If you chief for medical purposes and live in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, the great state of Rhode Island, Vermont or Washington—states where such a thing is allowed for medical purposes—rest assured that President Obama won't have the feds kicking your door down anytime soon. According to the Associated Press, new FBI guidelines released Monday
Federal drug agents won't pursue pot-smoking patients or their sanctioned suppliers in states that allow medical marijuana…prosecutors will be told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state law.
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The new policy is a significant departure from the Bush administration, which insisted it would continue to enforce federal anti-pot laws regardless of state codes.
Make no mistake, though. If you are outside one of the fourteen states where the use of medical marijuana is legal, you will get bodied
The guidelines to be issued by the department do, however, make it clear that agents will go after people whose marijuana distribution goes beyond what is permitted under state law or use medical marijuana as a cover for other crimes, the officials said.
President Obama has stated in the past that he is not supportive of decriminalizing marijuana. Indeed, the discussion of whether or not marijuana should be a legal substance is complex (though the tax boon alone should be reason enough to strongly consider it).
More interesting in this situation is the matter of states' rights. Fourteen states have decided, independent of federal support, that the use and distribution of medical marijuana is in the interest of the citizens in their respective states. Rather than expend federal resources on something they disagree with, the Obama administration has elected to live and let live.
What's your take? How do you suspect those who champion states' rights will view this move by the president?
—JONATHAN PITTS-WILEY