Pubdate: Thu, 05 Sep 2013
Source: Texarkana Gazette (TX)
Copyright: 2013 The Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.texarkanagazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/976
Author: Matt Volz, The Associated Press

MEDICAL MARIJUANA BUSINESSES LOOKING TO 'COLOR INSIDE THE LINES'

HELENA, Mont. (AP) - Medical marijuana businesses worried that 
federal agents will close them down now have a roadmap to avoid 
prosecution, courtesy of the Justice Department's decision to allow 
legal pot in Colorado and Washington state.

The agency said last week that even though the drug remains illegal 
under federal law, it won't intervene to block state pot laws or 
prosecute as long as states create strict and effective controls that 
follow eight conditions.

"The DOJ is saying you guys need to color inside the lines," said 
Teri Robnett, founder of the Cannabis Patients Action Network, a 
Westminster, Colo.-based medical marijuana advocacy group. "If you 
color inside the lines, we'll let you keep your crayons.

"If you don't, we can come in and take your crayons away," she said.

The DOJ's policy memo comes after voters in Colorado and Washington 
last fall passed first-in-the-nation laws to allow recreational pot 
use and follows similar agency statements in recent years that helped 
spur the creation of medical marijuana systems across the U.S.

In states like Montana and California, an explosion in the use of 
medical marijuana spawned a backlash, stricter laws and tougher 
federal enforcement.

U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner, whose office covers the Eastern 
District of California, said more than half of the cases his office 
prosecutes comply with the criteria set out by the policy memo. 
Wagner said the memo wasn't so much a message to the marijuana 
industry but one to ensure there is better collaboration between 
state and federal authorities.

In California, "some cities and counties are banning (dispensaries), 
while others are licensing them and encouraging them," Wagner said. 
"It's hard to see how the current system fits the description laid 
out in the memo."

With legal, recreational pot on the horizon in two states, the memo 
is raising questions about the future of medical marijuana not just 
in Washington and Colorado, but the 18 other states and Washington, 
D.C., that allow it.

While advocates say it's too early to gauge the impact of the new 
recreational pot push, there were signs it could hurt medical marijuana.

In Washington, the governor and many lawmakers were already looking 
to rein in the state's unregulated medical marijuana market because 
they worried its untaxed cannabis would undercut the highly taxed 
recreational pot.

There may be some attrition in the beginning, as bargain-hunting 
medical marijuana users or those wanting to avoid the government 
bureaucracy of state registries dabble in the recreational market, 
Robnett said. But most will stay because the medical strains are 
tailored for their illnesses, can be more potent and don't 
necessarily create a high while relieving their symptoms, she said.

The DOJ memo outlines eight areas of "marijuana-related conduct" that 
it won't tolerate, from distribution to kids to use of firearms and 
drugged driving. Marijuana advocates say they welcome them as 
guidelines for medical marijuana states to tailor their laws and a 
way for other states to enact new laws without fear of federal reprisal.

Advocates say states with even regulations that meet or exceed 
regulations in those areas should not be worried about increased 
federal scrutiny. "It should give growers and dispensers a level of 
comfort that the federal government is becoming clearer in what their 
guidance is to U.S. attorneys," said Roseanne Scotti, the New Jersey 
director of the Drug Policy Alliance.

In Oregon, state health officials are drawing up regulations for a 
new medical marijuana program for next year. U.S. Attorney Amanda 
Marshall has said the state will need to create strong teeth when it 
writes the regulations, and make sure it can enforce them.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom