New US medical marijuana policy issued

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New US medical marijuana policy issued

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WASHINGTON – The Obama administration will not seek to arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers as long as they conform to state laws, under new policy guidelines to be sent to federal prosecutors Monday.

Two Justice Department officials described the new policy to The Associated Press, saying prosecutors will be told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state laws.

The new policy is a significant departure from the Bush administration, which insisted it would continue to enforce federal anti-pot laws regardless of state codes.

Fourteen states allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

California is unique among those for the presence of dispensaries — businesses that sell marijuana and even advertise their services.

Attorney General Eric Holder said in March that he wanted federal law enforcement officials to pursue those who violate both federal and state law, but it has not been clear how that goal would be put into practice.

A 3-page memo spelling out the policy is expected to be sent Monday to federal prosecutors in the 14 states, and also to top officials at the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The memo, the officials said, emphasizes that prosecutors have wide discretion in choosing which cases to pursue, and says it is not a good use of federal manpower to prosecute those who are without a doubt in compliance with state law.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the legal guidance before it is issued.

At the same time, the officials said, the government will still prosecute those who use medical marijuana as a cover for other illegal activity. The memo particularly warns that some suspects may hide old-fashioned drug dealing or other crimes behind a medical marijuana business.

In particular, the memo urges prosecutors to pursue marijuana cases which involve violence, the illegal use of firearms, selling pot to minors, money laundering or other crimes.

And while the policy memo describes a change in priorities away from prosecuting medical marijuana cases, it does not rule out the possibility that the federal government could still prosecute someone whose activities are allowed under state law.

The memo, officials said, is designed to give a sense of prosecutorial priorities to U.S. Attorneys in the states that allow medical marijuana. It notes that pot sales in the United States are the largest source of money for violent Mexican drug cartels, but adds that federal law enforcement agencies have limited resources.

Medical marijuana advocates have been anxious to see exactly how the administration would implement candidate Barack Obama's repeated promises to change the policy in situations in which state laws allow the use of medical marijuana.

Shortly after Obama took office, DEA agents raided four dispensaries in Los Angeles, prompting confusion about the government's plans.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091019/ap_ ... _marijuana

Thank you President Obama! :tup:
Prohibition is Futile Image THC will be Assimilated
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ How To Pass Drug Tests ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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anu
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New US medical marijuana policy issued

Post by anu »

some more on this

--------------------------------------------------------
IACM-Bulletin of 25 October 2009
--------------------------------------------------------

* USA: The federal government will no longer prosecute patients
who use cannabis for medicinal purposes in states where it is legal
* USA: A majority of citizens in western states support the
legalization and taxation of cannabis.

1.

USA: The federal government will no longer prosecute patients
who use cannabis for medicinal purposes in states where it is legal

People who use cannabis for medical purposes and those who
distribute it to them should not face federal prosecution, provided
they act according to state law, the Justice Department said on 19
October in a directive with far-reaching political and legal
implications. In a memorandum to federal prosecutors in the
states that allow the use of medical cannabis, the department said
that it was committed to the "efficient and rational use" of its
resources and that prosecuting patients and distributors who are in
"clear and unambiguous compliance" with state laws did not meet
that standard.

"It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute
patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are
complying with state laws on medical marijuana," Attorney
General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in a statement accompanying the
memo, "but we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind
claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are
clearly illegal." Graham Boyd, director of the Drug Law Reform
Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, called the Justice
Department's move "an enormous step in the right direction and,
no doubt, a great relief to the thousands of Americans who benefit
from the medical use of marijuana." Mr. Boyd predicted that
states and cities "will have a strong incentive to create regulated,
safe and sensible means of getting marijuana to patients who need
it."

More at:
- http://www.justice.gov/opa/documents/me ... ijuana.pdf
-
http://www.reuters.com/article/domestic ... TRE59I3XD2
0091019
- http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/us/20cannabis.html

(Sources: New York Times of 19 October 2009, Reuters of 19
October 2009)

2.

USA: A majority of citizens in western states support the
legalization and taxation of cannabis.

According to a representative poll the support for legalizing
cannabis reaches a new high and a majority in the West favours
taxing cannabis sales to boost state revenues. Gallup's October
crime poll finds 44 per cent of Americans in favour of making
cannabis legal and 54 per cent opposed. U.S. public support for
legalizing cannabis was fixed in the 25 per cent range from the
late 1970s to the mid-1990s, but acceptance jumped to 31 per cent
in 2000 and has continued to grow throughout this decade. On the
website of Gallup this development is presented with a graph.

Public opinion on legalization of cannabis has been changing this
decade, and is now most tolerant. If public support were to
continue growing at a rate of 1 to 2 per cent per year, as it has
since 2000, the majority of Americans could favour legalization of
the drug in as little as four years. Results of the poll are based on
telephone interviews with 1,013 adults, aged 18 and older,
conducted in October 2009.

More at:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/123728/u.s.- ... egalizing-
marijuana-reaches-new-high.aspx

(Source: Gallup of 19 October 2009)

3.

News in brief

***World: Cannabis use
An estimated 166 million people worldwide have either tried
cannabis or are active users of the drug despite scientific research
showing its adverse effects on health, two researchers in
Australia said.
The figure, taken from the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime (UNODC), means one in every 25 people between the
ages 15 and 64 in 2006 had had some experience with the drug,
the researchers wrote in a paper published in The Lancet.
(Source: Reuters of 15 October 2009)

***USA: California
The ban of the city of Los Angeles on new medical cannabis
dispensaries is invalid, a judge said on 19 October in a decision
that undermines the city's 4-month-old drive to shut down
hundreds of the stores. The judge issued an injunction banning
enforcement of the moratorium against Green Oasis, a dispensary
in Playa Vista that had challenged the ban. But city officials
acknowledged the ruling would effectively block current efforts to
enforce the ban against other dispensaries. (Source: Los Angeles
Times of 20 October 2009)

***Science: Schizophrenia
Researchers at the University of Bristol, UK, calculated the
additional risk for cannabis users to get schizophrenia, if there is a
causal link between cannabis use and schizophrenia. They found
out that for men there would be one additional case of
schizophrenia in 2800 heavy cannabis user aged 20-24 years and
one additional case of 4700 heavy cannabis user aged 35-39
years. In women the numbers ranged from one additional case of
schizophrenia in 5470 heavy cannabis users in those aged 25-29 to
10,870 in 35-39-year-olds. The risks for occasional users were
even much lower. (Source: Hickman M, et al. Addiction
2009;104(11):1856-61.)

***Science: Epilepsy
According to research at the University of Rome, Italy, levels of
the endocannabinoid anandamide were reduced in the
cerebrospinal fluid of patients with untreated newly diagnosed
temporal lobe epilepsy. (Source: Romigi A, et al. Epilepsia 2009
Oct 8. [Electronic publication ahead of print])

***Science: Huntington's disease
According to Spanish researchers the activation of CB2 receptors
of microglia cells, immune cells in the brain, were neuroprotective
in an animal model of Huntington's disease. (Source: Palazuelos J,
et al. Brain 2009 Oct 5. [Electronic publication ahead of print])

***Science: Ileus
Cannabinoid receptors are involved in septic ileus. Ileus is a
disruption of the normal propulsive motor activity of the bowel.
Cannabinoids reduced this motor activity, while cannabinoid
receptor antagonists prevented the delay of bowel transit of food
in animal studies. The Chinese researchers concluded that
cannabinoid receptor antagonists "may be powerful tools in the
future treatment of septic ileus." (Source: Li YY, et al.
Neurogastroenterol Motil 2009 Oct 14. [Electronic publication
ahead of print])

***Science: Liver cirrhosis
Researchers of the University of Bologna, Italy, observed that the
levels of the endocannabinoids anandamide and to a greater
extent of oleoylethanolamine (OEA) and palmitoylethanolamine
(PEA) were significantly higher in the blood of patients with liver
cirrhosis than in healthy subjects. PEA and OEA were also
increased in the cirrhotic liver tissue. Researchers concluded that
"the endocannabinoid system is upregulated in human cirrhosis."
(Source: Caraceni P, et al. Liver Int 2009 Oct 14. [Electronic
publication ahead of print])

***Science: THC concentrations
According to a study of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in
Baltimore, USA, with six cannabis smokers, who received high
doses of oral THC for seven days, mean THC concentrations
22,5 hours after last dose were 3,8 ng/ml and THC-COOH
concentrations were 197 ng/ml. Participants received oral THC
capsules (20 mg) every 4-8 hours in escalating total daily doses
(40-120 mg). (Source: Schwilke EW, et al. Clin Chem 2009 Oct
15. [Electronic publication ahead of print])

NEW BOOK
The book "Hanf als Medizin" by Franjo Grotenhermen is now also
available in French in an updated version.
* Grotenhermen F. Cannabis en Médecine : un guide pratique des
applications médicales du cannabis et du THC. Editions Indica,
2009, www.editions-indica.com. ISBN 978-2-9534898-0-4

4.

ONE YEAR AGO:
- Germany: Experts unanimously acknowledge the medical value
of dronabinol and cannabis
- Science: According to basic research cannabinoids may restore
the blood-brain barrier in HIV infection

TWO YEARS AGO:
- Science: Cannabis extract effective without development of
tolerance in 2-year trial
- Science: Pain-reducing effects of smoked cannabis were dose-
dependent in experimental pain in healthy subjects

(More at the IACM-Bulletin archives: http://www.cannabis-
med.org/)
bis-med.org".
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New US medical marijuana policy issued

Post by WhiteHotAfterburner »

While a commendable short term fix (Thank you, Mr. President) it does nothing of any permanence. A next administration can just as easily turn it around in 4 years.

Our war is not over....not by a long shot. Our battles must still be fought until there is law making reasonable drugs laws permanent.

Nice slight of hand, though :oops: Got everybody looking at the Left hand :oops:

Take care you two,
WHAB

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