According to MSNBC.com, medical marijuana dispensaries across the country are reporting that their requests for the drug are up 50 to 300 percent since Barack Obama was inaugurated.

Some of the increase could be because of what has been seen by many as looser regulations on marijuana by the Obama administration. Attorney General Eric Holder announced last month that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency would only raid medical marijuana facilities that were in violation of both state and federal law - a stark change from the enforcement policy under the Bush administration.

But according to MSNBC.com, another factor for the increase could be the state of the economy.

Douglas Hiatt, a marijuana advocate told the news provider he has been inundated with calls from people looking to get access to medicinal marijuana and says a lack of health insurance for many, combined with the down economy could be the reason.

With more people spending more money for prescription drugs more people “will turn to medicine that is good for a whole bunch of ailments, that you can grow yourself and not spend a tremendous amount of money on,” he told the website. “That’s very appealing to lots of people.”

Critics of the proposed ordinance in the county worry the new regulations will cause medical marijuana users to travel outside of the area in order to get access to the drugs with one resident telling a committee that the law will be “ostracizing patients” in San Mateo County.

But the bill’s supporters say they are only looking to make sure that businesses within the county limits are doing business legally. San Mateo County supervisor Carole Groom who sits on a board which oversees health issues in the county says the legislation would make people safer.

“I’m very much in favor of having marijuana available to people who need it for their health, and I think having an ordinance like this makes us make sure that it’s done in a safe practice,” she said, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Earlier this week the county approved an ordinance that will require people who grow and store marijuana to register and obtain a license by providing their name, address and telephone number.

On Wednesday Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided a San Francisco medical marijuana dispensary, leaving the storefront with marijuana plants and equipment used in the cultivation of the drug.

Last week Holder announced that raids would only be conducted if it was discovered that dispensaries were breaking federal and state laws and according to DEA agent Anthony Williams, that was the case in this week’s raid.

“Based on our investigation, we believe there are not only violations of federal law, but state law as well,” Williams said following the bust.

California assembly member Tom Ammiano, who has proposed a bill legalizing marijuana in the state says the most recent raid is part of a dispute between the DEA and the Obama administration.

“[The DEA is] obviously [trying] to flex their muscles, probably to have a showdown with the Obama administration,” Ammiano told the San Francisco Bay Guardian. “The dispensaries are going to be in the crosshairs of this struggle.”

During the Bush presidency, the Drug Enforcement Agency raided medical marijuana distributors even if they observed state laws legalizing the drug for medicinal purposes. Holder says going forward the justice department will now target those who “use medical marijuana laws as a shield” while performing other nefarious acts.

Pro-marijuana groups hailed the changes saying the Obama administration is taking a more evenhanded approach to the medical marijuana issue in the country.

“It signals a new direction and a more reasonable and sensible direction on medical marijuana policy,” he said.

Although medical marijuana has been legalized in 13 states it remains illegal under any circumstance under federal law. While it was expected that the Obama administration would have a more tolerant approach to the medical marijuana issue, just days after his inauguration, four dispensaries in California were raided by federal agents.

According to Americans for Safe Access, over the last two years of Bush administration rule more than 100 federal raids were conducted on medical marijuana dispensaries in the state of California.

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.

A new training manual from the DMV tells staff to treat prescriptions for marijuana just as they would other prescription drugs when considering the renewal of a California driver’s license.

The changes come after Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a marijuana advocacy group, sued the California DMV following its revocation of the license of a 53-year-old marijuana patient with a clean driving record.

Joe Elford, the attorney in the case, said the new policy is a victory for medical marijuana patients in the state.

“The new DMV policy is a significant departure from how the agency approached medical marijuana in the past,” he said. “Drivers will no longer have their licenses suspended or revoked simply because of their status as medical marijuana patients.”

The ASA has also recently filed a lawsuit against Solano County in California after the county refused to issue a medical marijuana ID card to a county resident.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Laguna Woods last year became the only city in Orange County to allow marijuana dispensaries, mainly because many of its residents suffer from ailments like arthritis, glaucoma and cancer.

The city says that following the vote, more than 100 applications were picked up for the dispensary, but none have been returned. This may be because the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has warned landlords that they may face penalties if they rent their properties to marijuana dispensaries, according to the Times.

Residents of Laguna Woods Village say the dispensaries should be allowed.

“I don’t want to turn any of these old folks into criminals, sneaking down to the high school to buy marijuana and getting busted by the police,” said Stu Venable, 80. “They need it if it’s prescribed by their doctor.”

Earlier this month three marijuana dispensaries in the Los Angeles area were raided by the DEA, essentially shutting them down.

On Tuesday the DEA raided four medical marijuana dispensaries in the Los Angeles area. President Obama has said he opposes such raids, but has yet to name a head for the DEA. Currently the agency is headed by Michele Leonhart who was appointed by former president Bush.

“It’s clear that the DEA is showing no respect for President Obama’s campaign promises,” Dan Bernath, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington told the Washington Times.

An employee of Beach Center Collective in Playa del Rey, California, one of the collectives raided on Tuesday said the agency took so much property they would not be able to reopen.

“They took everything,” the employee, who asked not to be named, told the Los Angeles Times. “You name it, they took it - right down to the television. The computer, patient files, medicine, cash in the register - that’s it, we’re done.”

Last month the DEA raided a dispensary in South Lake Tahoe, California.

Last week federal agents raided a California medical marijuana dispensary seizing five to 10 pounds of marijuana and a small amount of cash, but no arrests were made.

Although medical marijuana is legal in the state of California for patients with proper identification, the drug is still illegal under federal law.

Thursday’s raid on the Patient to Patient Collective in South Lake Tahoe, California is the first under the new Obama administration, but medical marijuana proponents hope this is not a sign of things to come over the next four years.

Caren Woodson, director for Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a medical marijuana advocacy group, said Obama has made “repeated promises” to end federal raids and hopes a new president means new policy.

“We are hopeful that these are the last remnants of the Bush regime and that President Obama will quickly develop a more compassionate policy toward our most vulnerable citizens,” she said.

According to ASA, more than 100 federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries occurred across the state of California over the last two years.

Clearlake police chief said during last night’s meeting that the use of marijuana is prohibited by federal law and the way the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 is written is “bad law.”

But Bill McPike, attorney for Liz Byrd, owner of Lakeside Herbal Solutions, said that local police follow state law, not federal law, and cited an appellate court ruling that said local police should not enforce federal law.

Clearview is just one of a number of towns in California that have shut down dispensaries or changed local laws to prohibit their business.

Last month, the city council of Seal Beach, California voted to ban medical marijuana facilities in its city limits, becoming the ninth city in Orange County to place moratoriums on dispensaries.

According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, the Compassionate Use Act allows patients who have a physician’s recommendation or approval to use, cultivate or possess marijuana for medical purposes without criminal penalties.