Won't Get Fooled Again: Obama Breaks Medical Marijuana Promise

[copobo]

Robert J. Corry, Jr.: Won't Get Fooled Again: Obama Breaks Medical Marijuana Promise (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-corry-jr/wont-get-fooled-again-oba_b_758389.html?view=print)

Robert J. Corry, Jr.Criminal Defense Lawyer
Posted: October 11, 2010 04:50 PM

Election 2008: What a wonderful time to be a medical marijuana patient in Colorado! Voters had just elected Barack Obama as the President of the United States of America. "Hope" was in the air. Thousands of Colorado medical marijuana patients and caregivers were certain that the Federal government would cease trampling on their State constitutional rights after Inauguration Day.

Candidate Barack Obama had explicitly stated, "I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana; it is not a good use of our resources." Watch:

Later in the campaign, Obama promised, "I will not be using Department of Justice resources to try to circumvent state laws on the [medical marijuana] issue," since America has violent crimes and terrorism to deal with. Watch:

Instead, mere hours after the new President was inaugurated, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") unleashed a campaign of terror on medical marijuana patients in California. Optimists in the marijuana movement attributed this to nasty Bush holdovers and career bureaucrats throwing one last temper tantrum.

In the wake of these raids, new U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, laughingly reassured us that Candidate Obama's statements are "American policy" now that Obama has become President:

Our hope for change was re-energized.

On October 17, 2009, our hope was further bolstered with the issuance of formal written guidance (PDF) from the U.S. Justice Department related to medical marijuana.

The issuance of that guidance seemingly removed one of the last significant impediments to upstanding business entrepreneurs serving Colorado's suffering medical marijuana patients. A new industry started to form, creating jobs, paying taxes, and leasing vacant commercial space. The cobwebs began to clear from Colorado's dormant economy.

Then, on February 2, 2010, amid gasps from nearly the entire marijuana reform movement, medical marijuana patients, and other open-minded science-based thinkers, Obama formally nominated former Bush DEA Administrator Michelle Leonhart, to head the Obama DEA.

Leonhart has a notorious career as a jack-booted administrator of the least successful government program in modern history, i.e. the Drug War, and has a fawning affection for the highest-paid DEA snitch of all time, Andrew Chambers, a criminal who has been found to have committed perjury by at least two federal appeals courts. Any hope that Obama would chart a new course on drug policy was dashed by this horrible nomination.

Only ten days after the Leonhart nomination, the belligerent Obama DEA dropped the equivalent of a nuclear bomb on Colorado's medical marijuana patients with an armed militarized raid on small-time home-based medical marijuana farmer Chris Bartkowicz. The day of this raid, the DEA Agent in Charge, Jeff Sweetin, declared open federal warfare on Colorado's entire nascent medical marijuana community.

"Technically, every dispensary in the state is in blatant violation of federal law," Sweetin told the Denver Post. "The time is coming when we go into a dispensary, we find out what their profit is, we seize the building and we arrest everybody. They're violating federal law; they're at risk of arrest and imprisonment."

Sweetin's apocalyptic declaration of war and threat to "arrest everybody" terrified Colorado's sick and suffering medical marijuana patients. The day after the raid, I filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility against the DEA agents involved in the raid. My complaint was quickly and decisively backed by U.S. Congressman Jared Polis.

To this date, months later, neither Congressman Polis nor myself have received any response to our pleas to the Obama administration to uphold its "American policy."

Although Sweetin eventually backed away from his full frontal declaration of war, and Obama sent him to Quantico, Virginia, Sweetin's words pale in comparison to what Obama's Justice Department had in store next.

On February 16, 2010, the U.S. Attorney for Colorado filed a criminal prosecution against Bartkowicz in federal court. Obama appointed John Walsh as U.S. Attorney, and Obama's hand-picked federal prosecutor further upped the ante, successfully requesting that the Court place a gag order on the Bartkowicz defense from even mentioning his intent to comply with Colorado state law at the jury trial.

The Obama Administration's court filings reveal that Bartkowicz faces a grotesquely disproportionate 20 years to life in prison only because he went on television to discuss what he believed were legal actions in growing medical marijuana.

Progress is being made against Marijuana Prohibition. Soon, this modern-day Prohibition will be as extinct as a saber tooth tiger. In the meantime, however, that cornered tiger still has sharp claws and long teeth that can destroy human life and freedom. Obama has done the opposite of what we thought, and what he promised. Instead of caging that tiger, he has unleashed it.

Colorado's medical marijuana community should fear the Obama Justice Department. An objective analysis reveals that, as far as Colorado medical marijuana is concerned, eight years of George W. Bush were better than one and a half years of Obama. Bush Justice did not prosecute a single Colorado medical marijuana grower or patient over eight years. Obama has conducted numerous medical marijuana raids and property forfeitures, and seeks to steal Chris Bartkowicz's youth from him. With Obama's term not even half over, there seems little "hope" for "change."

[rightwinger]

Robert J. Corry, Jr.: Won't Get Fooled Again: Obama Breaks Medical Marijuana Promise (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-corry-jr/wont-get-fooled-again-oba_b_758389.html?view=print)

Robert J. Corry, Jr.Criminal Defense Lawyer
Posted: October 11, 2010 04:50 PM

Election 2008: What a wonderful time to be a medical marijuana patient in Colorado! Voters had just elected Barack Obama as the President of the United States of America. "Hope" was in the air. Thousands of Colorado medical marijuana patients and caregivers were certain that the Federal government would cease trampling on their State constitutional rights after Inauguration Day.

Candidate Barack Obama had explicitly stated, "I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana; it is not a good use of our resources." Watch:

Later in the campaign, Obama promised, "I will not be using Department of Justice resources to try to circumvent state laws on the [medical marijuana] issue," since America has violent crimes and terrorism to deal with. Watch:

Instead, mere hours after the new President was inaugurated, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") unleashed a campaign of terror on medical marijuana patients in California. Optimists in the marijuana movement attributed this to nasty Bush holdovers and career bureaucrats throwing one last temper tantrum.

In the wake of these raids, new U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, laughingly reassured us that Candidate Obama's statements are "American policy" now that Obama has become President:

Our hope for change was re-energized.

On October 17, 2009, our hope was further bolstered with the issuance of formal written guidance (PDF) from the U.S. Justice Department related to medical marijuana.

The issuance of that guidance seemingly removed one of the last significant impediments to upstanding business entrepreneurs serving Colorado's suffering medical marijuana patients. A new industry started to form, creating jobs, paying taxes, and leasing vacant commercial space. The cobwebs began to clear from Colorado's dormant economy.

Then, on February 2, 2010, amid gasps from nearly the entire marijuana reform movement, medical marijuana patients, and other open-minded science-based thinkers, Obama formally nominated former Bush DEA Administrator Michelle Leonhart, to head the Obama DEA.

Leonhart has a notorious career as a jack-booted administrator of the least successful government program in modern history, i.e. the Drug War, and has a fawning affection for the highest-paid DEA snitch of all time, Andrew Chambers, a criminal who has been found to have committed perjury by at least two federal appeals courts. Any hope that Obama would chart a new course on drug policy was dashed by this horrible nomination.

Only ten days after the Leonhart nomination, the belligerent Obama DEA dropped the equivalent of a nuclear bomb on Colorado's medical marijuana patients with an armed militarized raid on small-time home-based medical marijuana farmer Chris Bartkowicz. The day of this raid, the DEA Agent in Charge, Jeff Sweetin, declared open federal warfare on Colorado's entire nascent medical marijuana community.

"Technically, every dispensary in the state is in blatant violation of federal law," Sweetin told the Denver Post. "The time is coming when we go into a dispensary, we find out what their profit is, we seize the building and we arrest everybody. They're violating federal law; they're at risk of arrest and imprisonment."

Sweetin's apocalyptic declaration of war and threat to "arrest everybody" terrified Colorado's sick and suffering medical marijuana patients. The day after the raid, I filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility against the DEA agents involved in the raid. My complaint was quickly and decisively backed by U.S. Congressman Jared Polis.

To this date, months later, neither Congressman Polis nor myself have received any response to our pleas to the Obama administration to uphold its "American policy."

Although Sweetin eventually backed away from his full frontal declaration of war, and Obama sent him to Quantico, Virginia, Sweetin's words pale in comparison to what Obama's Justice Department had in store next.

On February 16, 2010, the U.S. Attorney for Colorado filed a criminal prosecution against Bartkowicz in federal court. Obama appointed John Walsh as U.S. Attorney, and Obama's hand-picked federal prosecutor further upped the ante, successfully requesting that the Court place a gag order on the Bartkowicz defense from even mentioning his intent to comply with Colorado state law at the jury trial.

The Obama Administration's court filings reveal that Bartkowicz faces a grotesquely disproportionate 20 years to life in prison only because he went on television to discuss what he believed were legal actions in growing medical marijuana.

Progress is being made against Marijuana Prohibition. Soon, this modern-day Prohibition will be as extinct as a saber tooth tiger. In the meantime, however, that cornered tiger still has sharp claws and long teeth that can destroy human life and freedom. Obama has done the opposite of what we thought, and what he promised. Instead of caging that tiger, he has unleashed it.

Colorado's medical marijuana community should fear the Obama Justice Department. An objective analysis reveals that, as far as Colorado medical marijuana is concerned, eight years of George W. Bush were better than one and a half years of Obama. Bush Justice did not prosecute a single Colorado medical marijuana grower or patient over eight years. Obama has conducted numerous medical marijuana raids and property forfeitures, and seeks to steal Chris Bartkowicz's youth from him. With Obama's term not even half over, there seems little "hope" for "change."



Coming from Rob Corry---this is pretty bad for the Obama admininstration.

[rightwinger]

Robert J. Corry, Jr.: Won't Get Fooled Again: Obama Breaks Medical Marijuana Promise (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-corry-jr/wont-get-fooled-again-oba_b_758389.html?view=print)

Robert J. Corry, Jr.Criminal Defense Lawyer
Posted: October 11, 2010 04:50 PM

Election 2008: What a wonderful time to be a medical marijuana patient in Colorado! Voters had just elected Barack Obama as the President of the United States of America. "Hope" was in the air. Thousands of Colorado medical marijuana patients and caregivers were certain that the Federal government would cease trampling on their State constitutional rights after Inauguration Day.

Candidate Barack Obama had explicitly stated, "I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana; it is not a good use of our resources." Watch:

Later in the campaign, Obama promised, "I will not be using Department of Justice resources to try to circumvent state laws on the [medical marijuana] issue," since America has violent crimes and terrorism to deal with. Watch:

Instead, mere hours after the new President was inaugurated, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") unleashed a campaign of terror on medical marijuana patients in California. Optimists in the marijuana movement attributed this to nasty Bush holdovers and career bureaucrats throwing one last temper tantrum.

In the wake of these raids, new U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, laughingly reassured us that Candidate Obama's statements are "American policy" now that Obama has become President:

Our hope for change was re-energized.

On October 17, 2009, our hope was further bolstered with the issuance of formal written guidance (PDF) from the U.S. Justice Department related to medical marijuana.

The issuance of that guidance seemingly removed one of the last significant impediments to upstanding business entrepreneurs serving Colorado's suffering medical marijuana patients. A new industry started to form, creating jobs, paying taxes, and leasing vacant commercial space. The cobwebs began to clear from Colorado's dormant economy.

Then, on February 2, 2010, amid gasps from nearly the entire marijuana reform movement, medical marijuana patients, and other open-minded science-based thinkers, Obama formally nominated former Bush DEA Administrator Michelle Leonhart, to head the Obama DEA.

Leonhart has a notorious career as a jack-booted administrator of the least successful government program in modern history, i.e. the Drug War, and has a fawning affection for the highest-paid DEA snitch of all time, Andrew Chambers, a criminal who has been found to have committed perjury by at least two federal appeals courts. Any hope that Obama would chart a new course on drug policy was dashed by this horrible nomination.

Only ten days after the Leonhart nomination, the belligerent Obama DEA dropped the equivalent of a nuclear bomb on Colorado's medical marijuana patients with an armed militarized raid on small-time home-based medical marijuana farmer Chris Bartkowicz. The day of this raid, the DEA Agent in Charge, Jeff Sweetin, declared open federal warfare on Colorado's entire nascent medical marijuana community.

"Technically, every dispensary in the state is in blatant violation of federal law," Sweetin told the Denver Post. "The time is coming when we go into a dispensary, we find out what their profit is, we seize the building and we arrest everybody. They're violating federal law; they're at risk of arrest and imprisonment."

Sweetin's apocalyptic declaration of war and threat to "arrest everybody" terrified Colorado's sick and suffering medical marijuana patients. The day after the raid, I filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility against the DEA agents involved in the raid. My complaint was quickly and decisively backed by U.S. Congressman Jared Polis.

To this date, months later, neither Congressman Polis nor myself have received any response to our pleas to the Obama administration to uphold its "American policy."

Although Sweetin eventually backed away from his full frontal declaration of war, and Obama sent him to Quantico, Virginia, Sweetin's words pale in comparison to what Obama's Justice Department had in store next.

On February 16, 2010, the U.S. Attorney for Colorado filed a criminal prosecution against Bartkowicz in federal court. Obama appointed John Walsh as U.S. Attorney, and Obama's hand-picked federal prosecutor further upped the ante, successfully requesting that the Court place a gag order on the Bartkowicz defense from even mentioning his intent to comply with Colorado state law at the jury trial.

The Obama Administration's court filings reveal that Bartkowicz faces a grotesquely disproportionate 20 years to life in prison only because he went on television to discuss what he believed were legal actions in growing medical marijuana.

Progress is being made against Marijuana Prohibition. Soon, this modern-day Prohibition will be as extinct as a saber tooth tiger. In the meantime, however, that cornered tiger still has sharp claws and long teeth that can destroy human life and freedom. Obama has done the opposite of what we thought, and what he promised. Instead of caging that tiger, he has unleashed it.

Colorado's medical marijuana community should fear the Obama Justice Department. An objective analysis reveals that, as far as Colorado medical marijuana is concerned, eight years of George W. Bush were better than one and a half years of Obama. Bush Justice did not prosecute a single Colorado medical marijuana grower or patient over eight years. Obama has conducted numerous medical marijuana raids and property forfeitures, and seeks to steal Chris Bartkowicz's youth from him. With Obama's term not even half over, there seems little "hope" for "change."


:) Now where are all the liberal comments on this article?--LOL.

[milehighkt]

:) Now where are all the liberal comments on this article?--LOL.

hahahaaa....id feel so sketch if i was a dispensary owner...

[neversummer]

So funny! A lawyer telling people not to trust a politician. Big suprise! The president lied?

I never trusted Obama, or the feds one bit. I trust them about as much as i trust lawyers.

Politicians, lawyer, bankers, markerters , and insurance people are all full of shit as far as I am concerned.

Obama is a genetically engineered test tube baby created by the illuminati to create a New World Order. Dont trust the federal government.

The best thing you can do is collect ammunition.

[Zedleppelin]

Coming from Rob Corry---this is pretty bad for the Obama admininstration.

You do know Corry is a republican, dont you?

I'm not a big fan of Obama but compared to Bush's almost daily raids of dispensaries and growers in California it pales in comparison. Do you think if he was still President or if McCain was in there there would be dispensaries all over Denver? Its kind of sad that Corry would turn this into politics, a lot of the raids he speaks of happened literally days after Obama was sworn and many think the DEA purposely did it that way.

[canniwhatsis]

Really? Does anyone here actually think the president has any control over anything?


He's a figurehead, something to draw attention from the masses, while they are getting screwed in the ass! Bush was the same! just not so secretive! ;)


Politics is a big fuckin can of worms that should be sunk to the bottom of the mississippi and fed to the catfish!

[Dorje113]

This is hardly objective.... Chris Barkowitz was NOT IN COMPLIANCE with state law and a business that is actually in compliance has not been raided by the feds yet...

Also, Sweetin was talking out his ass, he doesn't have the authority to back up his agenda and was just spewing a load of crap that IS NOT DEA POLICY, and is NOT OBAMA'S POLICY.

Nobody is going to take the mmj industry seriously with clowns writing stuff like this. Pure garbage, IMO.

[ElevateOrganics]

Nobody is going to take the mmj industry seriously with clowns writing stuff like this. Pure garbage, IMO.

Corry should start working for Fox news with his scare propoganda, really how does this help anyone but himself.

[copobo]

I think after standing up for Garnett he felt the need to do something Republican.

[Zedleppelin]

Corry should start working for Fox news with his scare propoganda, really how does this help anyone but himself.


I used to have a lot of respect for Corry until he threw patients and caregivers under the bus when 1284 came along and instead chose to go where the money is, guess you can't blame him, most people would do the same thing. One thing that strikes me about this though is Attorneys like Corry stand to do a lot better if people are getting raided and arrested which is a lot more likely to happen under republican rule. If people completely stopped getting arrested for marijuana Corry would go from a high paid trial lawyer to someone that simply helps MMJ centers file their paperwork (which has already somewhat happened) and would be of no higher status and pay than a bankruptcy lawyer. Maybe thats his agenda and fear here.

[FlyinPolynesian]

Politics as usual...

Iʻm not surprised in the least, but like mentioned Barkowitz wasnʻt compliant with A20.

[rightwinger]

You do know Corry is a republican, dont you?

I'm not a big fan of Obama but compared to Bush's almost daily raids of dispensaries and growers in California it pales in comparison. Do you think if he was still President or if McCain was in there there would be dispensaries all over Denver? Its kind of sad that Corry would turn this into politics, a lot of the raids he speaks of happened literally days after Obama was sworn and many think the DEA purposely did it that way.


Funny-but I have never read where Corry is a republican. I always took him to be a democrat.

But-it's got to be hard for you to move from Colorado into California in just one sentence--LOL


"An objective analysis reveals that, as far as Colorado medical marijuana is concerned, eight years of George W. Bush were better than one and a half years of Obama. Bush Justice did not prosecute a single Colorado medical marijuana grower or patient over eight years."

[BurningKrome]

"Politicians, lawyer, bankers, markerters , and insurance people are all full of shit as far as I am concerned."

Lol! I fully agree with that sentence!

[rightwinger]

"Politicians, lawyer, bankers, markerters , and insurance people are all full of shit as far as I am concerned."

Lol! I fully agree with that sentence!


Ditto--the point is you will have politicians on both sides of the isle that are against legalizing marijuana. To me it's a total waste of taxpayer dollars to chase down--then prosecute--then incarcerate marijuana users--in this futile effort to save someone from themselves. As we all know from economics 101--"where there is demand there will most certainly be supply."

[TheReleafCenter]

Rob isn't afraid to bust out some specious reasoning when it serves him. This entire article is predicated on one case and the actions of Sweetin. There is no news here.

[RomulanKush]

Colorado's medical marijuana community should fear the Obama Justice Department. An objective analysis reveals that, as far as Colorado medical marijuana is concerned, eight years of George W. Bush were better than one and a half years of Obama.

I think the original author uses "objective analysis" a little loosely, but perhaps it appears this way. Keep in mind though when Obama was elected, almost two years ago, think how much smaller Colorado's MMJ "industry" was then - was Grateful Meds open yet? If so, the only dispensary in Ned then, and now there are > 5 - Gilpin County had NONE two years ago and now there are five there too (I think). There were a lot less CA growers/business owners here, less imported MMC weed, but we were a much smaller target so maybe we just weren't yet on the radar - CA was even on 60 minutes with Fed raids on legal MMCs, but CO wasn't at that scale - we are now.

[TheReleafCenter]

I think the original author uses "objective analysis" a little loosely, but perhaps it appears this way. Keep in mind though when Obama was elected, almost two years ago, think how much smaller Colorado's MMJ "industry" was then - was Grateful Meds open yet? If so, the only dispensary in Ned then, and now there are > 5 - Gilpin County had NONE two years ago and now there are five there too (I think). There were a lot less CA growers/business owners here, less imported MMC weed, but we were a much smaller target so maybe we just weren't yet on the radar - CA was even on 60 minutes with Fed raids on legal MMCs, but CO wasn't at that scale - we are now.

But if you look at it from the perspective of the amount of medical marijuana Obama has essentially permitted, this is vastly better than the Bush regime. I think his whole perspective is flawed.

[cologrower420]

It's nice that the US allows drug trafficking in other places, just not here. That's nice.

Hopefully everyone is voting in november.

US Allows Afghanistan to Aid Taliban, Al Qaeda and Drug Trafficking (http://cryptome.org/0002/dos101210.htm)

US Allows Afghanistan to Aid Taliban, Al Qaeda and Drug Trafficking

http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2010-25609_PI.pdf

[FR Doc. 2010-25609 Filed 10/08/2010 at 8:45 am; Publication Date:
10/12/2010]



Department of State

[Public Notice: 7201]

Waiver Pursuant to Section 7076(d)(2) of the Department of State,
Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2010
(Div. F, P.L. 111-117) Relating to Assistance for
The Government of Afghanistan

Pursuant to the authority vested in me as Secretary of State, including
under section 7076(d)(2) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations,
and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2010 (Div. F, P.L. 111-117) (â??the
Actâ?�),[B] I hereby waive the requirement in section 7076(d)(2) of the Act to
certify that the Government of Afghanistan is cooperating fully with United
States efforts against the Taliban and Al Qaeda and to reduce poppy
Cultivation and illicit drug trafficking and report that it is vital to the national
Security interests of the United States to do so.

This waiver shall be reported to the Congress promptly and published
in the Federal Register.

September 28, 2010 ___________________________

Date Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

[MEDEDCANNABIS]

You do know Corry is a republican, dont you?

I'm not a big fan of Obama but compared to Bush's almost daily raids of dispensaries and growers in California it pales in comparison. Do you think if he was still President or if McCain was in there there would be dispensaries all over Denver? Its kind of sad that Corry would turn this into politics, a lot of the raids he speaks of happened literally days after Obama was sworn and many think the DEA purposely did it that way.

if obama didnt make his statement to not bother dispensaries it would still be pre 2008. next pres will undoubtably have a lot to choose from when they start their rampage here in Colorado. it will be swift and immediate and quite of few naive dispensaries are going to get life sentences.

meded is a hell of a drug

[grfxdsnr]

Here's my take on getting the feds to reschedule cannabis. The federal gov has already contradicted themselves. First, we have Obama saying states where medical cannabis is legal, the feds wont attack. Two, we have the Veteran's Administration directive that says in states where medical cannabis is legal, vets can use without worry.

Two federal agencies admitting cannabis has a medicinal benefit? If they didn't think it did, would we see these new rules? NOPE. So, now, as patients and caregivers we need to get the word out there and put the pressure on the feds to re-schedule cannabis! It's time to make the federal gov back their actions up. No excuses now...that cat is out of the bag! :smokin: