Memo Temporarily Bans Prosecution of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
By micro99 at 9 March, 2009, 4:16 pm
After sending a memo two weeks ago to California prosecutors telling them to stop filing charges against medical marijuana dispensaries, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles sent another memo last Friday ordering them to resume work on the cases.
The Los Angeles Times reports that prosecutors received the confidential memo from U.S. attorney Thomas P. O’Brien lifting the ban on Friday. The U.S. Department of Justice told the Times that it did not order O’Brien or any other official to change the policies on medical marijuana prosecution.
It has been expected that the Obama administration would be less harsh on medical marijuana than the Bush administration.
In an interview with the Washington Times last month, White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said Obama expects to review the policies of the Drug Enforcement Association (DEA) and said Obama “believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws.”
However, in the weeks following Obama’s inauguration, several medical marijuana dispensaries in California were raided by the DEA.
According to Americans for Safe Access, more than 100 federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries occurred across the state of California over the last two years.
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