Obama to Stop Raids on Marijuana Clinics
During the current Bush administration as well as in the Clinton administration, federal officials opposed the efforts of doctors and clinics to prescribe marijuana for medical purposes in states where it had been legalized. But that policy will change if Barack Obama is elected, an Obama spokesman told the San Francisco Chronicle, making the clearest statement by any major presidential candidate on the subject.
As I noted last month, neither Hillary Clinton and John McCain has taken an unequivocal stance regarding the policy of federal raids on clinics in states that have legalized marijuana for medical purposes. Neither one replied to the Chronicle’s inquiries, but the Obama campaign made its most explicit statement so far, as the newspaper reports:
In response to recent questions from The Chronicle about medical marijuana, Obama’s campaign - the only one of the three contenders to reply - endorsed a hands-off federal policy.
“Voters and legislators in the states - from California to Nevada to Maine - have decided to provide their residents suffering from chronic diseases and serious illnesses like AIDS and cancer with medical marijuana to relieve their pain and suffering,” said campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt.
“Obama supports the rights of states and local governments to make this choice - though he believes medical marijuana should be subject to (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) regulation like other drugs,” LaBolt said. He said the FDA should consider how marijuana is regulated under federal law, while leaving states free to chart their own course.
LaBolt also said Obama would end U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration raids on medical marijuana suppliers in states with their own laws.
If Mr. Obama is elected, that policy change may affect New York, which is considering becoming the 13th state to legalize medical marijuana. As my Times colleagues Danny Hakim and Michael Grynbaum reported, the Democratic-led Assembly passed a bill last year legalizing medical marijuana. The majority leader of the Republican-led Senate, Joseph Bruno, said he supported legalization but differed with the approach in the Assembly’s bill, and the two chambers have not yet resolved their differences.
