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From the US Department of Justice:

October 19,2009

MEMORANDUM FOR SELECTED UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS

FROM: David W. Ogden, Deputy Attorney General

SUBJECT: Investigations and Prosecutions in States Authorizing the Medical Use of Marijuana

This memorandum provides clarification and guidance to federal prosecutors in States that have enacted laws authorizing the medical use of marijuana. These laws vary in their substantive provisions and in the extent of state regulatory oversight, both among the enacting States and among local jurisdictions within those States. Rather than developing different guidelines for every possible variant of state and local law, this memorandum provides uniform guidance to focus federal investigations and prosecutions in these States on core federal enforcement priorities.

The Department of Justice is committed to the enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act in all States. Congress has determined that marijuana is a dangerous drug, and the illegal distribution and sale of marijuana is a serious crime and provides a significant source of revenue to large-scale criminal enterprises, gangs, and cartels. One timely example underscores the importance of our efforts to prosecute significant marijuana traffickers: marijuana distribution in the United States remains the single largest source of revenue for the Mexican cartels.

The Department is also committed to making efficient and rational use of its limited investigative and prosecutorial resources. In general, United States Attorneys are vested with “plenary authority with regard to federal criminal matters” within their districts. USAM 9-2.001. In exercising this authority, United States Attorneys are “invested by statute and delegation from the Attorney General with the broadest discretion in the exercise of such authority.” Id. This authority should, of course, be exercised consistent with Department priorities and guidance.

The prosecution of significant traffickers of illegal drugs, including marijuana, and the disruption of illegal drug manufacturing and trafficking networks continues to be a core priority in the Department’s efforts against narcotics and dangerous drugs, and the Department’s investigative and prosecutorial resources should be directed towards these objectives. 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. For example, prosecution of individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses who use marijuana as part of a recommended treatment regimen consistent with applicable state law, or those caregivers in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state law who provide such individuals with marijuana, is unlikely to be an efficient use of limited federal resources. On the other hand, prosecution of commercial enterprises that unlawfully market and sell marijuana for profit continues to be an enforcement priority of the Department. To be sure, claims of compliance with state or local law may mask operations inconsistent with the terms, conditions, or purposes of those laws, and federal law enforcement should not be deterred by such assertions when otherwise pursuing the Department’s core enforcement priorities.

Typically, when any of the following characteristics is present, the conduct will not be in clear and unambiguous compliance with applicable state law and may indicate illegal drug trafficking activity of potential federal interest:

• unlawful possession or unlawful use of firearms;
  
• violence;
  
• sales to minors;
  
• financial and marketing activities inconsistent with the terms, conditions, or purposes of state law, including evidence of money laundering activity and/or financial gains or excessive amounts of cash inconsistent with purported compliance with state or local law;
  
• amounts of marijuana inconsistent with purported compliance with state or local law;
  
• illegal possession or sale of other controlled substances; or
  
• ties to other criminal enterprises.

Of course, no State can authorize violations of federal law, and the list of factors above is not intended to describe exhaustively when a federal prosecution may be warranted. Accordingly, in prosecutions under the Controlled Substances Act, federal prosecutors are not expected to charge, prove, or otherwise establish any state law violations. Indeed, this memorandum does not alter in any way the Department’s authority to enforce federal law, including laws prohibiting the manufacture, production, distribution, possession, or use of marijuana on federal property. This guidance regarding resource allocation does not “legalize” marijuana or provide a legal defense to a violation of federal law, nor is it intended to create any privileges, benefits, or rights, substantive or procedural, enforceable by any individual, party or witness in any administrative, civil, or criminal matter. Nor does clear and unambiguous compliance with state law or the absence of one or all of the above factors create a legal defense to a violation of the Controlled Substances Act. Rather, this memorandum is intended solely as a guide to the exercise of investigative and prosecutorial discretion.

Finally, nothing herein precludes investigation or prosecution where there is a reasonable basis to believe that compliance with state law is being invoked as a pretext for the production or distribution of marijuana for purposes not authorized by state law. Nor does this guidance preclude investigation or prosecution, even when there is clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state law, in particular circumstances where investigation or prosecution otherwise serves important federal interests.

Your offices should continue to review marijuana cases for prosecution on a case-by-case basis, consistent with the guidance on resource allocation and federal priorities set forth herein, the consideration of requests for federal assistance from state and local law enforcement authorities, and the Principles of Federal Prosecution.

cc: All United States Attorneys

Lanny A. Breuer
Assistant Attorney General Criminal Division

B. Todd Jones
United States Attorney
District of Minnesota
Chair, Attorney General’s Advisory Committee

Michele M. Leonhart
Acting Administrator
Drug Enforcement Administration

H. Marshall Jarrett
Director
Executive Office for United States Attorneys

Kevin L. Perkins
Assistant Director
Criminal Investigative Division
Federal Bureau of Investigation

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From MPP:

The Obama administration is directing federal prosecutors not to arrest medical
marijuana patients and caregivers who are complying with state laws.

On Monday, federal prosecutors, as well as top officials at the FBI and DEA,
will reportedly be told that it isn’t a good use of their time to arrest people
who use or provide medical marijuana, if they are complying with state law.


This is the most significant, positive policy development on the federal level
for medical marijuana since 1978.


Under the Bush administration, the feds had continued to raid, arrest, and
otherwise terrorize medical marijuana and their caregivers in the 13 states
that have passed medical marijuana laws. This new policy is a major change.

MPP was instrumental in obtaining a promise from President Obama during the
presidential campaign that, if elected, he would halt these arrests. MPP was
the only reform organization to testify on Capitol Hill urging the issuance of the
guidelines and, later, was the only group to work with leaders in Congress to
get a House committee to urge the administration to adopt the written guidelines.
Our lobbyists have also been in contact with top officials at the Justice
Department about the guidelines.

(In fact, you can watch a one-minute video clip of Obama responding to one of
our campaign volunteers in New Hampshire on August 21, 2007, in the heat of the
presidential primary campaign here, and a clip of MPP's lobbyist following his
testimony on the Hill here.)

We're thrilled to see this promise come to fruition, and I hope you’ll join me
in celebrating this news -- some of the best we’ve had for medical marijuana
patients in years.


Thank you for helping to make this momentous change happen. And if you’d like
to help keep pushing, please use MPP's easy online action center to tell your
members of Congress that you support this new policy.

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From Bloomberg

Medical Marijuana Policy Eased by Justice Department
By Justin Blum

Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration is advising federal prosecutors
not to seek criminal charges against those who use medical marijuana in
accordance with state laws, reversing a Bush administration approach.

The guidelines, released today by the U.S. Justice Department, put in writing
an approach that already was being used by the Obama administration.

Fourteen states, including California, have laws allowing some marijuana use
for medical purposes, according to a Justice Department statement. The Bush
administration had said it would pursue charges in medical marijuana cases,
even in those states.

“It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with
serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on
medical marijuana,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in the statement. “But we
will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with
state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal.”

The guidelines don’t legalize marijuana. The Justice Department will focus its
resources on “serious drug traffickers while taking into account state and
local laws,” Holder said.

Prosecution of people with cancer or other serious illnesses who use marijuana
consistent with state laws, or their caregivers, is “unlikely to be an
efficient use of limited federal resources,” according to the guidelines.

Prosecution of commercial operations that unlawfully sell marijuana for profit
will continue to be an enforcement priority, according to the guidelines.

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From Washington Post:

Obama administration issues new policy on medical marijuana
By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 19, 2009; 11:02 AM

The Obama administration delivered new guidance on medical marijuana to federal
prosecutors Monday, signaling a broad policy shift that will mean fewer
crackdowns against dispensaries and the people who use them.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. instructed government lawyers that in 14
states where medical marijuana use is legal, federal prosecutors should focus
only on cases involving higher level drug traffickers or people who use the
state laws as a cover story.

"It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with
serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on
medical marijuana, but we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind
claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly
illegal," Holder said. "This balanced policy formalizes a sensible approach
that the Department has been following since January: effectively focus our
resources on serious drug traffickers while taking into account state and local
laws."

The Justice Department action is the latest in a series of developments in
President Obama's approach to drug policy. It follows by only a few days the
introduction of a Senate bill that would eliminate the disparity between
sentences for cocaine possession in powder versus rock form, a change long
sought by drug reform advocates, judges and civil rights activists.

During last year's election campaign, Obama and his running mate, Joseph R.
Biden Jr., backed an overhaul of the nation's treatment of drug offenders,
supporting more education, treatment and drug courts for people caught in the
throes of addiction. They handpicked former Seattle police chief R. Gil
Kerlikowske, who shares many of those views, as their drug czar.

In Monday's memo, first reported by the Associated Press, authorities make
clear that in states with medical marijuana laws, federal prosecutors should
train their aim on bigger cases involving violence, money laundering, sales to
juveniles and the unlawful use of firearms.

Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden, who sent the policy directive to U.S.
attorneys Monday morning, cautioned that marijuana distribution in the United
States remains the highest profit source for powerful Mexican drug cartels
whose violence increasingly spills over the Southwest border.

In the document, posted on the department Web site Ogden makes clear that the
department is not "legalizing" marijuana or creating a new legal defense for
people who may have violated the Controlled Substances Act. Instead, the memo
is intended to guide prosecutors on where to train their scarce investigative
resources.

Tom Angell, a spokesman for the advocacy group Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition, said in an e-mail message that the shift appears to be a "major
step" in the right direction.

The issue has flared in several states, particularly California, where
drug-control agents raided dispensaries earlier this year.

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Typically, when any of the following characteristics is present, the conduct will not be in clear and unambiguous compliance with applicable state law and may indicate illegal drug trafficking activity of potential federal interest:

    * unlawful possession or unlawful use of firearms;
    * violence;
    * sales to minors;
    * financial and marketing activities inconsistent with the terms, conditions, or purposes of state law, including evidence of money laundering activity and/or financial gains or excessive amounts of cash inconsistent with purported compliance with state or local law;
    * amounts of marijuana inconsistent with purported compliance with state or local law;
    * illegal possession or sale of other controlled substances; or
    * ties to other criminal enterprises.

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KeefTokesAlot said:
Man all I was saying is this is a step twords something that could turn into something good, I never said it was good or any of that chicken shit bullshit, I'm just saying this COULD be good.

And Obama Should get his black ass up, and decriminalize!

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quick reply error, that was to the subject of the bill not directly to you.