Medical marijuana no longer a top concern for federal prosecutors

AP/Dino Vournas

In an about-face from the policies of the Clinton and Bush administrations, the U.S. Department of Justice today issued new guidelines to state offices that direct money and manpower away from investigations and prosecutions of medical marijuana dispensaries and the operators of those businesses.

Justice Secretary Eric Holder said in a press statement that ""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." 

Since 1996, when California first allowed the sale of marijuana to patients with a prescription from a licensed medical professional, the Justice Department has relied on the supremacy of federal narcotic laws to try to shut down medical marijuana dispensaries in each of the states that allow such operations.  In California alone, at least 28 people involved in state-sanctioned marijuana dispensing have been convicted of federal drug violations.

NORML welcomed what it is calling--with all emphases in the original--"a MAJOR victory for citizens who support cannabis law reform!"

Secretary Holder did stress, however, that deemphasizing enforcement of federal marijuana laws in some states is not tantamount to decriminalization. According to Holder, his office and agents "will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal."

Activities that will continue to draw the attention of federal investigators and prosecutors, as spelled out in an official Justice Department memo, are 

• unlawful possession or unlawful use of firearms
• violence
• sales to minors
• financial and marketing activities inconsistent with the terms, conditions, or purposes of state law, including evidence of money laundering activity and/or financial gains or excessive amounts of cash inconsistent with purported compliance with state or local law
• amounts of marijuana inconsistent with purported compliance with state or local law;
• illegal possession or sale of other controlled substances
• ties to other criminal enterprises.

Currently, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington allow health care providers to prescribe marijuana. Tetrahydrocannabinol,or, more commonly THC, is the pharmaceutically active ingredient in marijuana. The federal government treats THC as a Class I controlled substance, meaning officials consider its use to produce narcotic effects while yielding no health benefits.

Proponents of medical marijuana, however, point to research showing that THC reduces nausea following chemotherapy, increases appetite in patients with chronic wasting diseases, reduces intraocular pressure in patients with glaucoma and provides pain relief for some patients. Smoking or eating marijuana has rarely been shown to be an effective means of delivering THC, though. Other medications may also be more effective than THC for most patients.