DEA raids another medical cannabis dispensary

I suppose we shouldn't expect the drug warriors, whose salaries depend on keeping the thing going, to go away. But it's especially appalling to note that the DEA raided another medical marijuana dispensary Wednesday night -- a week after Attorney Gen. Eric Holder confirmed that Obama administration policy would be not to go after patients and providers in states with medical marijuana laws. The DEA thug in charge of the raid of Emmalyn's California Cannabis Clinic in San Francisco claimed they have evidence the clinic was violating state law as well as federal law, which would put it out of Holder's halo of protection. But of course the info is sealed and they can't discuss any of it in detail. The fact that it has a provisional license from the city govt. makes that claim unlikely, but it's possible I suppose. The fact that no local or state police agency participated in the raid makes it even less likely, however.

This emphasizes that the request from the judge in the Charles Lynch case for written clarification of the new policy from the Justice Dept. is very important. Until there's a written directive, there's the danger of rogue DEA agents continuing to try to undermine state medical marijuana law on the pretext that dispensaries are just fronts for recreational sales are are operating in violation of state law. After all, these guys are confirmed rug warriors, nd a lot of them sincerely believe that hard-nosed enforcement is the only thing saving the country from dire peril. I've noted previously that there have been far fewer prosecutions than there have been raids, which suggests strongly that the raids are more like domestic terrorism than legitimate law enforcement (not that the federal laws prohibiting (some) drugs are constitutionally legitimate, but that's another story.).

Showdown coming on medical marijuana?

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.