Obama Administration and Dispensaries

[snapperkeeper]

The DEA is a lousy substitute for the IRS.

[PurpleZebra]

Originally Posted by snapperkeeper

The DEA is a lousy substitute for the IRS.

Yeah, you are correct in that, too bad you are to ignorant to realize that the DEA wasn't trying to be a substitute for the IRS here, either understand what you are talking about or don't post anything. Either way, your ignorance isn't helping your position. When drugs are involved, regardless of the crime, guess whose job it is to enforce laws at that level? If you guessed the DRUG enforcement agency then, you're right. If you guessed the IRS then you're a dumbass.

Anyway, going back to my primary argument:

Originally Posted by snapperkeeper

Obama has gone back on EVERY promise he made on the campaign trail including the raids.

Simply, this is a flat out lie. It's not an interpretation, its simple fact - Obama has stayed true to his word.

[snapperkeeper]

PurpleZebra, you are losing height with every post. You have argued so far:

a) A DEA bust isn't really a DEA bust when someone else calls them in;
b) when the person busted hasn't paid taxes;
c) when Obama said it wasn't really a DEA bust;
d) as long as you get your meds.

Seems to me you are exhibiting some kind of strange Stockholm Syndrome with respect to the government: "Oh, good Lord and Master thank you for being so Just and Good and Generous for creating these criminals in the first damn place and then punishing them in your Infinite Wisdom and finally for allowing me my god-given right to this worthless weed which makes me feel better and which you hav no f*cking business prohibiting in the first place."

Do you not know how the government caught Al Capone? (Hint: it didn't involve the DEA, though it DID involve an illegal drug--alcohol.)


Finally, just to clear your sinuses on what was said and promised (the "facts"), here you go:

Holder's Statement

US Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Source: United States Department of Justice (accessed Mar. 2, 2009)

Eric H. Holder, Jr., JD, US Attorney General, made a statement on Feb. 25, 2009 about President Barack Obama's policy on DEA raids of medical marijuana dispensaries in response to a question from a reporter:

Reporter: "Right after the inauguration there were some raids in California on medical marijuana dispenseries. Was that a deliberate decision by the Justice Department? Is that a prediction of policy going forward--do you expect those sorts of raids to continue?"

Holder: "No. What the President said during the campaign [see statement below], you'll be surprised to know will be consisent with what we'll be doing here in law enforcement. He was my boss during the campaign, he is formally and technically and by law my boss now. So what he said during the campaign is now American policy."
Feb. 25, 2009 - Eric H. Holder, Jr., JD


President Obama's Campaign Statement
Barack Obama, JD, US Senator (D-IL) at the time of the quote, stated the following during a presidential campaign event in Nashua, NH on Aug. 21, 2007:

"I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana users. It's not a good use of our resources."

So, there you have it. Now grow a pair and realize that the government--EVEN UNDER OBAMA--is not your friend.

[WildWill]

Originally Posted by meatpie

with all due respect, wild will, almost every one of your comments on this thread has come off as VERY snarky with hints of being condescending.

Originally Posted by HowDoULikeMeNow

yeah definitely

You know what, when the TWO of you have less than 20 posts COMBINED, your opinions mean about as much to me as...hmm...that piece of lint that I just threw away.

When you've contributed HALF as much to the MMJ community has I have, then I'll take you seriously. Half too much? Damn, maybe a quarter then.



As to the topic at hand.

YES, there have been DEA raids on CA Dispensaries after the AG's Statement regarding DEA Raids. They were performed without the knowledge and consent of the President, and approved by the INTERIUM head of the DEA, a woman who doesn't care one iota about becoming the permanent head because she's a lame-duck.

Those raids were conducted merely days after the statement, and there has not been any DEA action against California dispensaries that was not a direct request of Local Law Enforcement in accordance with Due-Process and California State Laws that were being alledgedly violated.

For those of you who are completely paranoid about the government, you need to remember some words from the Declaration of Independence - "A government of the people, by the people and for the people". The government is not some monolithic impenetrable organization made of up a privileged few who rule the rest of us like a dictatorship, no matter what you actually believe. You have a say in your government, you can vote, you can affect change, and you can help govern. If you choose not to get involved, you have no valid reason for complaint.

[snapperkeeper]

I was a state delegate for Obama and my contributions to both my local government and the MMJ community are not limited to my posts on a weed forum. I was only asserting that dispensary operators had better not put their heads in the sand because Uncle Obama made them a promise when PurpleZebra started in with a rather aggressive reply that my comment was "simply bullshit".

[WildWill]

and I don't necessarily disagree with you either.

[snapperkeeper]

Yeah, it's all just a tempest in teapot anyway. I only want those with green dreams to be cautious. It's easier to bring about the change you want from outside the jail cell. That said, probably the more dispensaries there are the harder it is to shut it all down.

[Indie]

Agreed with the fact of of the DEA raiding ILLEGAL buisnesses, thye shouldent be operating in the first place.

[snapperkeeper]

Why would you agree with the DEA raiding an "illegal" (owes taxes) business? That's what I can't understand about you guys. Why would you think that's OK? It doen't happen with other businesses. Ordinarily you pay back taxes and a penalty, get compliant and keep on doing business and it's the IRS and state taxing authorities you deal with not the damned DEA. Why are dispensaries a special case? All that does is perpetuate the problem, which is that MJ is worth much more than it should be if we could all just grow it in our back yards.

[WildWill]

You are oversimplifying. the most recent clubs to be raided were not just for back taxes. Raided clubs were investigated, found to be possibly part of a larger criminal conspiracy, had loaded weapons inside (a big no-no according to the AG), and did not have the proper permits from the city to even be in business.

[whiskey]

Originally Posted by WildWill

You are oversimplifying. the most recent clubs to be raided were not just for back taxes. Raided clubs were investigated, found to be possibly part of a larger criminal conspiracy, had loaded weapons inside (a big no-no according to the AG), and did not have the proper permits from the city to even be in business.

Quoted for absolute truth.

[snapperkeeper]

I may be. I know guns are a bad when mixed with drugs (legally and otherwise). The permits thing is in the category of slap on the wrist though.

[WildWill]

Not really - if a liquor store doesn't have it's proper permits to sell alcohol, do they not shut it down immediately? How about a bar/restaurant? If they don't have the proper permits aren't they closed?

Same thing.

The permits to stay in business are that much more important when you're dealing with MMJ, which while MEDICINE, is a substance that needs to be regulated. Even as a legal patient, I agree with the guidelines that our AG has set up, that clubs need to be a certain distance from schools, that procedures to verify the recommendations need to be followed, and that MMJ is distributed responsibly.

[snapperkeeper]

Sure they do, fair enough. But they open back up when they are in compliance. They don't spend years in the pen. (Furthermore, I have never been convinced that medicine dispensing of any kind should be as tightly controlled as it is. The AMA set that little perk up for themselves a long time ago and we still defer to doctors as if they are gods.) But, point taken.

[J.R.R. Tokin]

Keep arguing about stupid shit like how the DEA has ties to the IRS, it's quite funny. Why can't we all just smoke a blunt, keep calm, and use constructive critisism instead of attacking people on certain issues they have a problem with. I believe that IS what the corrupt sect of government you're complaining about specializes in. Don't shoot other people down for stating their opinion... Bunch of whiny babies, that's what you are