A new Obama administration policy relaxing the guidelines on federal prosecution of medical marijuana shows compassion to millions suffering from debilitating diseases. The Justice Department should utilize its limited resources more effectively than hunting down patients who legally smoke doctor-prescribed
A new Obama administration policy relaxing the guidelines on federal prosecution of medical marijuana shows compassion to millions suffering from debilitating diseases.
The Justice Department should utilize its limited resources more effectively than hunting down patients who legally smoke doctor-prescribed pot.
The strict anti-marijuana policies of the Bush administration reflected a growing federal reach into state affairs and created further anguish for those using prescribed pot to treat chronic medical conditions like cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis.
Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawai‘i, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes, according to the government’s count.
In a June 6, 2005, U.S. Supreme Court decision, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Clarence Thomas stated in their dissenting opinions that the federal government has no right to force its drug policy on the states.
Fortunately, times have changed.
Critics’ lack of sympathy and clinging to misconstrued conceptions of marijuana affects so many in need.
Smoking pot helps ease pain and in some cases shows therapeutic value to patients, according to Utah’s Pain Research Center and a host of other professional medical opinions.
For many patients, pot is the only treatment that alleviates their debilitating symptoms. The fear of federal arrest is the last thing someone suffering a long, painful death should have to worry about.
The Justice Department’s directive to federal prosecutors Monday expressly says this policy shift doesn’t legalize marijuana. The three-page legal memo penned by Deputy Attorney General David Ogden says it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state law.
The guidelines issued by the department do, however, make it clear that federal 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, an Associated Press story says.
“It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana, but we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.
Let’s target the real criminals here while preventing unfair and unwarranted prosecution and jail time for law-abiding citizens.
Surveys have shown that 65 percent of Americans say adults should be allowed to use marijuana for medical purposes if their doctor recommends it. Only one in five says it should be illegal.
Regardless of how you feel about drug use in general or government’s role in personal decisions, we should all be able to agree that federal agents should not flout state laws and nobody should come between a patient and their legally prescribed medication.
It’s high time our government’s policies reflect how Americans really feel.
