“Dispensers of Marijuana Find Relief in Policy Shift” New York Times, March 19, 2009

Patients and staff at LAPCG worry that local police and federal agents have little experince distinguishing who is and who is not obeying state law. Under the previous Administartion, obeying the letetr and the spirit of California law still left you at risk of prosecution and jail. It is our hope that law enforcement will rise to the challenge and learn to tell who is doing it right. It should not be too difficult to see that a legal, tax-paying, nonprofit patients’ association like LAPCG, which has operated in West Hollywood since 2004, is off limits to the DEA under Holder’s new policy. Time will tell; but until we change federal law to allow states to choose and regulate medical cannabis as they see fit, there will always be a risk.

We have also seen remarkable progress in Congress. US House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) sharply criticized DEA interference and intimidation in medical cannabis states last year. His historic letter of April 28, 2008, challenged the DEA tactics in California and other states where medical cannabis is already legal. On February 6, 2009, Congressman John Olver (D-MA) and fifteen of his colleagues sent the Attorney General a letter asking him to abandon his predecessor’s policy of blocking medical cannabis research; and on February 16 Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-CA) asked him to stop threatening California property owners who rent to medical cannabis providers.

These are remarkable developments, but I want to caution all potential operators that federal law has not changed. Medical cannabis remains illegal and penalties are still severe under federal law. There is more work to be done to harmonize federal law with state law. You have a role to play in that ongoing work.