CANDIDATE OBAMA, ON VOTER-APPROVED MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS
"The Justice Department going after sick individuals using this as a palliative instead of going after serious criminals makes no sense." – Barack Obama, July 21 2007
"I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana users. It’s not a good use of our resources." – Barack Obama, August 21, 2007
PRESIDENT OBAMA, ON VOTER-APPROVED MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS
"A federal judge sentenced the owner of a Central California medical marijuana dispensary to a year and a day in prison Thursday, spurning the Obama administration’s push to give the defendant five years imprisonment in a test case of new federal policies toward state pot laws…Federal prosecutors in California, including U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello of San Francisco, have argued that marijuana dispensaries – even licensed businesses approved by local authorities – are commercial enterprises that violate state as well as federal law and can still be prosecuted under Obama administration policy." – "366-day sentence for pot dispensary owner," The San Francisco Chronicle, June 12, 2009
