Obama’s medical marijuana truce
How the Obama administration’s deferring to local drug laws will change the national debate on pot use
A neon sign announces a medical marijuana clinic on 10th Street in San Francisco.
(San Francisco Chronicle/Corbis/Brant Ward)
Finally, “one of those rare instances of unadulterated good news from Washington,” said Glenn Greenwald in Salon. President Obama’s Justice Department has instructed federal prosecutors to stop arresting medical marijuana users who conform to their states’ laws. Obama deserves “major credit” for pursuing a rational policy with “little political gain.” Ironically, “given the ‘socialism’ and ‘fascism’ rhetoric,” it’s also a “major advancement” for states' rights.
The “glee” over Obama’s “apparent newfound love for federalism” is a little premature, said Joseph Lawler in The American Spectator. First, the rationale for the new policy isn’t based in law; it’s that busting medical pot users is a poor use of limited resources. And second, it’s “an odd kind of reform federalism” that allows “dubious” states’ rights, “i.e. the right to be potheads,” while “trampling” bigger ones, like the right to choose a health-care system.
The real problem with Obama’s new policy is that it “didn’t go far enough,” said the Los Angeles Times in an editorial. If it’s a waste of federal resources to prosecute “cancer and glaucoma patients in some states, then the guidelines should be applicable to all 50,” not just the 13 that allow medical marijuana use. Congress, and Obama, should scrap the “questionable” federal ban on pot.
Even without legalizing pot—which isn’t on the table—this should broaden access to medical marijuana, said Christopher Beam in Slate. “Most states take their cues from the federal government on drug policy,” and if the Obama team has removed the “looming threat” of DEA crackdowns, medical-marijuana laws will probably pass in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio, and a dozen other states. “The popular will is there—it’s just a matter of time.”
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47 Comments
Posted by Peter T, Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 8:35 am This is a great step in the right direction. The next step should be to legalize pot and start with a 50 percent tax on it. Use the money to build new schools and public facilities, hire teachers and policement, pay down the deficit, and release those in jail for minor pot offenses since it's expensive to keep people in prison. Not heroin, not cocaine, nothing but pot. All studies show it is not a gateway drug, it is less harmful than tobacco and alcohol, it is not addictive.
Posted by Tim, Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 10:44 am Smoking marijuana is healthier than McDonalds. I have to believe watching TV alone kills more brain cells than smoking pot. Especially, smoking pot while drawing a picture or playing music. Michael Phelps smoked pot and won 14 Olympic gold medals, so Im not convinced pot decreases ambition. The most dangerous thing about pot, is buying it from stranger on the street, instead of a licensed vendor. Instead of spending millions if not probably billions on the DEAs ineffective attempt to put an end to it, legalize it and make millions if not
Posted by Tim, Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 10:46 am billions from it. It makes people happy and pleasant. Thats what this country needs right now.
Posted by Milton Friedman, Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 11:03 am August 6, 2009 issue of the Economist, California State Board of Equalization their tax agency estimates 1.4 billion a year in sales tax receipts alone, and much more than that from cannibus driven tourism.
Posted by Gut Shot, Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 11:42 am I agree with all that has been written by Milt, Tim, and Peter T. Finally this chicken shat administration does something I agree with. Now, make it legal in all 50 states and tax the hell out of it like we do tobacco and alcohol. I may start smoking the shat again if they do. I know more alcoholics than I do potaholics.
Posted by Robert, Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 12:11 pm just legalize it i bet the crime rate will go down and the Gov will make mony.
Posted by California Dreamin, Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 3:32 pm Some of the best stuff in the world comes from northern California. So you know that if they legalize it California's budget will go from red to black faster than you can say Schwarzenegger.
Posted by Aaron, Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 4:24 pm What a Brave New World.... You see, if they keep you doped up, maybe you won't care to think for yourself anymore. So you'll rely on Big Government to do the thinking for you. Think I'm off base? Well, remember this: the mind that alters, alters all.
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