Medical marijuana law busted (Delaware)

[the other one]

Feds say Del.'s dispensary plan could bring prosecution

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20120212/NEWS/202120349/Medical-marijuana-law-busted?odyssey=tab|mostpopular|text|FRONTPAGE

Gov. Jack Markell has suspended the regulation-writing and licensing process for medical marijuana dispensaries -- effectively killing the program -- and criticized the federal government for sending mixed signals on law enforcement, The News Journal has learned.

U.S. Attorney Charles M. Oberly III has adopted the hard-line stance that just came out of President Barack Obama's Department of Justice. This stance accentuates the inherent conflict between federal marijuana laws and what is playing out in states that have authorized limited marijuana use for medicinal purposes.

"[G]rowing, distributing and possessing marijuana, in any capacity, other than as part of a federally authorized research program, is a violation of federal law regardless of state laws permitting such activities," Oberly wrote Thursday to Markell's attorney. "Moreover, those who engage in financial transactions involving the proceeds of such activities may also be in violation of federal money laundering statutes."

Markell's office told The News Journal on Friday that Oberly's stance prevents the Department of Health and Social Services from issuing licenses to medical marijuana dispensaries, whose employees and owners may be subject to federal raids and prosecution.


more at the link

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20120212/NEWS/202120349/Medical-marijuana-law-busted?odyssey=tab|mostpopular|text|FRONTPAGE

[think]

1. Why does the DOJ hate our freedom?

Marijuana should not be a class 1 drug and needs to be reclassified:

42 Washington Lawmakers Join Governor In Asking DEA To Reclassify Marijuana
Bipartisan group includes Republicans and Democrats from the House and Senate

~snip~
In the letter to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the lawmakers said they supported Gov. Chris Gregoire’s previous request to reschedule cannabis. The goal is to downgrade Schedule I marijuana to Schedule II, a group that includes cocaine and methamphetamine but does acknowledge drugs’ medical uses.

Rescheduling marijuana to a lower schedule under federal law would not authorize medical marijuana dispensaries, but it would begin the process of making marijuana available from licensed pharmacists. Marijuana is currently classified a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it’s not accepted for medical treatment and can’t be prescribed, administered or dispensed.

The federal government has repeatedly refused to reschedule marijuana over the past 20 years. Most recently, in July, the DEA denied a rescheduling petition brought by the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis. That denial is being appealed.

~snip~

Full article:

http://www.thedailychronic.net/2012/8501/42-washington-lawmakers-join-governor-in-asking-dea-to-reclassify-marijuana/

[bongbong]

2. Pot policy

The changing, and frequently conflicting, ways the gov't looks at pot are all due to one thing.

Follow the Benjamins.

The alcohol & tobacco lobbies, as well as the prison-industrial complex, are all heavily investing in keeping pot illegal.

[think]

3. +1 "The war on Drugs. Keeping prisons full since 1971"

[RainDog]

6. wow

do you have a source for that graph?

[think]

7. It's the Wikipedia entry for "War on Drugs":

~snip~

America has the highest incarceration rate in the world.[45] In 1971, different stops on drugs had been implemented for more than 50 years (for e.g. since 1914, 1937 etc.) with only a very small increase of inmates per 100 000 citizens. After 1980, the situation began to change. In 1994, it was reported that the "War on Drugs" resulted in the incarceration of one million Americans each year.[46] Of the related drug arrests, about 225,000 are for possession of cannabis, the fourth most common cause of arrest in the United States.[47]
In 2008, 1.5 million Americans were arrested for drug offenses. 500,000 were imprisoned.[48]

~snip~

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs#Arrests_and_incarceration

The chart originated from this Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_incarceration_rate

[RainDog]

8. thanks

this graph reminds me of Michael Moore's Roger & Me. He talked about people in Flint, MI, after the auto industry collapsed and how some of them got jobs as prison guards and some of them became their prisoners.

Not the kind of economic stimulus a civil society would choose, it seems to me.

[Upton]

4. U.S. Attorney Oberly is a Democrat and an Obama appointee..

Over the last couple years, this administration has been a disaster for the MMJ movement. And all after candidate Obama promised: "I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana users. It's not a good use of our resources."

[the other one]

5. I had him for a class at Univ. Del. back in the late 80s.

He came across as career-ladder-climber who would defend anyone who could pay his fee, regardless of how he felt about their guilt or innocence. Come to think of it, that describes most defense attorneys anyway. Persons of high character need not apply.

[eggplant]

9. Wait, what?

Are you saying that there are people who don't deserve representation in court?

[uppityperson]

11. Oh come on. You know they are guilty. They wouldn't be in court if they weren't. And defense

attorneys just want to make big names for themselves by , hmmm, what?
just in case

[countryjake]

10. Here's hoping you never need one!

How do you feel about due process? Or justice, in general?

[jberryhill]

13. The only professional service to which you have a constitutional right

Don't like the 6th Amendment, do you?

[PA Democrat]

15. LOL. So, defense attorneys should take on as clients only those people that they themselves

have pre-judged to be innocent? Constitution be damned.

[markpkessinger]

12. Where are all the folks who usually chime in on these threads . . .

. . . with robotic repetitions of the President's alleged support for MMJ legalization? I wonder . . .

[CanSocDem]

14. There is clearly no doubt...

...that the pharmacuetical industry has warned your government(s) not to let MMJ get any kind of a foothold in the society at large. Those of us who know, know that it would destroy their industry.

Does anybody know how much money it costs them to effectively define the level of public health in North America...???

Can their political donations be tracked?

.