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DOJ to end raids on medical marijuana facilities not violating state law: Holder

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) will no longer prosecute owners of medical marijuana facilities that do not violate state law, Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday. Although the use of medical marijuana violates federal law, thirteen states have legalized its use. Holder warned, however, that the federal government would continue to prosecute dispensers that violate state law, including dispensers that are fronts for drug dealers. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) opposed Holder's decision, arguing that marijuana leads to harder drugs. Holder did not comment on whether the DOJ would continue to prosecute medical marijuana cases already underway. Also Wednesday, a bill legalizing medical marijuana in New Hampshire survived a committee vote in the state House of Representatives. The house will vote on the bill next week. Under the Bush administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) routinely raided medical marijuana distributors because they violate federal law. The DEA raided medical marijuana facilities as recently as February to the disappointment of President Barack Obama, who, during his campaign, pledged to end raids. Michigan became the most recent state to legalize the use of medical marijuana by passing a proposition last November. The US Supreme Court's 2005 decision in Gonzales v. Raich upheld Congress's power to criminalize the growth and personal use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on March 19, 2009 (boomark / email).