The Justice Department’s announcement that federal prosecutors are to back off medical-marijuana users has spurred a high level of debate between advocates and opponents. One primary topic of this debate is how the change in policy will effect Mexican drug cartels that gain much of their revenue from the sale of marijuana.
In a memo released to federal prosecutors, Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden wrote that the Department of Justice is still committed to the enforcement of the illegal sale and distribution of marijuana. The memo mentioned that illegal drug trafficking “provides a significant source of revenue to large-scale criminal enterprises, gangs, and cartels.” In addition, the memo stated that the prosecution of illegal drug activity was a “core priority” of the department, but that medical marijuana should be treated differently than illegal marijuana use. Ogden wrote, “As a general matter, pursuit of these priorities should not focus federal resources in your States on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.”
Representative Lamar Smith of Texas is one vocal critic of the new medical-marijuana policy. On his website, Smith is quoted as saying:
“For the past ten months, the Obama administration has promised robust drug enforcement efforts to help address cartel-operated marijuana fields in our national parks and drug-related violence along the U.S.-Mexico border. But we cannot hope to eradicate the drug trade if we do not first address the cash cow for most drug trafficking organizations—marijuana. Illegal marijuana sales in the U.S. help fund the illegal drug trade.”
Smith’s logic implies that the easing of prosecutions on medical-marijuana could benefit cartels and other organizations in the illegal drug trade. However, an article in the Los Angeles Times stated that one priority of the department’s new marijuana policy is “countering the violent Mexican drug cartels, which use vast profits from their U.S. marijuana sales to support other criminal activities.” The Justice Department's plan is opposite to Smith’s suggestion that the policy will help cartels, and the department is betting that the change in direction will allow federal officials to focus more of their energy on illegal drug traffickers, instead of those who are using marijuana legally.
NPR related material:
October 19, 2009 | NPR· Federal agents won\'t pursue pot-smoking patients or their sanctioned suppliers in states that allow medical marijuana, under new legal guidelines issued Monday by the Obama administration.
October 19, 2009 | NPR· U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is discouraging federal prosecutors from going after people who comply with state laws on medical marijuana. It\'s a significant departure from the Bush administration.
October 18, 2009 | NPR· Voters in the state elected to legalize medical marijuana almost a decade ago. But this year, there has been a boom in the number of dispensaries. Now, the Denver alternative-weekly newspaper, Westword, is seeking a freelance pot critic. Host Liane Hansen speaks to Westword editor Patricia Calhoun about the alternative weekly\'s search for a medical marijuana critic.
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