Question: Why are the feds cracking down on medical marijuana dispensaries?
Answer: Because they can.
But perhaps, not for long…
By MARCUS WOHLSEN, Associated Press
November 7, 2011
Support Medical Marijuana
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Attorneys for medical marijuana advocates on Monday sought a temporary restraining order to put a stop to a federal crackdown on California pot dispensaries, claiming the effort by the state’s four U.S. attorneys is unconstitutional.
Plaintiffs asked U.S. District Court Judge Donna Ryu in Oakland to issue an order barring the government from arresting or prosecuting patients, dispensary owners or landlords of properties housing dispensaries.
Pot advocates said dispensaries in the San Francisco Bay area would start closing this weekend if a restraining order was not issued.
The state’s four federal prosecutors last month announced a broad effort to close pot clubs, in particular by sending letters to landlords who rent space to pot dispensaries threatening to seize their property under federal drug trafficking laws.
Lawsuits filed starting Friday in all four of California’s federal court jurisdictions accuse the Department of Justice of entrapping pot providers by reversing its own policy, among other legal issues.
Caught in the middle are the sick, the elderly and the crippled, who suffer in pain and agony, each and every day. In many cases marijuana provides the only relief available. Many patients have found the smoking pot gives them back their very lives.
One medical marijuana user was very close to becoming addicted to prescription pain meds, the doctors were prescribing them like candy to the patient. When she complained about the side-effects and new ailments the prescription medications were causing her, the doctors attempted to prescribe anti-depressants on top of the pain medication, to help her be more tolerant of the damages the pain meds caused. This patient was seeing five medical specialists and was even told by one “medical professional” that they needed spinal replacement surgery.
Smoking pot allows this patient to enjoy small portions of the day, to smile and even cook occasionally. You can’t put a price tag on the quality of life and that is exactly what we are talking about here. The feds want to control our ability to enjoy life without harmful drugs with even worse side effects, up to and including death.
The war on drugs has run it’s course. The federal government lost but instead of simply conceding defeat, they are lashing out, sort of like Custer’s Last Stand.
We know the federal government is broke and looking for revenue sources, but to resort to outright theft is an egregious miscarriage of justice and must stop.
This so-called “crack down” by the federal government for some reason targets only residents of California, even though similar laws exist in Colorado and Michigan. A curious person might ask why the sudden crackdown only in California? Will California law enforcement agencies, such as the Tuolumne Narcotics Team share in the ill-gotten gain when they seize the property of law abiding citizens?
Where is the ACLU when you need them? Let’s hope that U.S. District Court Judge Donna Ryu in Oakland does the right thing by issuing a restraining order. This is an outrage.
