Obama Administrations Announces Change in Marijuana Policy

AP reports on a change in policy with regards to medicinal  marijuana from the Obama administration. This comes in response to the policy under George Bush to ignore state laws, again demonstrating that many Republicans are only concerned about states’ rights when it suits their policies. From AP:

The Obama administration will not seek to arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers as long as they conform to state laws, under new policy guidelines to be sent to federal prosecutors Monday.

Two Justice Department officials described the new policy to The Associated Press, saying prosecutors will be told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state laws.

The new policy is a significant departure from the Bush administration, which insisted it would continue to enforce federal anti-pot laws regardless of state codes.

Fourteen states allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

1 Comment

  1. 1
    Vince says:

    This is definitely a step in the right direction, although we aren’t quite there yet.  The US war on drugs has been a massive waste of US taxpayer dollars, and has contributed to countless deaths in the US and neighboring countries. Crime organizations thrive off of the profits of controlled substances and our efforts have done little to stop them. We should have learned after our failed attempt at prohibition.

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