Department of Justice Steps Back in Time

In a disturbing, yet somehow unsurprising move, the Department of Justice has recently announced in a recent memo, that with a deliberate refusal to accept voter intent: they’re going to attack persons who are “in the business of cultivating, selling or distributing marijuana, and those who knowingly facilitate such activities,” regardless of what a state’s law may imply – regardless of how needed it may be by the patients who it is being distributed to.

Even with the inherently obvious political positioning behind this move, it is a stance of pure malice. The general public has handed over to these politicians the ability to allow the medicine to be distributed through safe access points (not necessarily ideal, but a much better option than the black-market); The public has given the federal government, through the passing of numerous medical marijuana initiatives, the ability to allow patients to effectively use their medicine through state law, without them having to specifically endorse the use of it themselves. This seemed at first something that President Obama was starting to understand with his support behind the 2009 released Ogdan Memo, a memo that stated that federal resources should not be used to persecute individuals who are following state law – what seemed at first like a sly and somewhat acceptable way for the White House to support the medical marijuana movement without truly endorsing it.

For an issue bordering on 75% support (a surprisingly high number in today’s political climate: Harris Poll), this is the absolute least that could of been done – to allow the states that are attempting something different to supply their sick citizens with a natural alternative to pharmaceuticals – without persecuting them.

Alas, despite the intentions behind this memo being clearly humane and heading in the right direction of personal freedom, it was essentially and effectively overturned in a hair-pulling instance of political side-stepping that has the administration now stating that although individuals still shouldn’t necessarily be targeted for possessing their medicine, the safe access points that these patients need….well, they’re top priority for attack! Clearly the President is continuing to take for granted his supporters in an attempt to pander to potential swing voters – an unethical move, not to mention a politically questionable one, given such high support and passion for this issue.

“The Department of Justice is tasked with enforcing existing federal criminal laws in all states, and enforcement of the CSA [Controlled Substances Act] has long been and remains a core priority”, the memo states, with a clear lack of compassion as well as lack of acknowledgement of decades of science. With this mindset it’s clear that attacks will persist, and the federal government is prepared to continue to refuse our freedom, after a time when it seemed as if states might finally be able to exercise their sovereignty – to allow patients to be supplied with their medicine of choice in peace.

We can’t be in denial of the fact that patients won’t be protected from fear and persecution until we legalize cannabis for adults throughout the nation.

 

- TheJointBlog