Those looking to decriminalize medical marijuana won a big victory earlier this week as the U.S. Justice Department declared Monday that federal agents should stop prosecuting medicinal pot distributors and users, provided they’re acting in accordance with state laws.
The directive issued Monday has far-reaching political and legal implications.
Fourteen states currently allow "compassionate-care use" of marijuana. It is primarily utilized to ease pain for people with chronic conditions, but the American College of Physicians, the second-largest doctors’ group in America, has said marijuana can be used to treat glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and nausea as well. In one state where ganja is legal if prescribed, Oregon, 23,873 people hold cards allowing them to use the approved varieties. 21,087 are approved because of severe pain, according to the state’s public health division. Another 7,550 Oregonians take marijuana to relieve muscle spasms from conditions such as multiple sclerosis, and 3,997 use it for nausea. Patients can get approval for more than one condition.
But of course the fear has always been that, while a state may allow it, the feds might swoop in and start hauling stoned cancer patients to jail. No longer. And while the Obama administration’s announcement yesterday doesn’t legalize marijuana, it moves the country closer to such a move.
As Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement: “It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws,” he said. “But we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal."
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