Obama and Holder Then and Now on Medical Marijuana

By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Thu Oct 06, 2011 at 05:46:51 PM EST
Tags: medical marijuana (all tags)

Share This: Digg!

In 2004, Barack Obama said the drug war was "an utter failure" and we need to rethink it.

In New Hampshire in 2007, he said he would not have the Justice Department prosecute medical marijuana.

Obama during the presidential campaign: He won't use Justice Department resources to circumvent state laws. He wants them to focus on violent crime and terrorism.

[More...]

Eric Holder saying what Obama said about ending raids during the campaign will be DOJ policy:

In March, 2009, the New York Times reports Holder said "the administration would effectively end the Bush administration’s frequent raids on distributors of medical marijuana." (my emphasis.)

Speaking with reporters, Mr. Holder provided few specifics but said the Justice Department’s enforcement policy would now be restricted to traffickers who falsely masqueraded as medical dispensaries and “use medical marijuana laws as a shield.”

...Mr. Holder said the new approach was consistent with statements made by President Obama in the campaign and was based on an assessment of how to allocate scarce enforcement resources. He said dispensaries operating in accord with California law would not be a priority for the administration. (my emphasis.)

What hypocrites.