TW: Another common sense move from Obama. The New Yorker piece mentioned is in fact a great article. I had not realized how liberalized the California laws have become relative to "medical" pot although they remain nebulous and the Feds could either leave the free market reign or gum up the works. The Feds under Obama will apparently err on the side of the market.
From Mike Scherer at Time:
"...[word] is that the Obama Administration is no longer going to "beat up on hippies" by busting their medical stashes. At issue is the contradiction between laws in states like California, which allow pot for medical purposes, and federal law, which does not. For years, the Drug Enforcement Administration has been busting marijuana dispensaries, even though they legally operate under state law. But Obama has promised a shift: "I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana users," he said during the campaign.
For more on this issue see David Samuel's New Yorker piece, "Dr. Kush: How medical marijuana is transforming the pot industry," As Samuels explains:
In the past five years, an unwritten set of rules has emerged to govern Californians participating in the medical-marijuana trade. Federal authorities do not generally bother arresting patients or doctors who write prescriptions. Instead, the D.E.A. pressures landlords to evict dispensaries and stages periodic raids on them, either shutting them down or seizing their money and marijuana. Dispensary owners are rarely arrested, and patient records are usually left alone. Through trial and error, dispensary owners have learned how to avoid trouble: Don't advertise in newspapers, on billboards, or on flyers distributed door to door. Don't sell to minors or cops. Don't open more than two stores. Any Californian who is reasonably prudent can live a life centered on the cultivation, sale, and consumption of marijuana with little fear of being fined or going to jail."
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/02/07/smoke-em-if-you-got-a-prescription-for-em/
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