Medical-Pot Backers React to New Obama Policy

SAN FRANCISCO -- Medical marijuana advocates in California said the
Obama administration's announcement of new guidelines for pot
prosecutions Monday contained some hopeful signs, but lacked the
specifics needed to keep patients and their suppliers out of court.

"It's an extremely welcome rhetorical de-escalation of the federal
government's long-standing war on medical marijuana patients," said
Stephen Gutwillig, state director of the Drug Policy Alliance.

Dale Gieringer, California coordinator of the National Organization
for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said the administration's advice to
U.S. attorneys that they respect state law - such as California's
Proposition 215, the 1996 measure legalizing medicinal use of the
drug - was encouraging.

However, he added, "the policy has major loopholes that give
prosecutors broad discretion to determine what they think is legal."

A Justice Department memo, sent Monday to federal prosecutors in
California and 13 other states whose laws allow medical use of
marijuana, provides guidelines to implement the policy Attorney
General Eric Holder announced in March: that federal authorities
should refrain from arresting or prosecuting people who are complying
with their state's laws.

Federal prosecutors should focus on major drug traffickers and
networks, rather than on those who "are in clear and unambiguous
compliance with existing state laws" on medical marijuana, said
Deputy Attorney General David Ogden.

But he added some qualifications: Prosecutors can go after those who
sell marijuana for profit, a category that federal authorities have
commonly invoked in charging growers and sellers of medicinal pot.

San Francisco's U.S. attorney, Joseph Russoniello, asserted in August
that most of California's 300 marijuana dispensaries make profits, in
violation of state guidelines, and are therefore open to federal prosecution.

Ogden also said the Justice Department would fight any effort by
people now charged with marijuana-related crimes in federal court to
claim that they were simply following state law. And even those who
are clearly complying with a state's law can be investigated and
prosecuted, he said, in the pursuit of "important federal interests."

'Lot of Discretion'

"It leaves a lot of discretion up to the U.S. attorneys," said Kris
Hermes of Americans for Safe Access, an advocacy group for patients
who use marijuana. "We hope that these guidelines rein in rogue
prosecutors like Russoniello. There's no guarantee that's going to happen."

Russoniello's office is prosecuting owners of two Hayward-area
medical marijuana dispensaries that were licensed by local
governments. In March, after Holder's announcement, federal agents
raided Emmalyn's California Cannabis Clinic in San Francisco, which
had a city permit. No charges were filed.

Russoniello's office referred inquiries Monday to the Justice
Department, where spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said Ogden's memo was
intended to provide "guidance and clarification" to prosecutors and
does not change administration policy.

Judges Go Easy

Since Holder's announcement, prosecutors have told several federal
judges in California that the new policy did not justify leniency for
marijuana defendants whose cases originated during President George
W. Bush's administration.

Judges have nonetheless imposed lighter sentences than the Justice
Department wanted, notably a one-year term for a Central Coast pot
club operator for whom prosecutors sought five years.

Although Monday's guidelines, like Holder's earlier statement, do not
expressly apply to pending cases, defense lawyers will argue to
judges that the Obama administration's memo justifies a break in
sentencing, said Joe Elford, lawyer for Americans for Safe Access.

He also predicted that some prisoners would cite the memo in asking
President Obama for clemency.

The guidelines don't say how federal authorities would respond if
California legalized marijuana for personal use, as proposed in an
Assembly bill and several pending initiatives. But Gutwillig, whose
organization advocates legalization, said he saw a glimmer of hope.

"The Obama administration has taken a further step today to follow
the lead of the states on marijuana policy," he said.