Why is the Obama Administration Suddenly Fixated on Stomping out Medical Pot?
AlterNet / By Paul Armentano
Why is the Obama Administration Suddenly Fixated on Stomping out Medical Pot?
At the same time public support for marijuana legalization reached record highs, Obama shifted from one time medicinal cannabis sympathizer to White House weed-whacker.
February 8, 2012 |
Broken promises are nothing new in Washington, DC. Yet even by the Beltway’s jaded standards, President Obama’s role reversal from one time medicinal cannabis sympathizer to White House weed-whacker is remarkable.
Indeed, the man who once pledged on the campaign trail that he was “not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue,” has – since taking the Presidential oaths of office – done virtually everything in his administration’s power to do precisely that. Yet he's taken these steps at the very time that a record number of Americans, including 57 percent of democrats and a whopping 69 percent of self-described liberals, endorse doing just the opposite. Nonetheless, in recent months, the Obama administration – via a virtual alphabet soup of federal agencies – has launched an unprecedented series of attacks against medical cannabis patients, providers, and in some cases even their advocates.
To review:
-- Deputy Attorney General James Cole, along with the four US Attorneys from California, has ramped up federal efforts to close or displace several hundreds of medical cannabis providers in California. Their tactics have included: raiding specific dispensaries and prosecuting their owners; filing civil forfeiture proceedings against landlords who rent their property to medical marijuana providers; threatening to federally prosecute newspapers and radio stations who accept ad revenue from medical cannabis operations; and, most recently, intimidating local lawmakers who have either enacted or are publicly supportive of cannabis oversight regulations. Speaking with radio station KQED San Francisco last month, Tommy LaNier – Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's National Marijuana Initiative – boasted about the administration’s efforts to strong-arm local officials, stating "
We) have ... advised those places where they're trying to regulate marijuana -- which is illegal under the Control Substances Act -- (that) they cannot do that.” ..............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/drugs/154070/why_is_the_obama_administration_suddenly_fixated_on_stomping_out_medical_pot/
= new reply since forum marked as read
3. Doing the bidding of BIG PHARMA (who can't patent Mother Nature - yet) -- and in order to gain larger campaign contributions.
4. Doing the bidding of the LIQUOR LOBBY (who is afraid of the competition) -- and in order to gain larger campaign contributions.
5. Doing the bidding of the PRIVATE PRISON INDUSTRY (to avoid the inevitable decrease in the prisoner population by decriminalizing weed) -- and in order to gain larger campaign contributions.
6. Doing the bidding of the BIG BANKING (who launder the money for criminals such as the CIA, et.al., who then use said money to fund their black projects) -- and in order to gain larger campaign contributions.
When they passed the controlled substances act and created the DEA it was the perfect excuse
to violate the 4th ammendment rights of American citizens. Now you can't tell the difference between
local law enforcement and soldiers fighting overseas. Too many corporations and governement agencies
are making money hand over fist to just let this go. It's government by the money, and for the money.
People no longer count. We think slavery ended a long time ago, but in reality it never left us. This isn't about
drugs. It's all about the power and the money. We should do everything that we can to vote against prohibitionists
in every level of our government. 
