Health

Obama has hinted at support for medical marijuana

by mabone | February 19, 2009 at 01:33 am

604 views | 10 Recommendations | 7 comments

A major stumbling block for advocates of medical marijuana has been the federal government's refusal to countenance state laws that legalize it.

Until now. Maybe.

President Obama is on record for saying during the campaign that he would change federal drug policy in states that allow the use of medical marijuana.

"I think the basic concept of using medical marijuana for the same purposes and with the same controls as other drugs prescribed by doctors, I think that's entirely appropriate," Obama told the Mail Tribune of Medford, Ore., in March.

A year earlier at a campaign stop in New Hampshire, Obama said: "I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana users."

In his memoir, "Dreams from My Father," Obama described time spent as a young man struggling with questions about his race and identity, and turning to drugs including marijuana and cocaine to "push questions of who I was out of my mind."

Last week, an Obama spokesman signaled a change could be coming when a new drug czar and head of the Drug Enforcement Administration are appointed.

"The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior leadership to fill out the ranks of the federal government, he expects them to review their policies with that in mind," White House spokesman Nick Shapiro told the Associated Press,

If Minnesota approves medical marijuana, it would become the 14th state to do so. For a rundown on what the other 13 states have done, go to www.ProCon.org.

From the Star Tribune archives, here's a story about the medical properties of marijuana.

BOB VON STERNBERG

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Roy C

at 06:24 on February 19th, 2009

I predict that when inflation stays up and unemployment as well, that Obama will not come through on this.

I hope I am wrong.

We may abandon the war against marijuana because we are too broke to conduct it, however.

smkn420love

at 15:52 on February 19th, 2009

Marihuana has been around for hundreds of thousands of years, and has been enjoyed and used by humans since its discovery in ancient times. America is finally realizing a few things, one-they have the power to change their own future, why not use it, and two-since we are so accepting of change we should be able to make our own descisions such as using any substance that does not present a direct threat to our saftey or health. Alcohol seems to be an exception to the our governments' substance policey, being that you can overdose on it, it highly affects your personality with regular use, it is detramental to your health in even moderate quantities, and is highly chemically addictive, (none of which can be said about marijuana).Yet the government STILL seeks to put out the ever growing flame of the pot smokers torch. I feel there is no reason marijuana should even be considered illegal, especially due to the fact that the government has legalized other substances of much greater threat.

Enjoyed the photos and if you are interested in seeing more pics check out my photostream at flickr.com/photos/ganjagraphs_inc

Sincerely,

Smkn420love

fstop41

at 08:55 on February 21st, 2009

fstop41 has contributed a photo to this story.

fstop41

at 09:10 on February 21st, 2009

I think that this whole web site is a great idea. From first had experience working in a medical dispensary and seeing the potiential profit, I think that the legalization of marijuana is just what are country needs. If it is legalized then it will taxable, and the amount of profit that is at stake it huge. This could be a stepping stone for out countries road to recovery from its "recession". It would also open up thousands of jobs.

Also from first hand experience I have seen / been through a medical despensary D.E.A. raid. After having this happen to the despensary that I worked in, I see how much money the Govt. puts out on these things. There were close to 25 d.e.a. agents that came into the depensary that morning, when there were only 3 of us there, lol ( just a little bit of overkill dont ya think?) you can read more about it on weedtracker.com under the collective section, longbeach, LBH