New Guidelines to Federal Prosecutors regarding Medical Marijuana

UPDATE:

Here is the link for the full Memo:   http://blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/192

It starts off with this simple paragraph:  The Department of Justice is committed to the enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act in all States. Congress has determined that marijuana is a dangerous drug, and the illegal distribution and sale of marijuana is a serious crime and provides a significant source of revenue to large-scale criminal enterprises, gangs, and cartels.

Fortunately nothing has changed.  Marijuana is deemed a dangerous substance and illegal disribution is a prosecutable crime.


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Ever since President Obama has taken office there has been the question as to what he would do about his promise to stop the prosecution of Medical Marijuana users and dispensaries.

Now the "New Guidelines" A three-page memo spelling out the policy is expected to be sent today to federal prosecutors in the 14 states, and also to top officials at the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration.

Per the AP wire article the directive is still to prosecute those who break these laws.  Nothing has really changed, if you are violating a State and Federal Law regarding Medical Marijuana you will be prosectuted.

The guidelines, to be issued by the Justice Department, do make it clear that agents will go after people whose marijuana distribution goes beyond what is permitted under state law or use medical marijuana as a cover for other crimes, the officials said.

The officials also said, the government will still prosecute those who use medical marijuana as a cover for other illegal activity. The memo particularly warns that some suspects may hide old-fashioned drug dealing or other crimes behind a medical marijuana business.The memo urges prosecutors to pursue marijuana cases which involve violence, the illegal use of firearms, selling pot to minors, money laundering or involvement in other crimes.

And while the policy memo describes a change in priorities away from prosecuting medical marijuana cases, it does not rule out the possibility that the federal government could still prosecute someone whose activities are allowed under state law.

The memo, officials said, is designed to give a sense of prosecutorial priorities to U.S. attorneys in the states that allow medical marijuana.

So what has changed?  Nothing really.  If you do something illegal, whether it is for medical reasons or not, you will and should be prosecuted.