AG Holder Vows To End Raids On Medical Marijuana Clubs

[sabra]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/26/holder-vows-to-end-raids_n_170119.html

Attorney General Eric Holder said at a press conference Wednesday that the Justice Department will no longer raid medical marijuana clubs that are established legally under state law. His declaration is a fulfillment of a campaign promise by President Barack Obama, and marks a major shift from the previous administration.

After the inauguration, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) continued to carry out such raids, despite Obama's promise. Holder was asked if those raids represented American policy going forward.

"No," he said. "What the president said during the campaign, you'll be surprised to know, will be consistent with what we'll be doing in law enforcement. He was my boss during the campaign. He is formally and technically and by law my boss now. What he said during the campaign is now American policy."

The exchange takes place at about the 25:00 mark here.

Holder's declaration is a high point for the movement to legalize medical marijuana, which has been growing for decades despite federal hostility.

[tekisui]

1. knr!~

[Uzybone]

2. KnR

[endarkenment]

3. About f'ing time.

Decriminalization and legalization for medical use would return sanity to drug policy after 30 years of idiocy.

[Kajsa]

4. Thank you, AG Holder!

It's long overdue,imho.
This is very good news for CA!

Thanks for sharing this,Sabra.
:)

:toast: :kick: and R

[goclark]

5. Yes! Our 90 yr. old family friend is taking Medical

MJ and they were preparing to put him in hospice care 4 months ago.

Today he is doing so much better.
Kaiser Hospital gave him Medical MJ as the last resort.

His memory is at least 59% better, eating better and even had a beautiful 90th birthday celebration with his family and friends.

[progressoid]

6. He'd better watch out.

Mary Jane is a gateway drug!!

:eyes:

[goclark]

13. Don't see it as a problem in his case

He is doing a lot better but this is all he can handle.

:)

[drm604]

7. K&R

This is fantastic, but now we need legislative change. This can't be something that remains at the whim of whoever happens to be in the Whitehouse.

[DevonRex]

8. Fantastic!! Wow, that must have been among the first things on the "to do" list.

Or would that be a "not-to-do" list? :)

[ej510]

9. I remember duers going ape shit over Eric Holder because he was against cannibus clubs.

I pays to patient. Give Obama's cabinet a chance. We will not agree with al of his policies, but wait and see how his cabinet performs before we get upset.

[AtomicKitten]

10. As it should be.

[Uncle Joe]

11. Kicked and recommended for a sane policy regarding drug reform.

Marijuana should be legal, medical necessity or not.

The "Drug War" policy against it is nothing but a colossal waste of time, energy and precious resources, destroying the family unit, weakening the government, while enriching for profit prisons and organized crime.

Kudos to President Obama and the Attorney General, I just hope they come around to the next step and legalize it.

Thanks for the thread, sabra.:thumbsup:

[Peace Patriot]

12. Hey, what about those poor folks in Fort Bragg, California, who just had their

medical marijuana clinic shut down by the Feds, everything confiscated, and the owners hauled off to jail?

Any lawyers here? How does this AG statement affect them?

And, hey, HOORAH FOR A COMMON SENSE DRUG POLICY! It's been a lo-o-o-o-o-o-ong time coming!

[CTLawGuy]

22. the only way it could affect them

is if the feds decline to prosecute, but they still retain the option to do so.

[Politicalboi]

14. Now all I need to do is

Find out how to get the money to open up my own pot shop. It would be my dream job for sure.

[mdmc]

15. sanity is in!

[proud patriot]

16. Very Cool

:thumbsup:

[truebrit71]

17. About time

n/t

[ooglymoogly]

18. Does anyone really think the feds are really going to lighten up;

They are the pugs hammer and Mary Jane is the root of their power. They are going to allow a few dying folks to take harmless meds that allow them a few pain free moments. Gee golly how grown up and benevolent can you get? These thugs (soulless pugs) need to be flushed into the sewer of dead ends in evolution along with Hitler, Caligula and their like.

[DUlover2909]

21. My favorite candy is lollipops.

I like the ones that taste the most like cherry.:hi:

[ooglymoogly]

23. Humpty dumpty had a great fall....nt

[Duer 157099]

19. Cognitive dissonance here...

if Holder claims that such raids are against Obama's policy, then how does he explain that such raids are still being conducted?

Or nobody wanted to press the obvious with him, or what? :shrug:

[liberalsince1968]

25. Exactly. Either he's deliberately talking out of both sides of his mouth, or

he doesn't know what's going on.

Either choice is unacceptable.

[diane in sf]

20. Good, what a waste of time, money and lives this stupid war on drugs is.

[Brgotn]

24. Lagalize Now!

And tax the heck out of it..minimum 50%.