From: JimmyG jgillam@...
Sent: Sunday, February 8, 2009 7:27:10 AM
Subject: CMAP: US: Pot policy might get toke of change

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/World/2009/02/08/8307861-sun.html

Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap
Pubdate: Sunday, February 8, 2009
Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB)
Contact: callet@...
Website: http://www.calgarysun.com/
Author: Devlin Barrett, Associated Press

Pot policy might get toke of change

By DEVLIN BARRETT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- The White House won't say it explicitly. Neither will the Drug
Enforcement
Administration. Yet there is a whiff in the air that U.S. policy is about to
change when
it comes to medical marijuana.

The message is clear, said UCLA professor Mark Kleiman, a former Justice
Department
official and an expert on crime and drug policy.

"It is no longer federal policy to beat up on hippies," said Kleiman.

Tell that to the DEA. In California this past week, agents raided four
dispensaries in
Los Angeles and seized 225 kg of pot.

California law permits the sale of marijuana for medical purposes, though it is
still
against U.S. federal law.

Thirteen states have laws permitting medicinal use of marijuana. California is
unique
among them for the presence of dispensaries, businesses that sell marijuana and
even
advertise their services.

"Anyone possessing, distributing or cultivating marijuana for any reason is in
violation
of federal law," Sarah Pullen, a DEA spokeswoman in Los Angeles, said Thursday.

That may be the law, but it contradicts the medical marijuana position of the
new
president.

"The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent
state
laws ... he expects them to review their policies with that in mind," said White
House
spokesman Nick Shapiro.

So on Friday, DEA officials in Washington declined to comment at all on the
subject.

As a candidate, Obama repeatedly promised a change in federal drug policy in
situations
where state laws allow medical use.