US Attorney's Office
US Attorney for the Eastern District of California
PROFILE
Benjamin Wagner
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FROM Benjamin Wagner
Which Way, L.A.?
Has President Obama Declared War on 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. The crackdown 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.
To the Point
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?
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