Very quietly, U.S. President Barack Obama may have made one of the biggest, most revolutionary policy decisions of all time. Lost beneath the deafening noise of the 'public option' debate, is an equally significant bit of healthcare reform: the U.S. federal government will no longer arrest medical marijuana patients.
To the average person this may not sound significant. After all, if they are medical marijuana patients, and the state they live in has medical marijuana exemptions, why would they be arrested? Well, the answer is that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is an unconstitutional department that overrides state laws.
For years, the DEA has gone into states that give out medical marijuana licences, arresting dying AIDS and cancer patients and throwing them in jail. So even though these sick and dying people are complying with state laws, they are in violation of the federal ban on marijuana.
In the meantime, it looks as if California has a very real shot at legalizing marijuana. Several bills sit in the state's legislature and support is growing. In fact, national support for marijuana legalization south of the border is almost at 50 per cent.
It is very possible that once California legalizes, other states will follow suit. This makes it doubly disgraceful that our Conservative government is bringing in mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes. We already have harsher drug laws than 13 U.S. states.
While it is unbelievable that stopping the arrest of terminally ill people for using medicine is a controversial idea, the president still deserves applause.
There is still a ways to go, but things are starting to look optimistic. Thank you, Barack Obama.
Yes we can/nabis.
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: BCLocalNews.com
Author: Travis Erbacher
Contact: BCLocalNews.com
Copyright: 2009 Black Press
Website: Quiet Change In Approach To Medicinal Pot
To the average person this may not sound significant. After all, if they are medical marijuana patients, and the state they live in has medical marijuana exemptions, why would they be arrested? Well, the answer is that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is an unconstitutional department that overrides state laws.
For years, the DEA has gone into states that give out medical marijuana licences, arresting dying AIDS and cancer patients and throwing them in jail. So even though these sick and dying people are complying with state laws, they are in violation of the federal ban on marijuana.
In the meantime, it looks as if California has a very real shot at legalizing marijuana. Several bills sit in the state's legislature and support is growing. In fact, national support for marijuana legalization south of the border is almost at 50 per cent.
It is very possible that once California legalizes, other states will follow suit. This makes it doubly disgraceful that our Conservative government is bringing in mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes. We already have harsher drug laws than 13 U.S. states.
While it is unbelievable that stopping the arrest of terminally ill people for using medicine is a controversial idea, the president still deserves applause.
There is still a ways to go, but things are starting to look optimistic. Thank you, Barack Obama.
Yes we can/nabis.
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: BCLocalNews.com
Author: Travis Erbacher
Contact: BCLocalNews.com
Copyright: 2009 Black Press
Website: Quiet Change In Approach To Medicinal Pot
