George Bush, Friend To...Potheads?
Well, he's much more of a friend than Barack Obama has been during his term in office. Debra J. Saunders writes at SFgate:
Why is the federal government under President Obama arguably tougher on medical marijuana operations than it was under George W. Bush? That's the question that antidrug-war groups have been asking themselves for months.In 2008, antiprohibitionists thought an Obama administration would not tread on medical-marijuana dispensaries in states where they are legal. Obama 2008 campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt told me Obama "believes that states and local governments are best positioned to strike the balance between making sure that these policies are not abused for recreational drug use and making sure that doctors and their patients can safely access pain relief."
Now that Obama's in office, however, his Department of Justice is not allowing the 16 states that have legalized medical marijuana to self-regulate. Exactly the opposite: Last fall, U.S. attorneys in California warned landlords that they must evict medical-marijuana clubs or risk having their assets seized. In October, the Internal Revenue Service informed dispensaries that they cannot declare standard tax deductions because they are criminal enterprises.
"Drug kingpins and cartels don't file taxes. We do," Steve DeAngelo, director of medical-marijuana giant Harborside Health Center, told MSNBC. "But no business, including ours, can survive if it is taxed on its gross revenue. The IRS is trying to tax us out of existence."
"Now that Obama's in office, however,..."
Duhhh.. anybody see a pattern?
Radwaste at April 9, 2012 2:07 AM
After he was elected and assumed office, he directed the Justice Department to make marijuana law enforcement its lowest priority. What happened to that?
Steve Daniels at April 9, 2012 8:52 AM
Legalized medicinal pot is competition for criminals. Which is to say, MJM laws are racist and steal jobs from mexican smugglers.
Storm Saxon's Gall Bladder at April 9, 2012 10:57 AM
Simple, the gov at all evels makes more money (civil/criminal asset forfeiture) and gains more power with pot being illegal. I'm sure someone in someway is getting kickbacks from the cartels as well.
Sio at April 9, 2012 2:53 PM
What Sio says. I might add that nowadays, the particular context is almost beside the point. The larger issue is that the federal government is so ginormous, so over-riding, so omnipresent, and so intrusive that whatever the activity, it just can't resist throwing its weight around and controlling everything and everyone it can.
This has even become true on issues like this one, where the party in charge of the administration could usually be relied upon to exercise more leniency toward those participating in this activity. But it just doesn't matter any more -- there is literally nothing so personal, intimate, or harmless that the feds won't still come after, sometimes just for kicks, and just because they can. The fedgov is so uncaring and unfeeling that it doesn't give a happy damn who suffers, who is bankrupted, who is thrown out of work, or anything else, as long as it gets to accomplish its only real objective, total control in all its manifestations.
cpabroker at April 9, 2012 5:05 PM
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