USA - So when is Obama going to act on medical marijuana anyways?

[Greenport]

I'll try to keep myself from going off into a rant here, but Obama promised something and he hasn't kept his promise. The promise was to end the raids on medical marijuana dispensaries. Well we all know that after he was elected there was a DEA medical marijuana raid that took place in California.

Okayy, I said to myself, well he just got in office let's give the guy some time to work on the issues at hand and get to it. But weeks have passed and he has still not mentioned a single word.

I dunno about you guys but it seems to me that he's avoiding the issues at hand. Everybody in the country knows that this is the number one issue to Americans at this time - hell just look at the citizen's briefing book. Yet all he has to say is that the economy is failing under his watch and that he's going to release stimulus package after stimulus package in hopes of settling it out. He needs to confront the issues and not avoid them, or he's going to have a huge problem on his hands.

While I understand that maybe the decriminalization of marijuana is a lot to ask for in four years time, medical marijuana is a no-brainer. People are seeking to get the medications which work for them. To label anybody a criminal because they are making medicine accessible to the sick, is an outrage. They seem to like throwing all these addictive and potentially dangerous/deadly pharmecutical drugs at people who are sick, and as a result they are suffering even more when medical marijuana for some of them (albeit not all - it is not a miracle cure) would be the right medicine for the job. Take the number of people who have died from prescribed drugs and compare it to the number of people who have died from marijuana smoking.

The longer he waits, the longer the federal government is going to continue raiding those who use/sell medical marijuana in places where under state law is legal, and the more outrage is going to happen.

All I'm saying is that if he doesn't act upon the issues at hand, the people will. And I know that the government doesn't want a million marijuana march at the white house this coming April 20th, as cool as that would be.

Don't forget people that we voted for change. Keep this issue at the forefront. Anyways that's just my spill. Comment if you wish.

[DXMBunny]

Originally Posted by Greenport

I dunno about you guys but it seems to me that he's avoiding the issues at hand. Everybody in the country knows that this is the number one issue to Americans at this time - hell just look at the citizen's briefing book.

Wow i have to highly disagree... apparently you have lots of money and a good job... or something cause i'm confused how you could say this is the number one issue...

being out of a job and almost on the street because of no jobs not even minimum wage ones really sucks right now...

swim believes in priorities and drugs are below making money and a job to support his family

So i honestly believe the economy should easily come first as this a very hard time for everyone without a job and those close to losing theirs or those in a worse money situation...

so maybe some clarification on your life may clear this up... but i have to highly disagree with this being most important...

but yes swim does hope that he will come around to this issue and to many others but honestly dude he has only been in office 2 weeks...
most presidents don't accomplish crap for a year... or so

[Greenport]

Well okay you have a valid point there. Jobs are really hard to come by right now, and I suppose that really is the most important issue right now but still it would be nice to hear something new about this, since there hasn't been any mention whatsoever since his election.

[nate81]

I believe he is primarily focused on Iraq and economic issues. There even was a statement regarding medical marijuana where the Pres. said he's not worried about it right now. I understand there are bigger issues for the government to worry about at the moment, and completely agree on their choice of focus. However, I don't see why it's such a difficult thing. The president is the executive branch of the government, it's his job to enforce the law. That means any federal law enforcement is directly linked to the Pres. So why can't he just ask the DEA to knock it off with the medical marijuana busts until the laws can be changed? That's how it's supposed to work, right? Am I missing something here?

As far as I understand it, all that needs to happen is the DEA to lower the status to schedule 3. Then the FDA can grow up and recognize the long standing research into the medical uses of marijuana. Why is this difficult?

[Greenport]

Yeah unfortunately I don't think he can just wave a magic wand and suddenly change the law like that, because afaik the president can't write any bill - only congress can do that. The president can then approve or veto a bill, which if vetoed his decision can be overturned by a 2/3 majority vote in congress. Think that's the way the system works anyways

Guess the question should have more likely been "when is the government going to act..."

But I do agree, he should at least somehow call off the raids until he has the time to deal with the issue correctly.

[cra$h]

..........Told you.................

[nate81]

I didn't imply wand waving to change laws. I meant that as the top of the pyramid in the federal enforcement of laws branch of the government, his choice of policies affect what laws get enforced. The Pres. appoints the DEA's leader, who then can tell his agents not to raid old people for medical marijuana. It really is that simple. Getting MJ moved on the scheduling is harder, and getting the FDA up to speed on what scientists have known for years is even harder. That would require years of red tape, the DEA policy change can happen quickly.

[dadrone]

Originally Posted by Greenport

I'll try to keep myself from going off into a rant here, but Obama promised something and he hasn't kept his promise. The promise was to end the raids on medical marijuana dispensaries. Well we all know that after he was elected there was a DEA medical marijuana raid that took place in California.

He also promised some different things about how he would fund his campaign. But he abandoned that statement once it became apparent that he could buy the presidency.

[Future_Narc_Officer]

Implementing a federal law on the legalization of medical marijuana is all well and good, but we are in an extreme economic recession right now so it's no surprise that Obama is pushing the issue to the back of the line...for now.