Pres. Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder further clarified the administration's position regarding marijuana in the 13 states where medical use is legal.

"The policy is to go after those people who violate both federal and state law," he said in a press conference on Mar. 18. "Given the limited resources that we have, our focus will be on people, organizations that are growing, cultivating substantial amounts of marijuana and doing so in a way that's inconsistent with federal and state law."

At issue is the DEA's constant raiding of medipot dispensaries and arrests of patients in California during the Bush regime. Five shops were shut down shortly after Obama took office, but there has not been another federal raid since Feb. 3.

The ACLU's Graham Boyd believes Holder's remarks “seem to finally end the policy war over medical marijuana.”

While the ASA's Kris Hermes says, "It signals a new direction and a more reasonable and sensible direction on medical marijuana policy," he wonders how the Feds will deal with the many outstanding legal cases still in court, especially the high-profile Charles Lynch case. Lynch was recently profiled in TV news reports by Al Roker and John Stossel.

"There remains a big question as to what the federal government's position is on those cases," Hermes adds.

On Feb. 26, Holder stated: "What the President said during the campaign, you'll be surprised to know, will be consistent with what we'll be doing here in law enforcement. He was my boss during the campaign. He is formerly and technically and by law my boss now. And so what he said during the campaign is now American policy."


Also see:

More Marijuana News