Has President Obama Declared War on Medical Marijuana?
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The federal crackdown on medical marijuana has growers, distributors and patients accusing President Obama of breaking a campaign promise. But some law enforcement officers and two Governors think it's time to change the drug's federal classification. Also, challenges for Greece after the debt deal, and the flap over internal documents from the Heartland Institute. Were they obtained by unethical means? What are the consequences for the science of climate change?
Banner image: Medical marijuana advocates demonstrate outside the site where President Barack Obama was holding a fundraiser on February 16, 2012 in San Francisco, California. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Making News
Challenges for Greece after Debt Deal ()
After months of uncertainty and marathon talks last night in Brussels, the European Union’s finance ministers have approved a €130 bailout for Greece, the second in just two years. Alkman Granitsas, who writes for the Dow Jones Newswires and Wall Street Journal, joins us from the parliament building in Athens.
Guests:
- Alkman Granitsas: Dow Jones Newswires
Main Topic
The President and Medical Marijuana ()
Federal law bans all marijuana but, in 16 states and Washington, DC, it's legal as medicine. As a candidate, Barack Obama said he would not "circumvent state law," and his administration discontinued the high-profile raids of the Bush years. But now those raids have resumed, and local officials implementing state laws are being threatened with federal prosecution. Has the President broken a campaign promise? Is medical marijuana a front for organized crime? Is it so widely used that the federal ban should go the way of alcohol prohibition?
Guests:
- Tim Dickinson: Rolling Stone magazine , @7im
- Benjamin Wagner: US Attorney's Office
- Michael Montgomery: KQED and California Watch, @MichaelMontCW
- Norm Stamper: Law Enforcement against Prohibition, @CopsSayLegalize
- Brian Vicente: Sensible Colorado, @VicenteConsult
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Reporter's Notebook
Gleick Admits to Acquiring Heartland Institute Docs under False Name ()
Yesterday on To the Point, we heard about internal documents revealing that a nonprofit group was pushing a K-12 curriculum that cast doubt on the science of climate change. Heartland Institute claimed the material was stolen and threatened legal action. In today's Huffington Post, Peter Gleick, president and co-founder of the Pacific Institute in Oakland, California, admits he used someone else's name to get the documents and calls it "a serious lapse of my own and professional judgment and ethics." Darren Samuelsohn is following the story for Politico.
Guests:
- Darren Samuelsohn: Politico.com, @dsamuelsohn
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