, there really is no difference between that and a doctor prescribing morphine, or anything else.”

BuddyRey
08-23-2010, 09:20 PM
Bump