Pubdate: Thu, 01 Aug 2013
Source: Tucson Weekly (AZ)
Copyright: 2013 Tucson Weekly
Contact:  http://www.tucsonweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/462
Author: J. M. Smith

HOLDING HOLDER ACCOUNTABLE

Seriously, Still With The Raids?

In a now-familiar scenario in the Great State up in The Northwest
Corner of The Nation, federal agents last week swooped into a bunch of
medical cannabis outlets and robbed the places blind. The agents
pulled into the parking lots, leapt from their vehicles with guns
drawn, and made sure no patients would be helped by these places in
the foreseeable future. They confiscated a bunch of cannabis, a few
cellphones and a little bit of pride and enthusiasm.

They apparently arrested no one.

That state up there in the corner, for the map-challenged among you,
is Washington. Yes, Washington-where voters proudly and boldly made
recreational cannabis legal under state law last November. But the
federal government, the Supreme Leader of which has stated he would
not interfere with folks operating within state law, isn't hearing
that.

The collectives are allowed under state law, and no state or local
police or other agencies were involved in the raids across Washington.
In the wake of the raids, a handful of other collectives closed,
according to the Bellingham Herald 
(bellinghamherald.com/2013/07/24/3109856/bayside-collective-other-puget.html).
It seems the federal message is getting through-dontcha be sellin'
cannabis, or we'll come calling.

Interestingly, the raids came just weeks after the Washington State
Liquor Control Board issued draft rules for the recreational cannabis
system. The tightly controlled system will be similar to the state's
liquor system, which until last year was state-run. The now privately
owned liquor stores in Washington are highly regulated on every front,
just the way the cannabis stores will be.

Sometimes I think these raids happen because federal investigators are
lazy. This is a big ol' nation we have here. There are 31 states where
cannabis is illegal. Period. States where every single cannabis
transaction, however harmless and innocent it may be, is against the
law. Medical cannabis is an easy target for the Holder Brigade.
Dispensaries operate in the open, not even trying to hide, because
they aren't doing anything wrong. It's a lot easier to walk into an
open store and harass the owners than it is to worm your way into a
pot dealer's living room.

So the slugs take the path of least resistance, picking the
low-hanging fruit and pestering the little guys while major drug
cartels operate in every state in the nation. They know they can look
good with almost no risk, because the medical cannabis crowd isn't
going to shoot at them. Drug cartels might.

And the Washington raids came just a day after New Hampshire became
the 19th medical cannabis state when Gov. Maggie Hassan signed her
state's new law. It's a tough cannabis law, however, not allowing
patients to grow and requiring a recommendation from a doctor with at
least a 90-day relationship with the patient. Nonetheless, it's so
overwhelmingly clear the cannabis tide is against the feds that I'm
getting tired of saying it.

The states are piling up against you, Attorney General Eric Holder,
and the raids on cannabis shops are starting to make you look like a
bully.

The nation's top dog lawyer, however, seems to be sticking to his
president's word, regardless of the hue and cry. Mr. Obama has said he
doesn't consider it wise to waste resources prosecuting medical
cannabis purveyors working within state law. Well, they aren't wasting
much at all. Very few arrests have been made at these federal raids,
so no money is being wasted on prosecutions. They're just wasting
resources on pure harassment and theft. Shame on you, Mr. Holder.

Fucker.
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MAP posted-by: Matt