During the presidential campaign Barack Obama was asked on several occasions, and each time he said he would end federal DEA raids on medical marijuana patients and providers in states that have medical marijuana laws (Hillary did too, as did Ron Paul). However, at this point the DEA is still polluted with Bush holdovers, and whether it's a last dying gasp, an in-your-face kind of giving the finger, or perhaps a hope that they'll set a precedent Obama might not have the gumption to overturn, they have already several times done what Obama promised he would end. The day after the inauguration, a dispensary in Lake Tahoe and a couple of medical grows in Colorado were raided by DEA thugs. Then last Tuesday, the day Eric Holder was sworn in as attorney general, they raided four dispensaries in the Los Angeles area.
At least a White House spokesman, Nick Shapiro, has said that it will be the Obama administration's policy not to try to undermine state medical laws, and that as people are appointed they will be asked to keep this in mind as they are reviewing policies, or something equally wishy-washy. Garbage! The DEA is part of the Justice Dept. and Eric Holder has full authority to order the raids to stop and to fire those who ordered them. Immediately.
Of course, as I and a few others have pointed out, Eric Holder's record on drug-war issues is less than sterling from a reformer's perspective, and of course nobody asked about his retrograde views during confirmation hearings.
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