Should federal authorities be able to close medical marijuana dispensaries in California? >
States Have Right to Govern Public Health Laws
Shutting down dispensaries sends patients into the illicit market
October 26, 2011
About Kris Hermes:
Kris Hermes is the media spokesperson with Americans for Safe Access, the country's largest member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research.
The U.S. Supreme Court has granted federal authorities the prosecutorial discretion to enforce federal marijuana laws even in medical marijuana states. However, in granting that authority, the court did not encourage such enforcement and conveyed that it may even be imprudent.
More importantly, it is not the federal government's purview to enforce local and state medical marijuana laws. Local and state officials must have the right to develop, implement, and enforce their own public health laws concerning medical marijuana. The obstruction of this right amounts to a constitutional violation by the Obama administration.
[Read about a recent Gallup poll about legalizing marijuana.]
The federal government has thwarted the adoption and implementation of local and state medical marijuana laws. The Justice Department has carried out more than 100 aggressive SWAT-style raids and sent threatening letters to public officials in at least 10 medical marijuana states. In addition, other federal agencies including the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have attempted to undermine state medical marijuana laws and have enabled discrimination against patients.
Every time the federal government shuts down a dispensary, hundreds of patients are denied access to their medication. One of the most adverse effects of this antagonistic federal policy is that it drives thousands of patients into the illicit market, thereby placing them in harm's way and complicating the efforts of law enforcement.
President Obama should, at the very least, keep his pledge to not use Justice Department resources to circumvent state medical marijuana laws. But, a more compassionate and sensible approach would be to recognize the science behind medical marijuana and adopt an appropriate federal public health policy.
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- Other Arguments
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#11731131
No — California, Colorado laws offer a safe way for the sick to receive needed medicine
BRIAN VICENTE, Executive Director of Sensible Colorado
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#31641117
No — State has right to experiment; federal government has more important things to do
MORGAN FOX, Communications Manager at the Marijuana Policy Project
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#41641128
No — Feds should back off, leave state laws to state governments
PAUL ARMENTANO, Deputy Director of NORML
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#52241679
Yes — The FDA, not popular opinion, tests and approves medicines
KEVIN SABET, Former Senior Adviser for Policy to White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director
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#61681699
Yes — System makes criminals money, makes highways unsafe, and doesn't make the sick any better
PETER BENSINGER, Former Administrator of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration
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#71681712
Yes — Marijuana dispensaries have increased incidents of drug use and crime
JOHN REDMAN, Executive Director of Californians for Drug Free Youth
