THE DEA WILL NO LONGER CONDUCT MEDICAL MARIJUANA RAIDS

One Oregon Activist Said That "Patients Can Live Free From a Certain
Level of Fear That They've Been Living With for Years"

Oregon's medical marijuana activists are buzzing over U.S. Attorney
General Eric Holder's statement this week that the federal government
would no longer raid or prosecute medical marijuana dispensaries in
states where they are legal.

"I'm just thrilled," said Paul Stanford, president of the
Portland-based Hemp and Cannabis Foundation. "It means that patients
can live free from a certain level of fear that they've been living
with for years."

Holder said at a news conference Wednesday the new administration's
policies will be consistent with statements President Barack Obama
has made supporting the states' rights to make decisions about
legalizing cannabis for medical purposes.

"What he said during the campaign is now American policy," Holder
said in response to a question about DEA raids on dispensaries in
California in January.

Marijuana is banned under federal law, but 14 states, including
Oregon, have passed laws approving it for regulated medical use.
Obama made clear during his campaign that he would not prosecute
medical marijuana users in states where medicinal cannabis is legal.

"The basic concept of using medical marijuana for the same purposes
and with the same controls as other drugs prescribed by doctors . . .
that's entirely appropriate," he told the Mail Tribune of Medford
last March. "I'm not going to be using Justice Department resources
to try to circumvent state law."

Medical marijuana has been legal and regulated in Oregon for more
than 10 years. Patients who have a recommendation from a doctor can
apply for a card that will allow them to possess and use the drug.
But until Holder affirmed the Obama administration's stance, Stanford
said users had a certain level of anxiety.

Because Oregon does not have state-regulated dispensaries such as
those in California, Oregon was at less risk of being raided by
federal agents. Individual patients and growers, however, have been
targeted by law enforcement at the local and federal level, said Jim
Klahr of medical marijuana education group Oregon Green Free.

"Really, there's more abuse I'm seeing from law enforcement toward
legitimate medical users than the other way around," he said. "I
don't think I should be telling them what kind of bulletproof vest to
wear, so I don't think they should tell me about medicinal cannabis."

Spokesmen for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in
Portland, Seattle and Washington, D.C., declined to comment.