The ACLU wants the feds to clarify the Obama Administration’s stance on medical marijuana, as Irina Cates with KPAX-TV reports:
The American Civil Liberties Union is asking U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to make sure the Department of Justice doesn’t prioritize prosecution of people who comply with state medical marijuana laws.
In a letter sent earlier this week, the ACLU “expressed deep concerns” about recent letters from several U.S. attorneys across the country, including Montana.
The group believes the letters threatened people who comply with state medical marijuana laws with federal prosecution.
All this, as marijuana growers back here in Monta a have now filed suit against the federal government.
The AP has this:
Two medical marijuana providers are suing the government over what they are calling unconstitutional raids of their Montana businesses as federal prosecutors threaten to crack down on medical pot operations across the nation.
The owners of Montana Caregivers Association and MCM Caregivers claim the March 14 raids exceeded the federal government’s authority, pre-empted Montana’s medical marijuana law and violated the pot providers’ civil rights.
Apparently in their lawsuit, the providers claim the aim of the government is to shut down the medical pot industry. Uh- well it is illegal…so you’d think they would want the pot businesses shut down. If not, they should change the law.
Separately, The Hill reports that Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) is teaming up with Sen. Orring Hatch (R-UT) to block the use of federal funds to purchase vices. This, after reports confirmed that federal assistance was used in casinos and adult entertainment venues.
More from The Hill:
The chairman and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee unveiled a bill Wednesday that would prohibit federal dollars doled out to states for government assistance as part of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program from being spent at certain vice-filled venues.
Specifically: Casinos, liquor stores and adult entertainment establishments would be blacklisted, and states could see their share of funds drop if they do not enforce the ban.
As states begin use electronic cards loaded with cash benefits to distribute the funds, they gain the ability to track where those dollars are being spent — and that is yielding some troubling findings. The California Department of Social Services reported that from January 2007 through May 2010, $3.9 million of those funds were withdrawn in casinos, with another $20,000 being tapped at adult entertainment venues.
You mean they didn’t block this already?