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 Green_T
Registered: 10/02/08
Posts: 4,042
Loc: UK 
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 Bush Holdovers at DEA Continue Pot Raids 
#9739658 - 02/05/09 08:54 AM (15 years, 2 months ago) |
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Obama has not yet appointed a new permanent drug czar, which is why these raids are still conducted by Bush people. Until Obama appoints a new one, he cannot change policy, and the DEA is a 'rogue' agency
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Source: Washington Times
BUSH HOLDOVERS AT DEA CONTINUE POT RAIDS
Drug Enforcement Administration agents this week raided four medical marijuana shops in California, contrary to President Obama's campaign promises to stop the raids.
The White House said it expects those kinds of raids to end once Mr. Obama nominates someone to take charge of DEA, which is still run by Bush administration holdovers.
"The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior leadership to fill out the ranks of the federal government, he expects them to review their policies with that in mind," White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said.
Medical use of marijuana is legal under the law in California and a dozen other states, but the federal government under President Bush, bolstered by a 2005 Supreme Court ruling, argued that federal interests trumped state law.
Dogged by marijuana advocates throughout the campaign, Mr. Obama repeatedly said he was opposed to using the federal government to raid medical marijuana shops, particularly because it was an infringement on states' decisions.
"I'm not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue," Mr. Obama told the Mail Tribune newspaper in Oregon in March, during the Democratic primary campaign.
He told the newspaper the "basic concept of using medical marijuana for the same purposes and with the same controls as other drugs prescribed by doctors, I think that's entirely appropriate."
Mr. Obama is still filling key law enforcement posts. For now, DEA is run by acting Administrator Michele Leonhart, a Bush appointee.
Special Agent Sarah Pullen of the DEA's Los Angeles office said agents raided four marijuana dispensaries about noon Tuesday. Two were in Venice and one each was in Marina Del Rey and Playa Del Ray -- all in the Los Angeles area.
A man who answered the phone at Marina Caregivers in Marina Del Rey said his shop was the target of a raid but declined to elaborate, saying the shop was just trying to get back to operating.
Agent Pullen said the four raids seized $10,000 in cash and 224 kilograms of marijuana and marijuana-laced food, such as cookies. No one was arrested, she said, but the raid is part of an ongoing investigation seeking to trace the marijuana back to its suppliers or source.
She said agents have conducted 30 or 40 similar raids in the past several years, many of which resulted in prosecutions.
"It's clear that the DEA is showing no respect for President Obama's campaign promises," said Dan Bernath, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, which advocates for medical marijuana and for decriminalizing the drug.
California allows patients whose doctors prescribe marijuana to use the drug. The state has set up a registry to allow patients to obtain cards allowing them to possess, grow, transport and use marijuana.
Kris Hermes of Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy group in California, called the raids an attempt to undermine state law and said they were apparently conducted without the knowledge of Los Angeles city or police officials.
He said the DEA has raided five medical marijuana dispensaries in the state since Mr. Obama was inaugurated and that the first took place on Jan. 22 in South Lake Tahoe.
"President Obama needs to keep a promise he made, not just in one campaign stop, but in multiple speeches that he would not be spending Justice Department funds on these kinds of raids," Mr. Hermes said. "We do want to give him a little bit of leeway, but at the same time we're expecting him to stop this egregious enforcement policy that is continuing into his presidency."
He said he is aware that Mr. Obama has not installed his own DEA chief but that new Attorney General "Eric Holder can still suspend these types of operations."
The Justice Department referred questions to the White House.
Related story: Action Alert for Protest
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"I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man" - Thomas Jefferson
Legalize Meth | Drug War Victims
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mycoprog
Modular Heretic
Registered: 01/12/06
Posts: 797
Loc: N. America
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 Re: Bush Holdovers at DEA Continue Pot Raids [Re: Green_T]
#9739747 - 02/05/09 09:18 AM (15 years, 2 months ago) |
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motherfuck the police!
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Cognitive_Shift
CS actual
Registered: 12/11/07
Posts: 29,591
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Re: Bush Holdovers at DEA Continue Pot Raids [Re: Green_T]
#9739772 - 02/05/09 09:26 AM (15 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
green_titan said:
The White House said it expects those kinds of raids to end once Mr. Obama nominates someone to take charge of DEA, which is still run by Bush administration holdovers.
 The white house is full of fucking liars, why should i believe anything they say?
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L'enfer est plein de bonnes volontés et désirs
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 Endlessness
Nexus Refugee
Registered: 07/21/07
Posts: 272
Last seen: 4 years, 1 month
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Re: Bush Holdovers at DEA Continue Pot Raids [Re: Cognitive_Shift]
#9739911 - 02/05/09 10:00 AM (15 years, 2 months ago) |
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somebody should make a movie to expose these assholes to the larger audience.
theres a lot of information out there, like this:
like check out this dude:
a well made film could maybe help make more average americans see the DEA and the drug war as outrageous instead of as 'protecting our children'
Edited by Endlessness (02/05/09 10:09 AM)
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Stonehenge
Alt Center
Registered: 06/20/04
Posts: 14,850
Loc: S.E.
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Re: Bush Holdovers at DEA Continue Pot Raids [Re: Endlessness]
#9740062 - 02/05/09 10:44 AM (15 years, 2 months ago) |
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Bullshit! Obama is their boss, all he has to do is pick up the phone and the raids will stop. BTW, he did appoint a drug czar already. I'm not sure if he's confirmed or not but his VP, AG, and a few others including the czar are virulently anti-pot. This is what we can expect.
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“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.” (attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville political philosopher Circa 1835)
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hpi
Tsar Bomba
Registered: 01/17/07
Posts: 11,922
Loc: Montreal, Canada 
Last seen: 11 months, 10 days
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Re: Bush Holdovers at DEA Continue Pot Raids [Re: Stonehenge]
#9740541 - 02/05/09 12:46 PM (15 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
Stonehenge said:
Bullshit! Obama is their boss, all he has to do is pick up the phone and the raids will stop. BTW, he did appoint a drug czar already. I'm not sure if he's confirmed or not but his VP, AG, and a few others including the czar are virulently anti-pot. This is what we can expect.
It's not that easy dude.
I hope these raids stop though, this is ridiculous.
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Tohu Tehom Theli Than Leviathan Tanin'iver Taninsam!
Tohu Tehom Theli Than Leviathan Tanin'iver Taninsam!
There exists one lie that is the absolute worst. A lie that has successfully infiltrated many of the Western governments. This lie is Christianity, and it must be fought in every way, shape and form. Burn the churches and kill the priests. The abomination that is Christianity must be wiped from this Earth.
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