Obama ends medical mar1juana drug raids. It's about time. Another step in the end of prohibition. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/26/holder-vows-to-end-raids_n_170119.html Attorney General Eric Holder said at a press conference Wednesday that the Justice Department will no longer raid medical mar1juana clubs that are established legally under state law. His declaration is a fulfillment of a campaign promise by President Barack Obama, and marks a major shift from the previous administration. After the inauguration, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) continued to carry out such raids, despite Obama's promise. Holder was asked if those raids represented American policy going forward. "No," he said. "What the president said during the campaign, you'll be surprised to know, will be consistent with what we'll be doing in law enforcement. He was my boss during the campaign. He is formally and technically and by law my boss now. What he said during the campaign is now American policy." The exchange takes place at about the 25:00 mark here. Holder's declaration is a high point for the movement to legalize medical mar1juana, which has been growing for decades despite federal hostility. "It's good news for people in California who are so ill that they have gotten a doctor's note in compliance with the law," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) when told of Holder's promise. "If you have a doctor's note, you should be able to get whatever medicine you need." Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) was not as quick with approval. "I've got to think about that a little bit," she said. Feinstein was mayor of San Francisco when in the '70s and '80s when the issue was first being debated. I
If Doctors can prescribe opiates, then they ought to be able to prescribe medical mar1juana. I never understood why anybody cared if a dying person wanted to smoke mar1juana to ease pain or increase hunger.
ron paul's recent visit on real time from last week. skip to 3:30ish for his view on this, or watch the whole thing. or don't. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/M5lb0l3sYBo&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/M5lb0l3sYBo&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
The thing I've liked the most about the Obama Administration so far is their reversal of the little things that came about during the Bush era. It's not so much the big ticket items that the Republicans pushed through as much as little things like this that just seem so illogical in retrospect. For a party that pushes "states rights" as much as the Republicans do, having the federal government basically giving the finger to states that pass medical marajuana laws seems ridiculous.
Great move. A strong return to the ideal of state's rights would be one of the things that could sway me back to the GOP.
Rush Limbaugh finally has a safer, less addictive drug than Oxycontin. I hope Rush actually gives it a try.
