Nor Cal Feds to Ignore Obama Administrations Marijuana Rule change

“Why, when we work to change the laws, do the police and DEA consider themselves to be above the laws we have worked to change??”

http://stash.norml.org/northern-california-federal-prosecutor-says-they-will-continue-to-raid-dispensaries-despite-doj-memo

Caption Courtesy of FreakingNews.com

(Mission Local) The federal government will continue raids on medical marijuana operations in California despite guidelines issued by the Justice Department two weeks ago indicating the contrary.

“I think it’s unfortunate that people have for some reason picked up on this as a change in policy, because it’s really not a change at all,” said Joseph Russoniello, federal prosecutor for the northern district of California, who was appointed in 2007 by then-President George W. Bush.

Asked if federal officials will halt investigation and prosecution of medical marijuana operations in the state, Russoniello said simply, “The short answer is no.”

Russoniello said many dispensaries in San Francisco and around California aren’t really not-for-profit, and he will prosecute any distributor fraudulently operating as a commercial enterprise in violation of state laws.

“By that I mean people who are in it as if they were running a neighborhood candy store instead of running a commune, a collective or a group club that caters only to specific identified persons,” he said.

Asked if federal agents are currently preparing to raid dispensaries suspected of illegal activities, Russoniello declined to comment.

“I cannot affirm or deny the existence of ongoing criminal investigations,” he said.

You know, I was just thinking that President Obama’s approval ratings are still way too high.  What he needs to do is have his administration issue a memo that seems to remove the threat of federal raids from lawful dispensaries, and then when people are comfortable about visiting those dispensaries, send in a few DEA agents in body armor to point assault weapons at people in wheelchairs.  Think of it as Obama’s “Read my lips; no new taxes” moment a la George Bush Sr. in 1988.  A few stunning visuals of jack-booted thugs taking down the neighborhood dispensary in a state where 56% of the voters want not just medical marijuana but outright legalization ought to drop that approval rating a few points, huh?