My friend is reporting an MMJ dispensary raid in Tempe, AZ. I'll never forget this, Barack.

[RadiationTherapy]

I know you are a corporatist tool. I know you aren't liberal. The 99% is going to shift us away from your neo-liberal, Reagan-Rand philosophies.

[dionysus]

1. you sound perturbed.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Ignis]

69. All part of the New Pragmatism, donchaknow?

[Romulox]

7. You sound comfortable with this. nt

[dionysus]

8. no, not particularly. just amused by the technique of the rant. n/t

[Romulox]

26. We all chose where to direct our energies. You chose to snark at the OP. It's worse

than tacit approval; it's crude disruption. :hi:

[dionysus]

67. it didn't take that much energy.

:hi:

[sabrina 1]

103. The OP is not the only one who is 'perturbed' which btw is

putting it mildly.

Far more worth noting are those who are not perturbed.

[monmouth]

3. Wow. That will definitely get his attention..n/t

[RadiationTherapy]

12. Totally. He follows me on Twitter and Facebook too, hence the use of his first name.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RadiationTherapy]

10. I tried to find a report on AZcentral, but there is none yet. He posted the following at 1:48pm MST:

"I just saw a Tempe medical marijuana dispensary get raided by armed police wearing all black and ninja masks over their faces. They had a smartly dressed thirty something woman outside in handcuffs. Excessive and unnecessary are both incredible understatements."

Obviously, I do not know the purpose of the raid, but we all know Barack has been very heavy handed - not with the drug war, but with the war on MEDICAL Marijuana. He's burning votes; I have no other inkling as to what he is on about.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

52. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[tridim]

57. A tweet from a friend isn't proof of anything.

That said, I didn't alert your post.

[SammyWinstonJack]

6. Priorities and all that jazz. The O Administration has some messed up priorities.

:kick:

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RadiationTherapy]

11. No, this is from an eyewitness, but it triggered this visceral reaction in me regarding Barack's

treatment of 15 year old MMJ laws. Reagan-Rand refers to hokey, good-old-boy paternalism merged with profit-driven greedy corporatism.

[lillypaddle]

16. Wow, you're on a first name basis with the President??

Lucky you.

[RadiationTherapy]

23. Is there a problem using his first name? Just humanizing him beyond the presidency.

Maybe he forgot where he came from.

[lillypaddle]

98. He seems plenty human to me

If you really want to seem to be buddies, maybe you could call him "Barry"

[tridim]

18. You think Obama is a good-ol-boy?

:rofl:

Whatever dude.

[RadiationTherapy]

21. Yes I do.

Ummm...so....yeah, ok.

[tridim]

25. Well, then allow me to..

:rofl: again.

[Tsiyu]

39. Your laughter will make it easier on the cancer patients

affected by these raids. I'm sure those people appreciate your amusement.

Much the same as your "Obama supports MMJ" statments had such an effect on the raids taking place all over the country.

[tridim]

42. There are hundreds of other dispensaries that remain open, unraided and legal.

And they can grow their own medicine if they have a doctor's prescription.

I had a doctor's prescription for many years and never had any problems getting medicine. There are more legal dispensaries open for business now.

BTW, laughing at your ignorance has nothing to do with the bullshit you just posted.

[Irishonly]

71. Where are they?

Inland Empire has a few delivery services. An OC judge has reinterpreted the state law again. The raids started in CA and not only dispensaries were shut but also grows up north. The DEA and the DOJ are going from medical state to medical state. I guess the President is unaware of what goes on in other departments. That is more scary. In the meantime, patients suffer and they are angry. A little empathy may be in order rather than poking fun at someone in need. I always thought that what made liberals different but I guess I have been wrong.

[RadiationTherapy]

46. Sure, man. Fugyoutoo, ya know.

I've got nothing for you.

[mike_c]

13. blaming the victim again, anything to shield Obama from responsibility...

...for his administration's misplaced priorities and flawed policies.

[Romulox]

30. Um, the President supports legalized Medical Marijuana, doesn't he?

The President should be angrier than any of us about this.

:freak: :silly: :hi:

[B Calm]

99. Yes he does! That's why CONGRESS needs to pass law legalizing it!!

[RainDog]

107. or he could ask Leonhart to immediately start rescheduling hearings

based upon the 2 governor's request. if he supports medical marijuana his actions should show that.

[me b zola]

102. ^FTW!^

[LynneSin]

14. So is your prefence Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich? Maybe Rick Santorum will make a comeback

:eyes:

If you have a problem with the laws, going after the president isn't going to change things and with our 2 party system it's unfortunately US or THEM voting.

Instead start working to get the type of people you want to see representing you in city, county & state offices. Work to get a better representative and senators in Washington DC. You want to see change - start from the ground up and make the change from there.

I'm not a fool, if Obama doesn't win then the republicans win, and I am NOT about to risk another 4 years with republicans controling both the congress & the White House. Too many Supreme Court judges are getting near retirement age.

[RadiationTherapy]

17. He's the one burning votes, not me. Fuggim. I am a bit surprised you took the

"So you want a republican, ay?" method, but I understand what you are saying. As far as your advice - again, I understand how the shitty system works. Been there, done that and heeeerrrrrrre's OBAMA! TAAAADAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Clinton and Bush did not assault the MMJ programs like Obama is, so let's not pretend I am complaining about 15 years of status quo. Barack is raising the ante and burning votes.

[RainDog]

31. actually, Clinton did go after the mmj program

and created whole new levels of propaganda to try to fight after CA made mmj legal in 1996.

I think it's useful to come to a point at which you realize that no politician at the federal level gives a fuck about the American people. It helps you make political decisions based upon your own self interest while recognizing pols only want your vote and then - they'll do what's good for themselves. It's not like I sustain this level of cynicism all the time, but when I can, it's helpful.

I can deal with Obama being a drug warrior because I know the states are going to defeat the federal govt eventually. I don't like it, but I can have hope because of the trend toward more information and, with that information, less support for the WoD.

However, limiting health care for poor women is something that's harder for me to dismiss, when it is done to appease the pedophiles in the church.

Both actions, hurting mmj patients' access and poor women's access to reproductive health care, are cynical in the extreme, so, even if I am cynical, I guess I can never be as cynical as a pol.

[RadiationTherapy]

47. Thank you. I am there with you, but I am not down with the silence. I don't have to like Obama

to be a liberal and support the democratic party. "Party".

[RainDog]

56. Has AZ actually opened any dispensaries yet?

last time I looked, Brewer was holding up implementation of the law and people who had paid for cards were denied the option to use them. When U.S. Attn. Dennis Burke sent Brewer a letter saying that the state law didn't protect from federal prosecution.

then the DoJ said people who work for the state would not be prosecuted for enacting the laws of a state.

AZ has some of the most restrictive mmj regulatoins of any state.

And it's taken two decades to actually get the legislature in AZ to not overturn voter's wishes - and, with this last vote to legalize mmj, the number in favor was lower than the first time it was voted into law.

[Kali]

80. last thing I read was some were getting around it with "clubs"

not sure if any dispensaries are open, know somebody that got his grow card

I'm in the boonies and the person I know who could benefit can't afford the $300 to get legal so they are just growing as usual for personal use and hoping the country will eventually come to its senses.

Plus for the paranoid - once you have a card then "they" know about you...

[RainDog]

82. AZ lawmakers sure have worked to make it hard to implement the law

but DC was worse - b/c Congress had to allocate funds for them to put their law in place and, you know, Congress didn't want to show what worthless shits they are for refusing to deal with this via legislation at the federal level while having dispensaries operating next door.

I can full well understand why someone wouldn't want to get a card in AZ b/c who knows how the political climate will change - it's not like CA where simple numbers of the population make this issue beyond critical mass, whether it's fully legal or not.

[LynneSin]

51. So you think a GOP President will leave MMJ alone?

Really?

You know how we got MMJ passed in the state of Delaware - we elected more democrats to our state congress.

You want MMJ stop worrying about who the president it and start worrying about who is representing you in other offices - local, state and even in US Congress.

All this effort of bashing Obama could better be served if we find 2-3 really great progressive candidates that are running for anything BUT president and work hard to get them elected. You move Congress to the left - the president will follow.

[RadiationTherapy]

74. Do I think a republican would go out of their way to allow states to be self-directed on this matter

without persecution? I am afraid I do. That doesn't mean I will be voting republican.

And my state HAS MMJ, just as do CA, WA, OR, MT, and other states that the Obama justice department has assaulted in just the past 2 months, so I am not sure what purpose your advice serves.

As far as "Obama bashing" that's a crock. I am reacting to his decisions and policies.

[Better Believe It]

77. A Republican President would embrace and continue Obama's conservative prohibitionist policy

[Tesha]

72. Does that ploy ever work any more? (NT)

[JoeyT]

97. I dunno, what's their position on MMJ?

Are they willing to lie about it to get elected?
I mean, obviously it works.

Edited to add: No matter how often it's repeated other people sucking doesn't negate criticism of Obama.

[sharp_stick]

15. Being as you seem to be on a first name basis with Obama

why don't you call him up and ask him why he OK'd a raid, by a police force (Feds?, State?, Local?) that you don't even know happened based on a tweet from a buddy that doesn't even know it was a raid on a place that you don't even know was operating within State law. For all you know the woman could have been picked up for soliciting.

Basically all you've done here is tell everyone that you have no idea what the hell is happening but it's gotta be Obama's fault.

[RadiationTherapy]

20. Yep. That's basically what I am doing. I am, due to recent events and until I learn otherwise,

assuming that AZ cops raided a dispensary based on federal pressure from the Obama justice department. If I am wrong, I have plenty of evidence of his jamming the MMJ system elsewhere to keep me cynical.

[sharp_stick]

22. But if/when you do learn otherwise

I'll bet we get nothing but crickets around here.

Stirring shit made fun and easy the DU way.

[RadiationTherapy]

24. No, I will follow up.

I'm not an asshole.

[Juneboarder]

40. California is full of MMJ cases...

There's not much sympathy from the feds here...

[Fokker Trip]

34. Yes of course there's no chance Obama would let Holder do this.

Oh wait, of course there is. He's been doing it in California for quite a while now. Hmmm.

That IS Obama's fault, but of course he'll have Holder leave every other state alone. But please defend away.

Fer sure.

[sharp_stick]

84. A chance sure

but the burden of proof is on the accuser. There is still nothing more than a tweet from some guy that something happened somewhere. In most circles that's properly called bullshit but around here there are people that call it evidence.

[RainDog]

85. There were already raids in Tempe and Phoenix in October

as other raids were carried out in CA, Montana, MIchigan and Washington State since Oct... iow, this sure looks like a coordinated action from the Attns General in various states that came after the Cole Memo regarding the DoJ policies to target anyone who sold marijuana as part of its view of medical marijuana in the U.S., even if this view contradicts state laws that allow sales.

http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-news/2011/10/12/phoenix-police-raid-medical-marijuana-business/

A judge in Montana said that no other provider of a medicine is prohibited from making a profit on it, nor is any other business not allowed to advertise its services.

So, the reality is that, whether this one particular raid occurred or not - there have been multiple raids across states since Oct. and the reaction to this demonstrates how out of step the DoJ is with the majority of Americans who favor legal, and, thus, financially renumerated medical marjiuana.

[lib2DaBone]

19. Obama could call off his justice department.. but he won't..

[lamp_shade]

27. ooooooooo.....

[Romulox]

28. My experience is that close to 50% of Democratic "Underground" support the War on Drugs.

Many feel ashamed to come out and press that position, and therefore hide behind passive-aggressive snark.

[RainDog]

36. are they also creationists?

because you have to have the ability to suspend belief in reality to support the war on drugs unless you're a racist fuck.

they should feel ashamed to support racist law that was intended to also suppress voter turnout for liberals. African-Americans who support the war on drugs are supporting a war on African-Americans. Latinos who support the war on drugs are supporting a war on Latinos. Caucasians who support the war on drugs are...

or maybe they support it because they're not actually, you know, liberals, as in those that make up the majority of the Democratic Party.

If close to 50% of the people here support the war on drugs, that would also mean that DU is not representative of the Democratic Party since an overwhelming majority of liberals support legalization of cannabis. (69% by the latest Gallup Poll) and a majority of moderates (57%) also support legalization of cannabis. All cannabis, not just mmj.

So, what you'd be saying here is that DU has far more conservatives here than are found in the general population that votes for the Democratic Party.

[Romulox]

63. Indeed, the Democratic establishment is far more *reactionary* (I cannot call it "conservative")

on this issue than the public at large; support for this establishment may be part of the reason that there seems to be so much more vocal support for the War on Drugs here on DU than among most Americans, let alone "progressives" as a group.

"or maybe they support it because they're not actually, you know, liberals"

Third way types, mostly. "Liberal" when it comes to workplace or banking regulations, to be sure. Warlike both at home and abroad, however...

[Tsiyu]

32. Unfortunately

Some posters here think if they can shut you up, no one else in the country will know about these raids and Obama is safe from scrutiny.

Sort of the "plunk your head in the sand" variety cheerleaders. the "la-la-la-can't hear-you" sorts.

But a dear friend of mine, and ardent Obama supporter, said the other day that this MMJ crackdown is, in her words, "bleeding votes away from Obama." She is disgusted, too. Many young people, expecting hope and change, are turned off by this War on MMJ. They will not vote for Obama next time, be assured. Fool me once, and all that. But don't tell anyone that on DU. It's another sparkly pony.

We don't have the money for these heavy-handed raids in this nation, yet somehow they are fully funded, highly unConstitutional, and make Obama out to be a liar per his campaign promises.

But just don't talk about it. Don't be angry. Don't be upset with Obama and everything will be just fine....nothing to see here.....

K&R for what it's worth. I can't believe in Obama's integrity much anymore due to this issue - and many others.

[Fokker Trip]

35. Obama + Integrity = Ummm...Oh my god my head just exploded.

nt

[thelordofhell]

33. Medical Marijuana Advocacy Group has been raided before

The people there sell MJ to one another. The Gilbert police dept. have raided this place a couple of times before and confiscated the MJ and made no arrests.

[RadiationTherapy]

48. Interesting. Thank you for the information.

[Kali]

83. note to self: finish reading the thread before replying

this is what I was thinking it might be - the last thing I read was they "raided" but never took anything or cited anybody

this was a couple of weeks ago

[Upton]

37. Join the club..

and for those who need a reminder:

"The Justice Department going after sick individuals using this as a palliative instead of going after serious criminals makes no sense."...Obama 7/07

"I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana users. It's not a good use of our resources."..Obama 8/07

[truebrit71]

44. Hey, no fair using his actual words....you have to understand the nuance...

...you know, all of that ninth-level ninja-chess shit he's using...:eyes:

Hoo-boy, Hope'n'Change 2.0 is gonna be AWESOME!!! He's gonna open up such a shit-can of librul whoop-ass after he wins next year...You know it!!! :crazy:

Is he better than all of the republican candidates put together...of course he is...by a country mile..is he a corporatist tool that has done 7/8 of 4/5ths of sweet fuck-all that he promised? Hell yes...

2008 we voted FOR Obama...

2012 we vote AGAINST whichever fucktard the gop vomits forth...

Change? Don't make me larf son...

And if he REALLY wanted to stop the war on MMJ all we would have to do is pick up the phone and talk to ONE person...The fact that he won't says more about him, than his empty speeches do...

[Ignis]

70. ^^^ THIS

And note, of course, that those who are falling over themselves to either attack the OP or defend Obama's DOJ on this bullshit course of action have a brilliant reply:

Crickets.

[piratefish08]

38. wow. shit on a mmj patient before holding the president accountable for anything?

this place is just fucking silly now.

[Warren DeMontague]

41. AUSTERITY MY ASS, SUCKERS!!! $$$!!!! WOO-HOOOOO!!!

Gravy Train, Comin' Through!!!

[Itchinjim]

43. Pfffft.

[SidDithers]

45. +1...nt

Sid

[treestar]

49. Why don't you write the President a memo about which

laws are to be enforced and which aren't? And everyone can do it.

Every law has someone who doesn't like it.

[Warren DeMontague]

50. So he didn't know what he was talking about in 2008, when he promised to leave the states alone?

This is the former head of the Harvard Law Review, remember.

[treestar]

54. "Promised to leave the states alone?"

Is there an actual quote on that?

[Warren DeMontague]

58. This is from his campaign in 2008:

Voters and legislators in the states - from California to Nevada to Maine - have decided to provide their residents suffering from chronic diseases and serious illnesses like AIDS and cancer with medical marijuana to relieve their pain and suffering," said campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt.

"Obama supports the rights of states and local governments to make this choice"

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/11/MNKK10FD53.DTL&ao=2#ixzz1fEQO3a3O

[treestar]

62. OK, then he should sign any bill repealing federal laws

on them that comes to him.

In the meantime, he enforces the federal laws on the books.

Don't know why people would want any President to decide which laws to enforce and not enforce the ones he does not like.

What if Bush decided not to collect taxes at all? Just not enforce the IRC where he doesn't agree with it?

[RainDog]

64. actually, he could instruct Holder to reschedule cannabis

Holder could do this at any time, on his own.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/RainDog/5

The DEA and the FDA determine the scheduling of various substances, although Congress scheduled a substance via legislation in Feb. 2000. The Attorney General of the United States may also initiate a drug rescheduling hearing.

...Proceedings for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of such rules may be initiated by the Attorney General

(1) on his own motion,
(2) at the request of the Secretary, or
(3) on the petition of any interested party.

The Attorney General shall, before initiating proceedings under subsection (a) of this section to control a drug or other substance or to remove a drug or other substance entirely from the schedules, and after gathering the necessary data, request from the Secretary a scientific and medical evaluation, and his recommendations, as to whether such drug or other substance should be so controlled or removed as a controlled substance.

...if the Secretary recommends that a drug or other substance not be controlled , the Attorney General shall not control the drug or other substance. If the Attorney General determines that these facts and all other relevant data constitute substantial evidence of potential for abuse such as to warrant control or substantial evidence that the drug or other substance should be removed entirely from the schedules, he shall initiate proceedings for control or removal, as the case may be, under subsection (a) of this section.

So, Obama has it within his power to stop the war on medical marijuana tomorrow. However, he does not want to do this, as we have seen with the recent statement from the Drug Czar that continues to state the lie that smoked marijuana has no medicinal value. (Of course, he can't tell the truth because it's his job to uphold the lies...) But Obama could have Holder reschedule cannabis IN ORDER TO DO RESEARCH on it.

...and this would take the teeth out of the DEA going after easy targets rather than using their offices to go after things like meth.

[treestar]

86. Are you saying that the above proves the President can decide

which drugs are illegal or not?

so he could "instruct Holder" to make cocaine or heroin legal too?

Somehow I doubt the statute quoted there is not qualified in some way or applies to some subset where there is not so much certainty.

[RainDog]

92. here's a link to Cornell University - the Attn Gen can choose to initiate a rescheduling hearing

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/21/811b.html

this would mean he would call for a scientific and medical evaluation. The Attn Gen. would follow the advice from this investigation. As a member of the President's cab, I doubt Holder would do this w/o the blessings of the President. That's what I meant. The instruction would be to initiate a rescheduling hearing. That would send a vastly different message than the current raids, so it's not like I think this will happen. But it could be done in this way, at the behest of the Attn. Gen.

The DEA has already rescheduled cannabinoids (the synthetic, Dronabinol/Marinol) in the past so it's not like this is never done by someone with the authority to do so, or at the request of others. In addition, GW Pharmaceuticals wants to be able to market Sativex in the U.S., as they already do in Great Britain, Canada, Germany and Israel for MS.

here's some of that history (which is also found at the link to my journal, above):

On October 18, 1985, the DEA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to transfer "Synthetic Dronabinol in Sesame Oil and Encapsulated in Soft Gelatin Capsules" — a pill form of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive component of cannabis, sold under the brand name Marinol — from Schedule I to Schedule II (DEA 50 FR 42186-87). The government issued its final rule rescheduling the drug on July 13, 1986 (DEA 51 FR 17476-78). The disparate treatment of cannabis and the expensive, patentable Marinol prompted reformers to question the DEA's consistency.

In the summer of 1986, the DEA administrator initiated public hearings on cannabis rescheduling. The hearings lasted two years, involving many witnesses and thousands of pages of documentation. On September 6, 1988, DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young ruled that cannabis did not meet the legal criteria of a Schedule I prohibited drug and should be reclassified. He declared that cannabis in its natural form is "one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. (T)he provisions of the (Controlled Substances) Act permit and require the transfer of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II".

Then-DEA Administrator John Lawn overruled Young's determination. Lawn said he decided against re-scheduling cannabis based on testimony and comments from numerous medical doctors who had conducted detailed research and were widely considered experts in their respective fields. Later Administrators agreed. "Those who insist that marijuana has medical uses would serve society better by promoting or sponsoring more legitimate research," former DEA Administrator Robert Bonner opined in 1992.

here is Judge Young's statement:

1988 DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Francis Young Ruling on Re-scheduling Marijuana on the Federal Level

“From the foregoing uncontroverted facts it is clear beyond any question that many people find marijuana to have, in the words of the Act, an "accepted medical use in treatment in the United States" in effecting relief for cancer patients.” (p. 26) Marijuana has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States for spasticity resulting from multiple sclerosis and other causes.” (p.54) Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.” (p. 58) A smoker would theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within about fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response.” (p. 57) Based upon the facts established in this record and set out above one must reasonably conclude that there is accepted safety for use of marijuana under medical supervision. To conclude otherwise, on this record, would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious.” (p. 66) The judge recommends that the Administrator transfer marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II.” (p. 68)

and here's more, from DECADES AGO:

Over the last decade, thirty-four states beginning with New Mexico in 1978 have legislatively determined that marijuana has legitimate medical uses for the treatment of sense- and life-threatening illness. In 1983, the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) passed a resolution (9) that called on Congress, the Department Of Justice and other administrative agencies to reschedule marijuana to Schedule 2 (10). Pennsylvania Attorney General Leroy Zimmerman, Chairman of NMG's Criminal Law and Law Enforcement Committee, explained that the resolution "would allow the controlled use of marijuana for treatment of glaucoma and relief of the debilitating side effects of anti-cancer treatments."(11). He further commented that making marijuana available for medical purposes "will in no way affect or impede existing efforts by law enforcement authorities to crack down on illegal drug trafficking in this country."(12). In resolution calling for an end to federal prohibitions which deny patient access to marijuana, as did the National Association of Criminal Defence Lawyers in 1988.(13).

Testimony before Judge Young established that marijuana could help alleviate the suffering of hundreds of thousands of cancer, glaucoma and spasticity patients. Each year about 1.3 million Americans are diagnosed as having cancer. At least 250,000 of those people would benefit from the introduction of marijuana as an anti-nausea medicine (Unimed Pharmaceuticals, 1988a). THC, the major active ingredient in marijuana, was prescribed for about 80,000 cancer patients last year (Unimed Pharmaceuticals, 1988b). Unfortunately, several studies indicate that THC is both more psychoactive than smoked marijuana and less effective in treating nausea.(15) (Chang et al, 1979)

Glaucoma, the leading cause of blindness in the United States, afflicts two million Americans. Conventional medical and surgical therapies succeed in controlling symptoms in only 80 to 90 per cent of glaucoma patients, as many as 200,000 to 400,000 patients cannot be adequately treated with conventional therapies. Glaucoma patients are likely to gain additional relief from elevated intraoccular blood pressure through the use of marijuana. (16)

Today, about one million Americans are afflicted with neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis which result in spasticity. Marijuana is a highly effective anti-spasmodic agent (17). The few medicines currently available to treat spasticity have serious adverse effects. In the absence of a safe, effective mode of treatment, physicians prescribe tranquillizers, sedatives, narcotics and other addictive drugs to MS patients and to para- and quadriplegics. Marijuana as an anti-spasmodic drug may be the most widely used, but least well known, of its three major medical uses.

And here's what another Judge had to say:

Judge Mark Polen said in finding a criminal defendant not guilty of felony cultivation of marijuana based on the defence of medical necessity, "Finally, the Court is deeply disturbed by the broader implications of the testimony presented in this case. Medical necessity is a stringent, demanding legal defense. The practice of medicine, however, cannot be predicated upon the legal requirements of the medical necessity defense if it is to preserve health in a rational, compassionate manner. As this decision, and the earlier decisions cited herein illustrate, marijuana has 'an accepted medical use in treatment'. Indeed, the evidence indicates marijuana is now being employed, albeit illegally, by patients throughout the United States. In the vast majority of such cases, those desperately ill people are being forced underground and away from urgently needed medical supervision to acquire marijuana.

"This is an intolerable, untenable legal situation. Unless legislators and regulators heed these urgent human needs and rapidly move to correct the anomaly arising from the absolute prohibition of marijuana which forces law-abiding citizens into the streets - and criminality - to meet their legitimate medical needs, cases of this type will become increasingly common in coming years.

iow, the DEA has already found, through the process I noted above, that marijuana should be rescheduled but this finding was overruled by the then DEA head who didn't want to allow people to use it medicinally b/c of fears it would signal it's okay to use marijuana recreationally --- because the DEA is wedded to corruption concerning cannabis, I suppose - at least that's the best way I can figure it since I don't assume they are completely stupid.

So, honestly, we don't even need to go through the hearing process yet again, it would seem to me, but if we did, there would be even more evidence now for rescheduling than that available three decades ago. But that's the process by which Holder could initiate a rescheduling hearing. Michele Leonhart can also initiate a rescheduling hearing, which is what these two governors are asking her to do. The process is the same.

[RainDog]

93. In addition, the Federal Govt. provides medical marijuana to treat illness

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassionate_Investigational_New_Drug_program

"the Compassionate Investigational New Drug Study program began in 1976 after Robert Randall brought a lawsuit (Randall v. U.S) against the Food and Drug Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Health, Education & Welfare. Randall, afflicted with glaucoma, had successfully used the Common Law doctrine of necessity to argue against charges of marijuana cultivation because it was deemed a medical necessity (U.S. v. Randall). On November 24, 1976, federal Judge James Washington ruled:

While blindness was shown by competent medical testimony to be the otherwise inevitable result of the defendant's disease, no adverse effects from the smoking of marijuana have been demonstrated. Medical evidence suggests that the medical prohibition is not well-founded."

at this time there are 4 surviving patients that are treated under this act - for four diff. medical conditions. The govt. has REFUSED to study the efficacy of medical marijuana on these patients because they don't want to admit that there is medical value to smoked cannabis. In spite of REAMS OF EVIDENCE.

So, they fucking already know that there is medical value. They don't need to have two more years of hearings. But they don't want to. THEY PREFER FOR AMERICANS TO SUFFER THAN TO GET THE MEDICAL CARE THEY NEED.

They (the DEA and, specifically, the Clinton administration) KILLED Peter McWilliams. (you can read about him via my journal, too.) They killed him by refusing to allow him to use cannabis to enable him to keep down his medications for cancer and HIV and, b/c he could not, because they refused to admit the marijuana has medical value, McWilliams' health deteriorated and he was confined to a wheelchair. MCWILLIAMS CHOKED ON HIS OWN VOMIT.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/RainDog/91

So, maybe you can see why this really pisses off some people.

Political posturing is more important than saving the lives of people you love when it comes to marijuana - a substance that was made illegal based upon lies like "marijuana makes darkies think they're as good as whites."

It's REPULSIVE to continue to treat American citizens this way.

[RainDog]

66. oh, and look! 2 Governors have asked the DEA to reschedule cannabis - today!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/us/federal-marijuana-classification-should-change-gregoire-and-chafee-say.html?_r=1

The governors of Washington and Rhode Island petitioned the federal government on Wednesday to reclassify marijuana as a drug with accepted medical uses, saying the change is needed so states like theirs, which have decriminalized marijuana for medical purposes, can regulate the safe distribution of the drug without risking federal prosecution.

The move by the governors — Christine Gregoire of Washington, a Democrat, and Lincoln D. Chafee of Rhode Island, an independent who used to be a Republican — injected new political muscle into the debate on the status of marijuana, which has been raging for decades. Their states are among the 16 that now allow medical marijuana, but which have seen efforts to grow and distribute the drug targeted by federal prosecutors.

“The divergence in state and federal law creates a situation where there is no regulated and safe system to supply legitimate patients who may need medical cannabis,” the governors wrote Wednesday to Michele M. Leonhart, the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Such a classification (from Schedule I to Schedule II) would allow pharmacies to dispense marijuana, in addition to the marijuana dispensaries that currently operate in a murky legal zone in many states.

Of course, Leonhart, a Bush appointee that was allowed to remain in her position under the Obama administration, will likely do no such thing. But Holder could. The Govs should have appealed directly to him, not her.

[court jester]

89. If Leonhart or Holder say there's no medical use, perhaps the Governors could ask why the Feds

hold a patent on the following:

Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants

United States Patent 6,630,507
Hampson, et al. October 7, 2003

Abstract

Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties, unrelated to NMDA receptor antagonism. This new found property makes cannabinoids useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV dementia. Nonpsychoactive cannabinoids, such as cannabidoil, are particularly advantageous to use because they avoid toxicity that is encountered with psychoactive cannabinoids at high doses useful in the method of the present invention...(much more including ten thousand footnotes)--


http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6630507.PN.&OS=PN/6630507&RS=PN/6630507

Or, if that is asking too much, maybe a Reporter or Journalist could actually do some research and ask the same thing...

[RainDog]

91. The Governors specifically mention being able to sell cannabis via pharmacies

which will, no doubt, lead to speculation that this has to do with Sativex, from GW Pharmaceuticals - that's the spray that's made from whole-plant cannabis currently grown in GB. Sativex, as I noted on another thread is 50/50 THC to CBD - so it doesn't result in a high like the things dispensaries are marketing in CA. GB uses both Sativa and Ruderalis (which has very little THC - it's the stuff that grows wild in climates like the Black Sea area - it's native to Russia.)

The last memo from the DEA said there's no medical benefit from "smoked" marijuana - tho this isn't true.

GW wants to grow cannabis for the American market... in Japan.

The DEA cannot stop this market from happening, but it seems GW was trying to position themselves to not offend the drug warriors. Nevertheless, once Sativex is available in the U.S. the DEA can no longer claim there is no medical benefit - they can't now, but they continue to do so.

So, they're moving the goalposts to "smoked" marijuana, rather than simply marijuana.

[Tesha]

73. That's pretty funny when you consider how he's turned his back on enforcing...

...all those laws that the Bush Administration broke;
I don't see any effort underway to prosecute those
laws.

Administrations *CAN* pick-and-choose which laws to
focus their enforcement efforts upon and the Obama
Administration has made their choices clear.

Tesha

[treestar]

87. That's a lot more complicated

You couldn't even figure out what laws Bush allegedly broke. Illegal drug possession and sales can be identified and proven.

But as I said, so it's OK for Repuke Presidents to do the same - no complaints there, right?

[Tesha]

96. So because that would be a tough job it shouldn't be done?

It seems to me that figuring out what laws Bush violated
isn't tough, just endless (seeing how he and his cronies
violated so many).

But this is still a blatant example of the Administration exercising
the "selective enforcement" that your side claims is illegal.

Tesha

[RainDog]

59. "I would not have the justice dept. prosecuting medical marijuana"

"It's just not a good use of resources." 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5FqsCpsoMY&NR=1

Obama on medical marijuana - before and after

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2011/10/6/184651/663

[Warren DeMontague]

61. Thank you.

:hi:

[RainDog]

65. ...

:fistbump:

[treestar]

90. So they are being prosecuted for having the marijuana?

Or for breaking federal laws regarding it? I recall in this debate a few weeks back that the clinics involved were abusing the medical marijuana provisions.

[RainDog]

94. They shut down at least one non-profit cannabis provider in full compliance

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/july-dec11/marijuana_11-08.html

you can read the transcript.

the sheriff in the co. was monitoring the guy's farm for compliance and stated to PBS that the guy was in compliance of the law. The DEA cut down all the plants for the patients that the guy was registered and legally allowed to provide for.

So, yes, they are harming people.

[Warren DeMontague]

60. So am I to understand you SUPPORT your tax dollars being used to drag cancer grannies off to prison

for smoking pot?

Because that's what's happening, now.

[treestar]

88. Find a case of that

[Warren DeMontague]

95. ***

to be fair, I'm not sure how many of these otherwise sick people who have been tossed in a prison cell on your tax dime are actually "grannies", but of course, that $200 Billion we spend every year keeping these dangerous chemo-sick hopheads off the street MUST be worth it!!!! $$$$ !!!!!




http://coloradoindependent.com/96111/seriously-ill-cancer-patient-may-face-jail-time-for-medical-marijuana

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2010/aug/11/medical_marijuana_patient_faces

http://theweedlynews.com/?p=3048

http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/07/man_grew_marijuana_for_wife_with_cancer_could_get.php

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10798-2004Oct29.html

http://www.november.org/thewall/cases/magbie-j/magbie-j.html

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2011/aug/25/new_jersey_medical_marijuana_pat

http://www.canorml.org/fedcasessum.html

[Name removed]

53. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Vinca]

55. This is about the dumbest thing to waste taxpayer dollars on.

Really. Forget the campaign promises . . . blah, blah, blah . . . they're all politicians. Just dollars and cents it's foolish.

[BadDog40]

68. The ONLY reason these raids continue is $$

And its the only reason marijuana remains illegal. If marijuana became legal almost half the cops in the country would be unemployed, a quarter the prisons would be shut down, cities would go broke from the lack of forfeiture and fine proceeds, and almost half a million people that work in the courts, jails, and rehab facilities would be out of a job. These are the people that benefit from prohibition and are being funded by our tax dollars and from the 858,408 people arrested every year (one every 30 seconds) for the simple use of marijuana.

As far as these raids, they storm troop the place, steal all their cash, leave and a lot of times never charge anyone with a crime. Marijuana growers are the easiest targets because they are the least resistant and they usually are people that have stuff for the govt to steal. Marijuana is also the easiest way for law enforcement to trample your civil rights, they can search you, your car, and even your house without any warrant whatsoever, all they have to claim is they smelled marijuana.

[sarcasmo]

75. Tax it and Legalize it now.

I don't understand all of these raids.

[jpak]

76. LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!1111

koo koo koo koo

yup

[lonestarnot]

78. I think you need to re or maybe just first examine your thinking.

[RadiationTherapy]

79. An article about the DEA raiding a Tempe MMJ business just 8 weeks ago.

So there already has been federal interference in AZ's MMJ program in the past. I will post a new thread if/when I learn more about today's raid.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/11/state_drops_charges_against_de.php

[villager]

81. Federal persecution of MMJ outlets stands as a resounding example of Obama going back on his word

One of many such examples, alas....

[B Calm]

100. Obama doesn't pass laws, that's congress job.

[RainDog]

101. going after state-legalized medical marijuana has been done by the DoJ, not Congress

and, again, marijuana can be rescheduled without any involvement from Congress, which is what two governors have requested from the DEA as of yesterday.

This bullshit of going after medical marijuana is Obama's baby.

Lamar Smith, a right wing asshole from Texas, is preventing a bipartisan bill to decriminalize from getting to the House floor - since Obama knows, from his own experience, that cannabis is not a harmful substance, it is shameful that he is making it harder for people to use the medicine that is best for them because of a law that was based upon racism.

I wonder how much damage Obama has done to himself by these actions.

[B Calm]

108. Federal law says that marijuana is illegal. The DEA is just doing their job and

following the law.

Seriously, quit blaming Obama for congress not making it legal.

I would love to see marijuana legal, but you won't see me blaming the president because it's not legal.

[RainDog]

109. The following people think the federal law is wrong

and are urging President Obama to take steps to help end the war on drugs - and, most specifically this is because of marijuana. They are urging THE WORLD'S LEADERS, and this includes President Obama, to take action to change the current way in which cannabis is treated. I'm not blaming Obama. I'm saying he needs to step up and do the right thing since Congress will not.

THE GLOBAL WAR ON DRUGS HAS FAILED
IT IS TIME FOR A NEW APPROACH

WE THE UNDERSIGNED call on members of the public and Parliament to recognise that:-

Fifty years after the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs was launched, the global war on drugs has failed, and has had many unintended and devastating consequences worldwide.

Use of the major controlled drugs has risen, and supply is cheaper, purer and more available than ever before. The UN conservatively estimates that there are now 250 million drug users worldwide.

Illicit drugs are now the third most valuable industry in the world, after food and oil, estimated to be worth $450 billion a year, all in the control of criminals.

Fighting the war on drugs costs the world’s taxpayers incalculable billions each year. An estimated 10 million people are in prison worldwide for drug-related offences, mostly “little fish” – personal users and small-time dealers.

Corruption amonst law-enforcers and politicians, especially in producer and transit countries, has spread as never before, endangering democracy and civil society.

Stability, security and development are threatened by the fallout from the war in drugs, as are human rights. Tens of thousands of people die in the drug war each year.

The drug-free world so confidently predicted by supporters of the war on drugs is further than ever from attainment. The policies of prohibition create more harms than they prevent. We must seriously consider shifting resources away from criminalising tens of millions of otherwise law abiding citizens, and move towards an approach based on health, harm-reduction, cost-effectiveness and respect for human rights. Evidence consistently shows that these health-based approaches deliver better results than criminalisation.

Improving our drug policies is one of the key policy challenges of our time.

It is time for world leaders to fundamentally review their strategies in repsonse to the drug phenomenon. That is what the Global Commission on Drug Policy, led by four former Presidents, by Kofi Annan and by other world leaders, has bravely done with its ground-breaking Report, first presented in New York in June, and now at the House of Lords on 17 November.

At the root of current policies lies the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. It is time to re-examine this treaty. A document entitled ‘Rewriting the UN Drug Conventions’ has recently been commissioned in order to show how amendments to the conventions could be made which would allow individual countries the freedom to explore drug policies that best suit their domestic needs, rather than impose the current “one-size-fits-all” solution. As we cannot eradicate the production, demand or use of drugs, we must find new ways to minimise harm. We should give support to our Governments to explore new policies based on scientific evidence.

Let us break the taboo on debate and reform. The time for action is now.

Yours faithfully,

Yours faithfully,

President Jimmy Carter
Former President of the United States, Nobel Prize winner
President Fernando H. Cardoso
Former President of Brazil
President César Gaviria
Former President of Colombia
President Vicente Fox
Former President of Mexico
President Ruth Dreifuss
Former President of Switzerland
President Lech Wa??sa
Former President of Poland, Nobel Prize winner
President Aleksander Kwa?niewski
Former President of Poland
George P. Schultz
Former US Secretary of State
Jaswant Singh
Former Minister of Defence, of Finance, and for External Affairs, India
Professor Lord Piot
Former UN Under Secretary-General
Louise Arbour, CC, GOQ
Former UN High-Commissioner for Human Rights
Carel Edwards
Former Head of the EU Commission’s Drug Policy Unit
Javier Solana, KOGF, KCMG
Former EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy
Thorvald Stoltenberg
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs (Norway) and UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Professor Sir Harold Kroto
Chemist, Nobel Prize winner
Dr. Kary Mullis
Chemist, Nobel Prize winner
Professor John Polanyi
Chemist, Nobel Prize winner
Professor Kenneth Arrow
Economist, Nobel Prize winner
Professor Thomas C. Schelling
Economist, Nobel Prize winner
Professor Sir Peter Mansfield
Economist, Nobel Prize winner
Professor Sir Anthony Leggett
Physicist, Nobel Prize winner
Professor Martin L. Perl
Physicist, Nobel Prize winner
Mario Vargas Llosa
Writer, Nobel Prize winner
Wis?awa Szymborska
Poet, Nobel Prize winner
Professor Sir Ian Gilmore
Former President of the Royal College of Physicians
Professor Robert Lechler
Dean of School of Medicine, KCL
Professor A. C. Grayling
Master of the New College of the Humanities
Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta
Professor of Economics at Cambridge
Asma Jahangir
Former UN Special Rapporteur on Arbitrary, Extrajudicial and Summary Execution
Professor Noam Chomsky
Professor of Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT
Carlos Fuentes
Novelist and essayist
Sir Richard Branson
Entrepreneur and Founder of the Virgin Group
John Whitehead
Chair of the WTC Memorial Foundation
Maria Cattaui
Former Secretary-General of the International Chamber of Commerce
Nicholas Green, QC
Former Chairman of the Bar Council
Professor David Nutt
Former Chair of the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs
Professor Trevor Robbins
Professor of Neuroscience at Cambridge
Professor Niall Ferguson
Professor of History at Harvard University
Professor Peter Singer
Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University
Professor Jonathan Wolff
Professor of Philosophy at UCL
Professor Robin Room
School of Population Health, University of Melbourne
Sir Peregrine Worsthorne
Former Editor of The Sunday Telegraph
Dr. Jan Wiarda
Former President of European Police Chiefs
Dr. Muhammed Abdul Bari, MBE
Former Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain
Sting
Musician and actor
Yoko Ono
Musician and artist
Bernardo Bertolucci
Film Director
Gilberto Gil
Musician, former Minister of Culture, Brazil
John Perry Barlow
Co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Tom Lloyd
Former Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire
Bob Ainsworth, MP
Former UK Secretary of State for Defence
Peter Lilley, MP
Former Secretary of State for Social Security
Tom Brake, MP
Dr. Julian Huppert, MP
Caroline Lucas, MP
Paul Flynn, MP
Dr. Patrick Aeberhard
Former President of Doctors of the World
Gary Johnson
Republican US Presidential Candidate
Lord Mancroft
Chair of the Drug and Alcohol Foundation
General Lord Ramsbotham
Former HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
Lord Rees, OM
Astronomer Royal and former President of the Royal Society
Amanda Feilding, Countess of Wemyss
Director of the Beckley Foundation

[villager]

104. So.. the DOJ agents are dispatched by Congress!?

Who knew!?

[B Calm]

111. The DOJ agents are dispatched by federal law. When a federal law is

being broken, it's their job to go after the law breakers. Until CONGRESS takes this unfair law off the books, they'll continue to do what they're suppose to do.

[RainDog]

112. Congress is NOT the only entity with the power to change the current situation

yes, it would be great if Congress did the right thing. however, Congress as it now exists is worthless - they have paid more attention to trying to obstruct Obama than they have to useful legislation. They have spent more time trying to insert themselves into women's reproductive organs than they have trying to create jobs legislation - they have demonstrated they are too fucking corrupt and stupid to do the right thing for anyone.

However, as I noted here several times, the DEA, the Attn Gen. or any interested parties can request a hearing on drug scheduling. If cannabis were SIMPLY rescheduled from I (no medical benefit) to II (medical benefit) - a large part of the drug war would be over.

This is an issue that could greatly benefit Obama in the 2012 elections. He has alienated a large sector of the public by choosing to side with regressive drug warriors - he does not have to do this.

Since Obama indicated, before the elections, that he did not find the use of the Attn. General's office to go after medical marijuana was a smart use of resources - your insistence that there is not selective attention paid to various laws is ridiculous.

People can still vote for Obama while talking about ways in which he would better serve the American people. For those who think any criticism must be attacked - I've got to say that trying to lie about reality does you no good and further alienates those who recognize that we're better off when Democrats are in power, while still using their right as Americans to urge better use of the govt's resources, better respect for Constitutional protections (that the WoD has attacked repeatedly) and better treatment of the American people.

[Lance_Boyle]

The scheduling of controlled substances is entirely under the purview of the Executive.

Simply rescheduling marijuana to put it on an even keel with cocaine (as having an accepted medicinal value) would eliminate the dispensary raids. But Obama and Holder have no intention to do so. Wouldn't be prudent </DanaCarveyGHWBushvoice> .

[onenote]

105. Has any more information come out about the event described by the OP?

I did a quick search and found articles about a raid in September in Tempe as well as raids in other locales, but nothing about a raid yesterday. It would be nice to have some details before leaping to conclusions about this specific event.

[roman7]

106. president obama is a

hell of a lot more in favor of decriminalising pot than any president i can recall. but he has a long to do list and he isnt getting much support even from his "friends"

[RainDog]

110. A bipartisan bill is sitting in Lamar Smith's office

Two democrats and two republicans wrote a bill to decriminalize cannabis. One member of Congress is preventing this bill from gaining a hearing in the House. One little despot.

Two Governors, one Democrat and one Independent, have requested a rescheduling hearing on cannabis from Michele Leonhart, head of the DEA, to move cannabis to schedule II, which means it may be dispensed for medical reasons - this would end the raid on dispensaries, or could end these raids.

The state of CA has an initiative to legalize cannabis across the state that will be on the ballot in 2012.

The state of CO has an initiative to legalize cannabis across the state that will be on the ballot in 2012.

World leaders have called for an end to the War on Drugs and for the United State to support an end to the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs - this convention was insisted upon by the United States, not any other country.

Former presidents of four nations, the former head of the UN, a former U.S. Sec. of State, 1000 economists and numerous leading intellectuals and business leaders have called for an end to prohibition.

Former members of law enforcement, via LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) speak out regularly in favor of an end to prohibition.

So, I don't know how you can claim there is no support for the President to take a leadership role in ending prohibition.

Current polls indicate a majority of Americans, across political categories, support nation-wide legalization of medical marijuana, and legalization of marijuana for the general population, as well.

There is no argument that he is not getting support from his friends on this issue - unless his only friends are the DEA, the alcoholic beverage industry and pharmaceutical industry - but his base is far wider than that.