Medical marijuana policy reform advocates will gather across the
country on Thursday to protest President Barack Obama’s aggressive
crackdown on the substance.
Americans for Safe Access, a national group promoting the advancement of cannabis for therapeutic use and research, announced in a release
Wednesday that the demonstrations will take place at select Obama
campaign offices and other locations in at least 15 cities in eight
states, as well as Washington D.C. These states — Arizona, California,
Colorado, Montana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington — have
all legalized marijuana for medical use, but the substance continues to
be classified as an illegal drug at the federal level, causing
widespread confusion and frequent legal repercussions for patients and
purveyors.
ASA says the events are part of its "Camp WakeUpObama" campaign, an
effort to highlight what the organization sees as dishonest or
unfulfilled promises made by Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder
regarding the prioritization of marijuana enforcement.
In 2008, then-candidate Obama claimed
he wouldn’t use the Justice Department to circumvent state laws on
medical marijuana. In 2010, however, Holder said that federal
authorities would continue to prosecute individuals for marijuana
possession, regardless of its legalized status on the state level. And
in 2011, the Justice Department issued another memo promising to crack down on pot shops in medical marijuana states.
And crack down they have. According to ASA’s latest calculations, the
Drug Enforcement Administration has conducted upwards of 200 SWAT-style
raids on medical marijuana facilities that are ostensibly legitimate
businesses, according to state law.
While the clampdown on dispensaries, particularly in states like California and Colorado,
has come at tremendous legal and financial costs to shop owners and
employees, ASA says the point of their protests is to give medical
marijuana patients a voice.
"President Obama must tell the more than one million patients in this
country how he intends to move this issue forward in his next
administration," said Steph Sherer, ASA’s executive director. "We are
sick and tired of being told to vote against our health. … Thursday’s
rallies are aimed at conveying that patients and their families are
voters who may be influenced this November by the president’s broken
promises on this issue."
