BAN ON MEDICAL POT CASES QUICKLY LIFTED

L.A.'s U.S. Attorney Declines to Say Why He Ordered Prosecutors to
Stop Filing Charges, Then Abruptly Changed His Mind.

The U.S. attorney in Los Angeles sent a confidential memo to
prosecutors last week ordering them to stop filing charges against
medical marijuana dispensaries, then abruptly lifted the ban on
Friday, according to sources familiar with the developments.

U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O'Brien declined comment on what prompted him to
issue the directive or to later rescind it.

O'Brien's decision to temporarily halt the prosecutions came two days
after remarks by Atty. Gen. Eric Holder, who seemed to imply at a
Washington, D.C., press conference that medical marijuana
prosecutions would not be a priority for the Justice Department under
President Obama.

A Justice Department official said Friday that the attorney general
did not direct O'Brien or any other U.S. attorney to alter policies
regarding the prosecution of such cases.

O'Brien's initial order was delivered in a memo by Christine Ewell,
head of the U.S. attorney's criminal division, according to three
sources who read the document, which was distributed by e-mail on Feb. 27.

In addition to being told to stop filing new cases, prosecutors were
instructed to refrain from issuing subpoenas or applying for search
warrants in pending cases, said the sources, who requested anonymity
because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
In fact, a few hours after the memo was circulated, Ewell sent out
another e-mail admonishing prosecutors not to discuss the contents of
the memo with anyone outside the U.S. attorney's office, the sources said.

Another e-mail came out Friday instructing prosecutors to resume work
on medical marijuana cases. Despite the reversal, news of the
temporary ban is likely to spark interest amid the ongoing national
debate over medical marijuana. Thirteen states, including California,
allow for the cultivation, use and sale of doctor-prescribed medical
marijuana under certain conditions, according to the Marijuana Policy
Project, an organization that supports the legalization of the drug.
Federal law, which trumps those of the states, bans the drug altogether.

As a result, operators of dispensaries in California and elsewhere
who maintain they were operating under state law have been raided by
the Drug Enforcement Administration and charged under federal drug laws.

Such prosecutions have been controversial, with patients and
supporters of the dispensaries complaining that operators embraced by
their own communities were unfairly targeted. Thom Mrozek, a
spokesman for O'Brien, has said that prosecutors target people they
consider egregious offenders, such as those accused of selling drugs
to minors or proprietors with past drug convictions.

One high-profile case went to trial in U.S. District Court in Los
Angeles last summer. Charles Lynch, who sought and received the
blessing of elected officials in Morro Bay before opening a
dispensary in that Central Coast community in 2006, was charged with
distributing more than 100 kilos of marijuana.

At trial, prosecutors portrayed Lynch, 47, as a common drug dealer
who sold dope to minors and toted around a backpack stuffed with cash.

Lynch and his lawyers hoped to mount a defense based on the assertion
that he was providing a legitimate service to cancer patients and
other severely ill people. But they were limited in doing so because
the U.S. Supreme Court has concluded that because federal law trumps
those of the states, why drugs are being distributed is irrelevant.

Jurors convicted Lynch on five counts, but the jury forewoman said it
was not easy to do so. "We all felt Mr. Lynch intended well," Kitty
Meese said after the verdict in August. "It was a tough decision for
all of us because the state law and the federal law are at odds."

Lynch, who is to be sentenced later this month, is facing a mandatory
minimum of five years in federal prison. His case has become
something of cause celebre among medical marijuana advocates.

Holder was asked about medical marijuana at a Feb. 25 press
conference after the arrests of more than 50 alleged members of
Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel. Specifically, he was asked whether the
DEA would continue raiding medical marijuana dispensaries under
Obama's administration. He did not answer the question directly but
said: "What the President said during [the] campaign . . . is now
American policy."

Obama was asked about the topic numerous times during the campaign
and responded with varying levels of specificity. Generally speaking,
the campaign's position was that DEA raids would not be a high
priority in states with their own medical marijuana laws on the books.

"The president believes that federal resources should not be used to
circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior
leadership to fill out the ranks of the federal government, he
expects them to review their policies with that in mind," Nick
Shapiro, a White House spokesman, told the Washington Times last
month. Shapiro declined to elaborate on Friday.

Alex Capron, a professor of law and medicine at USC, said the debate
about medical marijuana centers on whether the drug is viewed
exclusively as an illegal narcotic or a drug that also has legitimate
medical applications.

"It has become a highly politicized issue as to whether it is
something that is part of the doctor-patient relationship or
something where the authorities have an obligation to protect the
community from a dangerous drug," Capron said.

He added that he wasn't surprised that O'Brien would want to
deliberate over his office's policy on such a matter in private.

"One the one hand, there's a very vocal constituency that wants this
treated like a medical issue. On the other, there's a very vocal
constituency that regards allowing medical marijuana treatment as a
very slippery slope toward the legalization of drugs. He doesn't want
to look like he's abandoning his commitment to law enforcement," Capron said.