Victory for Common Sense, defeat for the DEA

by Becky Johnson
October 19, 2009

Santa Cruz, CA. -- They're cheering in Mudville today! President Barack Obama's campaign promise has been delivered with the statement this morning from Federal Attorney General, Eric Holder, that the FBI and the DEA will no longer interfere with patients, their care-givers, or dispensaries which are not breaking any State law in states in which marijuana for medical uses has been legalised. Below is the letter I received this morning from Rob Kampia, the Executive Director of the Marijuana Policy Project which has been following legislation regarding marijuana use. In Santa Cruz County, any bona fide medical marijuana patient can grow up to 100 square feet of canopy, and possess up to three pounds of dried, cured marijuana flowers-- the part of the plant that is considered medicinal. This is a sea tide change in policy for the Federal Government which will have far-reaching ramifications most of which are positive. Congratulations to President Obama for delivering on this campaign promise which will provide tremendous widespread relief for patients suffering from pain, tremors, glaucoma, cataracts, cancer, and seizures. This ruling now allows the City of Santa Cruz to go ahead and provide services under the Compassionate Use Act which they passed a few years ago.



OCT 19 2009 LETTER FROM MPP

Dear Becky Johnson: Ready for some great news? The Obama administration is directing federal prosecutors not to arrest medical marijuana patients and caregivers who are complying with state laws. On Monday, federal prosecutors, as well as top officials at the FBI and DEA, will reportedly be told that it isn’t a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana, if they are complying with state law. This is the most significant, positive policy development on the federal level for medical marijuana since 1978. Under the Bush administration, the feds had continued to raid, arrest, and otherwise terrorize medical marijuana and their caregivers in the 13 states that have passed medical marijuana laws. This new policy is a major change. MPP was instrumental in obtaining a promise from President Obama during the presidential campaign that, if elected, he would halt these arrests. MPP was the only reform organization to testify on Capitol Hill urging the issuance of the guidelines and, later, was the only group to work with leaders in Congress to get a House committee to urge the administration to adopt the written guidelines. Our lobbyists have also been in contact with top officials at the Justice Department about the guidelines. (In fact, you can watch a one-minute video clip of Obama responding to one of our campaign volunteers in New Hampshire on August 21, 2007, in the heat of the presidential primary campaign here, and a clip of MPP's lobbyist following his testimony on the Hill here.) We're thrilled to see this promise come to fruition, and I hope you’ll join me in celebrating this news -- some of the best we’ve had for medical marijuana patients in years. Thank you for helping to make this momentous change happen. And if you’d like to help keep pushing, please: 1. Use MPP's easy online action center to tell your members of Congress that you support this new policy. 2. Donate to MPP’s federal lobbying work here. Sincerely, Rob Kampia Executive Director Marijuana Policy Project Washington, D.C. P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $2.35 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2009. This means that your donation today will be doubled. P.P.S. You can opt out of receiving fundraising mentions in the e-mail alerts I send you in 2009 by visiting http://www.mpp.org/2009optoutpreference at your convenience.

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