MEDICAL POT PROPONENTS UPSET WITH OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

SAN DIEGO -- In late 2009, the U.S. Justice Department issued a memo
that gave proponents of medical marijuana something to cheer about.

The policy memo said U.S. attorneys around the country should not use
investigative resources on prosecuting "individuals whose actions are
in clear and unambiguous compliance" with the laws in 16 states that
allow medical marijuana, including California.

Advocates for those laws took that as a significant shift from when
the Bush administration aggressively prosecuted medical marijuana
providers and users in those states.

But now, many of those advocates -- including ones in San Diego -- are
dismayed and claiming the Obama administration is reneging on that
2009 policy memo. They also are concerned anew about the specter of
federal prosecutions in medical marijuana states.

At issue is a June 29 memo from Deputy Attorney General James Cole to
all U.S. attorneys. In it, Cole says there has been a rise in the
commercial cultivation of marijuana on a large-scale for medical
marijuana purposes.

He wrote that the 2009 memo was never intended to shield those people
from federal prosecution -- even if they are complying with state
medical marijuana laws. The memo says it is not an efficient use of
resources to prosecute individuals with illnesses or their caregivers
under federal law.

But it defines caregivers as individuals who give care to others with
cancer or other serious illnesses, and not "commercial operations
cultivating, selling or distributing marijuana."

To medical marijuana supporters, that language repudiates the earlier
position and opens the door to prosecuting dispensaries or
cooperatives that provide marijuana to many individuals.

"Everyone in the community is now on red alert," said Eugene
Davidovich, chairman of the San Diego chapter of Americans for Safe
Access, a medical marijuana advocacy group. "This memo gives the green
light for the federal government to continue to interfere with state
medical cannabis laws."

The U.S. Attorney's Office in San Diego declined to comment on Cole's
memo or its effect on local policy. The Justice Department said the
memo is not a policy change but reinforces the 2009 directive and was
done in response to the increased commercial cultivation of marijuana
for medicinal uses in some local areas.

Some cities in California, such as Oakland, have considered local laws
that would authorize large-scale marijuana farms. That has caught the
attention of federal prosecutors.

Alex Kreit, a law professor at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in
San Diego and former head of the city's medical marijuana task force,
said Cole's memo shows the Obama administration policy on medical
marijuana is the same as its predecessor's.

"I think this memo is clearly walking back (on) what they said in the
previous memo," Kreit said.

That backtracking might have been spurred by the fact prosecutors
around the country in states that allow medical marijuana continued to
bring cases in federal court, even after the 2009 memo, he said.

In San Diego, there have been several such prosecutions, including one
against Vista dispensary operator James Stacy, who received probation
after pleading guilty to manufacturing marijuana. Stacy had argued he
complied with all state laws and opened his dispensary believing the
Obama administration's stance of not prosecuting people obeying state
law.

Kreit said Cole's memo denotes a "big change" in policy by the Obama
administration. The memo came after 10 U.S. attorneys had written
letters to officials in several states saying federal proseuctors have
the authority to prosecute dispensaries even when state law allows
medical marijuana use.

The Cole memo also alarmed activists because it appears to indicate
that state officials might be open for prosecution if they "knowingly
facilitate" the cultivation, sale or distribution of the drug.

"It's one of the most alarming aspects of this new statement," said
Michael Cindrich, a San Diego lawyer who specializes in medical
marijuana cases.

The government's position was reinforced on Friday when the Drug
Enforcement Administration formally rejected a petition filed nine
years ago by medical marijuana proponents to reclassify the drug. They
had sought to remove marijuana from the most restrictive category
under the Controlled Substances Act.

DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart wrote that the petition was being
rejected for several reasons. Among them, she said: "Marijuana has no
currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States."