POT POLICY MIGHT GET TOKE OF CHANGE

WASHINGTON -- The White House won't say it explicitly. Neither will
the Drug Enforcement Administration. Yet there is a whiff in the air
that U.S. policy is about to change when it comes to medical marijuana.

The message is clear, said UCLA professor Mark Kleiman, a former
Justice Department official and an expert on crime and drug policy.

"It is no longer federal policy to beat up on hippies," said
Kleiman.

Tell that to the DEA. In California this past week, agents raided four
dispensaries in Los Angeles and seized 225 kg of pot.

California law permits the sale of marijuana for medical purposes,
though it is still against U.S. federal law.

Thirteen states have laws permitting medicinal use of marijuana.
California is unique among them for the presence of dispensaries,
businesses that sell marijuana and even advertise their services.

"Anyone possessing, distributing or cultivating marijuana for any
reason is in violation of federal law," Sarah Pullen, a DEA
spokeswoman in Los Angeles, said Thursday.

That may be the law, but it contradicts the medical marijuana position
of the new president.

"The president believes that federal resources should not be used to
circumvent state laws ... he expects them to review their policies
with that in mind," said White House spokesman Nick Shapiro.

So on Friday, DEA officials in Washington declined to comment at all
on the subject.

As a candidate, Obama repeatedly promised a change in federal drug
policy in situations where state laws allow medical use.