During his run for the presidency, Barack Obama instilled hope in medical marijuana supporters by pledging to respect state laws on the matter. And for the first two years of his term, he was generally faithful to his promise. Yet suddenly, and with no logical explanation, over the past eight months he has become arguably the worst president in U.S. history regarding medical marijuana.
1. In 1970, Nixon signed into law the Controlled Substances Act, which placed marijuana in Schedule I -- the most restrictive of the five schedules, which declared that marijuana has no medical value whatsoever. Since then, all seven presidents have been content to keep marijuana in Schedule I, even going so far as to have (1) DEA bureaucrats overrule the DEA's own administrative law judge on the matter, and (2) Health & Human Services reject scientific petitions for rescheduling.
2. In 1978, the Carter administration created the "compassionate IND" program, which allowed patients to apply to (what is now known as) HHS to legally receive monthly shipments of the federal government's marijuana. Reagan left this program untouched for all eight years of his administration, but the first Bush closed the program to new applicants halfway through his term.
3. From 1969 to 1992, it was relatively easy for state governments and private institutions to investigate marijuana's therapeutic uses: The mechanism was to get FDA approval for a research protocol, then obtain DEA permission to store and handle the marijuana, and then NIDA would provide the marijuana. After Clinton took office, his team created a new hurdle, requiring a separate HHS review of the scientific merit of an FDA-approved research protocol, which has essentially prevented all but a few research projects from moving forward over the last 18 years. Indeed, just last month, Obama's HHS rejected an FDA-approved protocol that would have researched whether marijuana can reduce PTSD among combat veterans.
4. After California voters passed the first state medical marijuana law in November 1996, the Clinton administration threatened to take away the prescription-writing authority of physicians who recommend medical marijuana to patients. This bad policy was successfully blocked in federal court on First Amendment grounds.
5. In 1998, the Clinton administration filed a civil lawsuit to close down the premier Oakland dispensary at that time; this case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled 8-0 against that dispensary in 2001. Since then, the Bush and Obama administrations have routinely dragged dispensary owners into federal court. Most recently, on October 7, Obama's four federal prosecutors in California announced a coordinated plan to shut down most dispensaries in the state.
6. Clinton's drug czar actively spoke out against good ballot initiatives in 1996, 1998, and 2000. And Bush's drug czar campaigned against ballot initiatives and state-level bills for all eight years of the Bush administration. Obama's drug czar hasn't lobbied or campaigned against medical marijuana reform measures (yet), but he has publicly opposed medical marijuana generally.
7. In 2000, Clinton signed into law a bill that made it harder for the federal government to seize property through civil lawsuits. Unfortunately, the federal government can still wreak havoc when it wants to, and the Bush and Obama administrations have both threatened some landlords (almost exclusively in California) with property forfeiture if they lease their properties to medical marijuana growers or dispensaries.
8. The IRS started going after medical marijuana businesses under the second Bush regime, and the IRS has continued doing so under Obama. In a fluke of how federal law is written, the IRS is arguing that businesses can actually deduct the cost of the marijuana that they're selling, but businesses cannot deduct other costs (rent, salaries, insurance, supplies) that any other business would normally deduct. If this doesn't change, almost all dispensaries will either go out of business or become tax evaders; either way, the federal government will be deprived of tax revenues.
9. This past spring, Obama's U.S. attorneys in Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington state issued letters to local and state government officials at carefully chosen times, for the purpose of killing medical marijuana reform measures or hampering implementation in each state.
10. Over the last couple of years, medical marijuana businesses have been having trouble finding banking institutions that are willing to accept their money. When members of Congress asked Obama's Treasury Department for guidance, the Treasury Department said that each banking institution would have to determine its own tolerance for risk -- without defining what might constitute a risky situation. And now, just in the past couple of weeks, the Obama administration has been scaring California banks into dropping all businesses that are involved with medical marijuana.
11. On September 21, Obama's ATF issued an open letter saying that gun shops cannot sell guns to medical marijuana patients -- or people who are known to be addicted to drugs other than alcohol or tobacco, ironically enough.
So those are the footnotes for the chart. Depressing, huh?
But there may be a way forward through this mess: Since Colorado, Maine, and New Mexico set up state-licensing systems for medical marijuana businesses in recent years, literally zero such businesses in these three states have been raided by the feds.
(All the raids we hear about -- in California, Michigan, Montana, and Washington state -- do not involve any state-licensed businesses. At best, some of the targeted businesses were licensed by local governments in California under a loosely worded provision of California state law.)
Technically, federal prosecutors can civilly or criminally target any marijuana businesses they want -- in any state -- until we change federal law. But, for the time being, the feds appear not to be targeting medical marijuana businesses with state licenses.
It's worth noting that my organization has successfully enacted new laws that include state licensing in Arizona, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Vermont over the last two years. (And D.C. and New Jersey have licensing systems, too.)
So we may have a way forward. Unfortunately, the plan now assumes hostility from the former marijuana user in the White House who used to profess notions of hope, change, and compassion toward the less fortunate. Shame on him.
Chris Weigant: Marijuana Prohibition's Legal Insanity Continues
The President also does not have the power to interfere with the enforcement of federal tax policies by IRS agents. Remember, many if not most IRS agents and other government workers were hired long before President Obama took office.
This article does a disservice to the medical marijuana movement by attacking President Obama unfairly. Does the author really believe that a Republican President in 2012 would be friendlier to the medical marijuana cause? Any of the likely Republican nominees for President would almost certainly use the power of federal government to start raiding any and all medical marijuana clinics again.
This sort of unfair attack needlessly hurts the President politically - who is our best hope of preventing a one-party theocracy/plutocracy from seizing power over all three branches of government in 2012.
(case sensitive upper case capitol P)
at the White House "We the People" now! deadline Oct. 22
"Demand an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to End
Marijuana, Marihuana, Cannabis and Hemp Prohibition"
This is a real umbrella petition that takes in all
the complaints of the 12 other marijuana related petitions.
http://wh.gov/gP1
President Obama allows Adults and children age 13 and up
to sign this petition.
The END MARIJUANA PROHIBITION petition http://wh.gov/gP1
was written by Cris Ericson of Chester, Vermont.
I find it normal that you would take the same position as Evan Bayh on this matter.
And, it's a real shame.
It tells me several things about YOU as a representative.
For example...
You don't research that of what you speak...
(doctors and physicians have pointed out that it cures cancer)
That you agree with President Obama...
(of course, no doubt pharmaceutical companies, the steel industry, automobile manufacturers, tobacco conglomerates, nylon and synthetic corporations, China, the lumber industry, and many, many others pay big dollars to him for re-election, and several other members of our politicians)
It also tells me that even ex-President Nixon's hand picked commission on marijuana has no sway on your decision, which is REALLY strange, as you're both Republicans. (I am, too.)
It tells me that hundreds of thousands of jobs that can be had from legalization does not interest you in the least.
Lastly, it tells me that you have absolutely no regard for individual choice in this matter, and would rather the half million deaths from tobacco every year, the 365000 deaths from poor diet and bad exercise every year, the near 50000 deaths from alcohol every year continue in the manner they are going, now.
By the way...
How many people have died of a marijuana overdose this year?
or in ten years?
or...let's make it easy...
in all of written history?
None.
Your constituents want it legalized.
President obama has access to the fact that Canadian car manufacturers are using cannabis as a fiber composite for their new electric and hybrid vehicles.
President Obama has access to the fact that whole houses are being built of cannabis.
President Obama has access to the fact that CHINA sells us some $300 Million annually in products made from cannabis.
President Obama has access to the facts...where ex President Nixon (the worse), President Ford, President Carter, Reagan, President Bush sr., President Clinton, and Bush junior could have looked up the information, the simple fact is he's bought and sold like all the rest of our politicians.
By the way, the WORSE award goes to ex-President Nixon because that guy actually hired on a commission to do the most in-depth study ever done on marijuana (Raymond Shafer) and once done, and seeing it to be harmless, threw it away.
If granny grows some and sells to her church folk, no big deal.
If Winston Salem grows some and sells a million packs, tax them.
The steel industry
automobile manufacturers,
Tobacco conglomerates,
alcohol companies,
China,
oil industry,
drug dealers,
nylon and synthetic corporations,
the lumber industry,
Canadian farmers,
the new modern private prison corporations,
India,
ALL wanting the status quo on marijuana.
My theory is that this President has been besieged on all sides from Day One (actually before inauguration). The Regressive Right has pounced on every possible thing they could to scare the bejeebus out of their fact-free base about this "boogeyman" in their white house. What little the President has been able to get accomplished has been painfully difficult. Congress, the ones who are truly bought and paid for, have thwarted him at every turn. So, exerting his dwindling political capital for a measure that is highly popular with a segment of folks that do not reflect a valuable political constituency was going to be a non-starter. The Right would paint him as weak on crime, a pot-smoking commie, you name it.
Now, why crank up the oppression machine? First as an antivenin to weak on crime crowd. But, secondly, and here's I get twisted, maybe, just maybe, he understands history a bit and realizes that by turning the heat down on MMJ he would actually be prolonging the overall prohibition. Keep the heat up (by enforcing, as he is constitutionally required, the laws already on the books) and the populace becomes activated to force change from the ground up. That's how the prohibition will end. Not by Presidential fiat.
There are at least 98 million people who either did, or currently do, smoke pot at least once a month, and that is a seven year old figure.
Recreational users make up the largest segment of people wanting legalization.
Another point is that marijuana cures cancer. for $100 of tools and product. Not the $98000 bill doctors and pharmacies will charge annually for cancer patients to survive.
Hundreds of thousands of jobs.
(has there been any politicians TALKING about getting more jobs in this country?)
Now, of the call for FREEDOM, which President Obama has made several times ("I am in this to fight for YOUR FREEDOMS") of what can be made of that?
"the crime crowd" is part of the circus that buys our politicians...and pay very well.
You hear about them a lot at our Southern border.
Legalizing it pulls the profit away from the equation, and suddenly even MORE people are safer, more people enjoy freedom, more people would vote for him.
If he DANGLES it in front of us (like his fake "end the tax breaks for the rich" call and the "All the troops home by 2012" call) as something he says he'll do next term?
What do you think his response will be?
Too many corporations and lobbyists make money from keeping marijuana illegal: liquor companies, pharmaceutical companies, and prison and bail bond corporations, not to mention the various police entities that fund their operating budgets from drug search and seizure operations.
If we legalized marijuana, regulated it, and taxed it, we could designate the tax revenue to underfunded causes, like infrastructure or veterans care. If we legalized marijuana, Americans could profitably grow and distribute marijuana. Instead, Mexican drug cartels promote violence across borders by shipping illegal marijuana to the US.
automobile manufacturers because they don't want to have to hire MORE people to retool their machines.
The oil conglomerates because it makes an excelente fuel.
14 states and the District of Columbia have passes laws sanctioning the use of medical marijuana. Jobs and tax dollars at stake in communities that rely on those taxes. Killing local revenue and jobs associated with legal distribution it at a time when overcrowded state prisoners are being shipped back to local jails is a dumb move. Whoever suggested a sudden move against state-sanctioned distribution of medical marijuana is probably a traitor as these efforts will further erode whatever "base" the administration has left.
Congress needs to reclassify and decriminalize marijuana like our buddy Israel just did. How can America continue to pretend that there is anything dangerous about a drug that has no record of "cause of death" compared to "legal" tobacco and alcohol products and "legal" drugs that are known to cause kidney and liver damage. Give us some change we can believe in.
President Obama has unfortunately been getting a lot of dumb advice since he took office.
Where is the petition for term limits for all elected legislators,,to stop the good ol boy clubs,,where are the petitions to limit corporate donations and full disclosure of any funding of any elected official?
We may have to overhaul congress before we ever get prohibition ended,which is what American citizens want
write to your senators
write the president
write your local newspaper
call your teevee stations