cannabisnews.com: Thanks for Advice, But . . .





Thanks for Advice, But . . .
Posted by FoM on June 06, 2001 at 08:37:49 PT
Opinion
Source: Rocky Mountain News
The acting U.S. attorney has rightly refused to ally himself with an effort by the governor and attorney general to frighten potential participants in the state's medical marijuana registry into thinking that they might become targets of federal prosecution. "We in the U.S. Attorney's Office are truly grateful to Governor Owens and Attorney General Salazar for sharing their problem with us," Richard Spriggs said in a prepared statement issued late last week. "We, however, are not the solution to their problem." 
Spriggs' surprisingly blunt statement occurred one day after Bill Owens and Ken Salazar had urged the acting U.S. attorney, in a public letter of their own, "to prosecute to the fullest extent of the federal drug laws those who would sell, distribute or cultivate marijuana in Colorado." Now, that might seem like remarkably gratuitous advice -- not much different from a U.S. attorney urging the governor in all seriousness to keep the gates locked on the state's prisons -- except that it came one day before the state medical marijuana registry opened for business. As we read their statement, Owens and Salazar were signaling their desire to see federal agents go after Coloradans with registry cards -- so long as the registrants could be caught breaking federal law by growing marijuana plants. If that was not the intent of Owens' and Salazar's joint letter to Spriggs, then there doesn't seem much point in it. After all, the selling and distribution of marijuana remains as illegal under state law as it is under federal statute. If the state's two top elected officials had intended to urge a crackdown, say, on drug dealers, they would have directed their advice to local law enforcement officials. The only thing legalized under state law by the medical marijuana initiative was the possession and limited cultivation of marijuana by sick or debilitated people who possess registry cards -- and Spriggs' office truly is the only place left that might pursue them. We're happy to see Spriggs isn't scrambling to lead such a pointless and vindictive hunt. People who register under the state's new medical marijuana program and then use pot to alleviate pain or nausea may indeed be breaking federal law, but a majority of state voters have explicitly given them the green light to do so. That green light will amount to no more than moral support should the federal government ever choose to charge a registrant with a federal crime, but how often do most lawbreakers get to claim even that much in the way of public backing? We make these points not out of any affection for the medical marijuana program, which we opposed and which makes no more sense to us today than when it was proposed. Most registrants aren't going to grow their own pot in order to comply with the state program -- and perhaps couldn't if they tried -- and yet there is something absurd about a policy that throws sick and pain-racked patients onto the illegal drug market, there to deal with criminals. There is also something absurd, however, about the idea of targeting them for prosecution, or even indulging in political rhetoric that elevates prosecution to a possibility. That was what was wrong with the letter of the governor and attorney general, and why Spriggs was right to rebuff it. The issue: U.S. attorney rebuffs letter from two top state officials Our view: For good reason Newshawk: nl5xSource: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO)Published: June 5, 2001Copyright: 2001 Denver Publishing Co. Contact: letters denver-rmn.comWebsite: http://www.denver-rmn.comRelated Articles & Web Site:Coloradans For Medical Rights http://www.medicalmarijuana.com/Owens' and Salazar's Joint Statement on Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9927.shtmlPot Law Passes Muster, But Doctors Risk All http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9925.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on June 06, 2001 at 11:05:37 PT:
A couple of 'petards"
As in "hoist by their own ~ Just when I think that the anti reservoir of stupidity has been exhausted, they go and prove me wrong, again. Pardon me while I wipe the egg off of my face; I should know better by now that antis are by their very natures imbecilic.Two officials of State government petitioning the Federal government to act in a way that nullifies a democratically decided issue. Voted on by the electorate of their State.In other countries, they would not have bothered with the tar-and-feathers.The only thing that allows the pols of this country to get away with such things is the fact that the US has had only a very mild introduction to the communicative disease called fascism.(I say 'mild' despite the fact children like Alberto Sepulveda have been murdered by LEOs and said LEOs have not been brought to the 'justice' that they so loudly proclaim as being impartial.)Try pulling these stunts in nations that have only recently freed themselves from tyranny, and the perpetrators of such acts would buy themselves a bullet to the head and a shallow grave. Because people who've suffered the consequences of not dealing with such matters when it was relatively inexpensive to do so later found out that the problem grew and threatened entire populations.Pray America need not learn this terrible lesson of history. 
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on June 06, 2001 at 08:59:38 PT:
Political Fallout
"there is something absurd about a policy that throws sick and pain-racked patients onto the illegal drug market"This paper "gets it." When entities that oppose the law nevertheless criticize overzealous enforcement, and show the compassion to recognize clinical cannabis as a concept, the battle for the hearts and minds of the people has truly been lost. What the Feds are willing to do remains the question of the day. One prosecutor is not planning much. Others should take note.I have said this before: The Justice Department made a fatal tactical mistake in pursuing U.S. vs. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative et al. This is one item of proof. More dominoes will fall as a result. The Feds have hastened the demise of their own misguided and unconstitutional policies.
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