CFO... good morning.

Why hasn't O done anything before now? He's done a lot. Obama promised during the 08 campaign to stop the federal persecution Patients. Notice, the difference between a Patient, and a Producer. There is a difference. Remember, the President is not a King or a dictator. He's one part of a multi-dimensional gov't system that includes three equal branches at the Fed level, and then 50 states, each with its own gov't set-up and particular political situation. Presidents are rarely able to do anything by decree, without considering various political calculations, as witness the recent struggle over birth control.

The Administration thru the Justice Dept issued guidelines that suggested to the Federal Attorneys in the states, not to chase sick people, as long as they are in conformity with state laws. This is a middle position that has been acceptable to everyone. It has not been overly criticized by the GOPs. As time went by, there developed in some states a new situation, in which large, commercial-type grow operations were being established. The Administration is chasing those commercial operations, not patients. We may argue about the wisdom of this. Personally I prefer a situation where sick people can grow their own, or have others help them grow, and people be allowed to exchange medicine among themselves without being hassled. I don't prefer a situation where commercial operations grab control of production and distribution, and I'll bet you wouldn't like that to develop, either. You made reference to this profiteering, which you call "obscene" and I totally agree. Again, Obama's Justice Dept is NOT chasing patients. They are chasing large distribution operations that make millions of $ off sick people. Some weed people like the idea of corporate production and sale of weed products, I personally hate the idea of that, and support any effort to keep, say, the tobacco companies from getting a controlling monopoly on weed as it becomes more legal. I'm not suggesting that this is the intent of the Fed crackdown on the big growers, but it does help us in that direction, to keep weed a home-based industry.

You suggest you are a single-issue voter. That's too bad. Single issue voters rarely make enlightened decisions about candidates in a complex world. Why would anyone support a candidate on the issue of weed legalization (whatever THAT means) alone without considering also that the guy is a racist, xenophobic crank?

Re Ms Marinez. You correctly note that she's had relatively small impact on the MM program. Why? Because there is little support either in the legislature or among the population to do what she'd like to do. We stay active, and in touch with her office and through our legislators, and she gets the message. We can get along with any decent politician, as long as we remember how they respond to us. Plus, legalization is a biparitsan issue. THere are millions of GOPs who like the idea of legalization. Ms Martinez will do what keeps her in office and promotes her future political career. Our job is to help her to understand that being opposed to legalization is not the best way to achieve success.

Back to Obama for a moment, to close this out. Pres. Obama apparently does not favor the legalization of weed. Maybe this attitude of his is a product of his own experiences with weed, as well as other drugs, and the people who use them recreationally. I don't know. But I do know that he is going to respond to political pressure, as he did in calling the Fed dogs off of patients. None of the GOPs is anything but utterly opposed to loosening up weed laws. I don't include Paul because he isn't really a GOP. So, think about how this might play out. If enough people vote single issue for Paul, more likely we end up with one of the GOPs in the WH. If having a religious zealot GOP in there is better in your mind than having a reasonable pol like Obama who can be persuaded our way, then by all means vote single issue Paul. But, if you want things to move in our direction, then Obama is the only viable choice.

There. I said it again. Obama: the only viable choice towards legalization/reform in the years ahead. It seems to me that if you truly are single-issue on weed reform, then there is no other intelligent choice than Barack Obama.