New Federal Crackdown Confounds States That Allow Medical Marijuana
By WILLIAM YARDLEY
NYT
SEATTLE — Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, but that has not stopped a fuzzy industry of marijuana farms and dispensaries from rising to serve the 15 states that allow the drug to be used for medical purposes. Under President Obama, the federal government had seemed to make a point of paying little attention — until now.
As some states seek to increase regulation but also further protect and institutionalize medical marijuana, federal prosecutors are suddenly asserting themselves, authorizing raids and sending strongly worded letters that have cast new uncertainty on an issue that has long brimmed with tension between federal and state law.
How can a drug that federal drug law says is criminal be considered medicine under state law?
“It’s weird,” said Kevin Griffin, co-founder of West Coast Wellness, a medical marijuana dispensary that opened here in February. “We’re not a pharmacy. We spent a lot of time gathering information, and this is what we came up with as the most responsible, legal way.”
(More here.)
NYT
SEATTLE — Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, but that has not stopped a fuzzy industry of marijuana farms and dispensaries from rising to serve the 15 states that allow the drug to be used for medical purposes. Under President Obama, the federal government had seemed to make a point of paying little attention — until now.
As some states seek to increase regulation but also further protect and institutionalize medical marijuana, federal prosecutors are suddenly asserting themselves, authorizing raids and sending strongly worded letters that have cast new uncertainty on an issue that has long brimmed with tension between federal and state law.
How can a drug that federal drug law says is criminal be considered medicine under state law?
“It’s weird,” said Kevin Griffin, co-founder of West Coast Wellness, a medical marijuana dispensary that opened here in February. “We’re not a pharmacy. We spent a lot of time gathering information, and this is what we came up with as the most responsible, legal way.”
(More here.)
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