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.

Some California Cities Banning Medical Marijuana Providers

"I just don't want to be a regional magnet," said San Bernardino City Councilman Chas Kelley, noting that nearby cities had prohibitions on the books before San Bernardino followed their lead last month.

Although California passed Proposition 215 in 1996, in San Bernardino County, the response to medical marijuana has generally been to just say "no" - or at least "not yet." Officials in several local cities have adopted bans or moratoriums aimed at keeping cannabis providers out of some towns.

A California Police Chiefs Association report on medicinal marijuana argues that federal law trumps Proposition 215 and that dispensaries, which should be deemed illegal, are likely targets for criminals looking to score pot or cash.


"Marijuana dispensaries are commonly large money-making enterprises who will sell marijuana to most anyone who produces a physician's written recommendation for its medical use," the report reads. "These recommendations can be had by paying unscrupulous physicians a fee and claiming to have most any malady, even headaches."  See the story on such a physician at  http://www.dfaf.org/content/its-good-be-california-cough-cough

Kelley, the San Bernardino councilman, referred to the report in late September when he won his colleagues' approval to ban dispensaries from the city. He also echoed the concern that cannabis can be prescribed for trivial problems and that without a ban, San Bernardino could become a place where the sight of people "puffing away on weed" becomes a new obstacle to business development.


Redlands and Yucaipa have already banned dispensaries, and Rialto is moving in that direction.