October, 19 2009, 11:12am EDT
Advocates Hail New Federal Guidelines on Medical Marijuana a Victory for Patients
Efforts still needed to establish comprehensive national policy and expanded research
WASHINGTON
The U.S. Department of Justice issued new
guidelines on medical marijuana today to U.S. Attorneys in states that
have adopted medical use laws. Advocates are hailing the new guidelines
as a victory and an important step toward a comprehensive national
policy on medical marijuana. While the new guidelines have yet to be
put into practice, advocates hope they will allow states to implement
their medical marijuana laws without
interference by the federal government.
"This is a huge victory for medical marijuana patients," said Steph
Sherer, Executive Director of Americans for Safe Access, the nationwide
medical marijuana advocacy organization. "This indicates that President
Obama intends to keep his promise not to undermine state medical
marijuana laws and represents a significant departure from the policies
of the Bush Administration," continued Sherer. "We will continue to
work with
President Obama, the Justice Department, and the U.S. Congress to
establish a
comprehensive national policy, but it's good to know that in the
meantime states can implement medical marijuana laws without
interference from the federal government."
In June 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Gonzales v. Raich
that the government had the discretion to enforce federal marijuana
laws even in medical marijuana states. While the Court did not
invalidate the laws of California and 12 other states, all of them were
under threat of interference by the federal government. In California,
the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was used extensively by the
Bush Administration to raid medical marijuana providers. The federal
government's aggressive enforcement has also had the effect of inciting
rogue law enforcement to ignore state law in favor of the more
stringent federal law. During the Bush Administration, more than 200
federal raids occurred in California alone.
As promising as the new guidelines appear, certain questions still
remain. For instance, will U.S. Attorneys be instructed at some future
point to allow defendants
the use of medical evidence and state law compliance in federal
criminal cases? Currently, the federal government is prosecuting more
than two dozen medical marijuana cases in which defendants are
prevented from using medical evidence. In addition, the new
guidelines urge prosecutors to still pursue marijuana cases which
involve activity that is legal under some state medical marijuana laws.
For further information:
DOJ guidelines on medical marijuana issued today:
https://www.justice.gov/opa/documents/medical-marijuana.pdf
ASA's Federal Policy Recommendations:
https://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/article.php?id=5612
Americans for Safe Access is the nation's largest organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research.
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Despite 100% Pentagon Audit Failure Rate, House Passes $883.7 Billion NDAA
"Instead of fighting the rising cost of healthcare, gas, or groceries, this Congress prioritized rewarding the wealthy and well-connected military-industrial complex," said Defense Spending Reduction Caucus co-chairs.
Dec 11, 2024
Despite the Pentagon's repeated failures to pass audits and various alarming policies, 81 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives voted with 200 Republicans on Wednesday to advance a $883.7 billion annual defense package.
The Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025, unveiled by congressional negotiators this past Saturday, still needs approval from the Senate, which is expected to vote next week. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Wednesday that he plans to vote no and spoke out against the military-industrial complex.
The push to pass the NDAA comes as this congressional session winds down and after the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced last month that it had failed yet another audit—which several lawmakers highlighted after the Wednesday vote.
Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), co-chairs and co-founders of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, said in a joint statement, "Time and time again, Congress seems to be able to find the funds necessary to line the pockets of defense contractors while neglecting the problems everyday Americans face here at home."
"Instead of fighting the rising cost of healthcare, gas, or groceries, this Congress prioritized rewarding the wealthy and well-connected military-industrial complex with even more unaccountable funds," they continued. "After a seventh failed audit in a row, it's disappointing that our amendment to hold the Pentagon accountable by penalizing the DOD's budget by 0.5% for each failed audit was stripped out of the final bill. It's time Congress demanded accountability from the Pentagon."
"While we're glad many of the poison pill riders that were included in the House-passed version were ultimately removed from the final bill, the bill does include a ban on access to medically necessary healthcare for transgender children of service members, which will force service members to choose between serving their country and getting their children the care they need," the pair noted. "The final bill also failed to expand coverage for fertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), for service members regardless of whether their infertility is service-connected."
Several of the 124 House Democrats who voted against the NDAA cited those "culture war" policies, in addition to concerns about how the Pentagon spends massive amounts of money that could go toward improving lives across the country.
"Once again, Congress has passed a massive military authorization bill that prioritizes endless military spending over the critical needs of American families. This year's NDAA designates $900 billion for military spending," said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), noting the audit failures. "While I recognize the long-overdue 14.5% raise for our lowest-ranking enlisted personnel is important, this bill remains flawed. The bloated military budget continues to take away crucial funding from programs that could help millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet."
Taking aim at the GOP's push to deny gender-affirming care through TRICARE, the congresswoman said that "I cannot support a bill that continues unnecessary military spending while also attacking the rights and healthcare of transgender youth, and for that reason, I voted NO."
As Omar, a leading critic of the U.S.-backed Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, also pointed out: "The NDAA includes a provision that blocks the Pentagon from using data on casualties and deaths from the Gaza Ministry of Health or any sources relying on those statistics. This is an alarming erasure of the suffering of the Palestinian people, ignoring the human toll of ongoing violence."
Israel—which receives billions of dollars in annual armed aid from the United States—faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court last month issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The NDAA includes over $627 million in provisions for Israel.
Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), who voted against the NDAA, directed attention to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), set to be run by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
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Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who also opposed the NDAA, wrote in a Tuesday opinion piece for MSNBC that he looks forward to working with DOGE "to reduce waste and fraud at the Pentagon, while strongly opposing any cuts to programs likeSocial Security, Medicare, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau."
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The 193-member U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) subsequently voted 158-9, with 13 abstentions, for a resolution demanding "an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire, to be respected by all parties," and calling for the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" held by Hamas.
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In the 1980s, said Warren corporations began placing the latter group above all, adopting "the belief that their only legitimate and legal purpose was 'maximizing shareholder value.'"
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