Obama’s Attorneys Push Prohibition in California

[marmar]

from truthdig:



Obama’s Attorneys Push Prohibition in California

Posted on Nov 14, 2011
By Bill Boyarsky


One of the most striking inconsistencies of President Obama’s administration is its odd stand on the use of marijuana to relieve the suffering of those stricken with cancer, HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, migraines and many other debilitating and painful ailments.

In 1996 California voters approved a law permitting the growth, sale and possession of marijuana for such conditions on the recommendation of a physician. Oregon and Washington state, also by popular vote, legalized medical marijuana. In the past 15 years, a total of 16 states and the District of Columbia have adopted such laws. Ten of them were by popular vote.

But in October, four federal prosecutors in California announced a crackdown on the growers and dispensaries that distribute marijuana in the state. Laura Duffy, the U.S. attorney in San Diego, said she and her colleagues acted because the medical marijuana business was “turning more and more into a retail for profit industry.” Andre Birotte Jr., the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, said, “Marijuana sales—most often to individuals who have obtained sham doctors’ recommendations for no purpose other than to engage in recreational marijuana use—are the basis of a massive commercial industry.”

The U.S. attorneys, the legal arms of Obama’s Justice Department, have gone far beyond that. Despite state and local laws authorizing growers and distributors, they have sent letters to local officials and to owners of properties which house the marijuana distributors, warning they are violating federal law. Letters have been sent to more than a dozen dispensaries and their landlords, as well as to city officials approving or contemplating approval of such operations. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/obamas_attorneys_push_prohibition_in_california_20111113/

[Angry Dragon]

1. the government wants to shut them down because it will

interfere with big phara profits

[Vincardog]

2. The legal sales are cutting into their illegal profits and bribes. Not to mention threatening

the profits of the private prisons.

[Uncle Joe]

3. Meanwhile torture and war crimes are given a free pass, they; don't have the guts or integrity

to go after the powerful, just the people and results of democracy.

It's shit like this which gives me serious doubt as to whether the coup of 2000 ever ended.

Thanks for the thread, marmar.

[xiamiam]

4. guess he doesn't need california votes in 2012..nt

[tridim]

5. Yet, thousands of legal dispensaries remain open and unraided in CA.

But I guess it's easier to single out the dozen or so dispensaries that allegedly broke state law and make a blanket statement, as long as it creates FUD around Obama's name.

This is the same story that has been written hundreds of times since August, and every time it is used to attack Obama for something he didn't do. The fact that thousands of legal dispensaries remain open is never reported.

Why?

[xchrom]

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