Chairman Of The House Committee On the Judiciary John Conyers Wants Answers From The DEA Regarding Raids In States With Medi-Pot ‘Patient Protection’ Laws
May 6th, 2008 By: Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director
On April 29, 2008 House of Representative’s Committee on the Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) sent a 17-page letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart with pointed questions, a listing of over 60 medical marijuana dispensaries or patient cooperatives that have been raided by the DEA and federal law enforcement between June 2005 to November 2007 and numerous citations from local municipalities that are on the record of supporting patient access to cannabis and oppose federal intervention.
Excerpt from Conyer’s letter to Leonhart:
“Every month new science supporting the therapeutic value of cannabis is published. As a result, medical and scientific organizations, like the American College of Physicians and the American Psychiatric Association, are urging reform of laws that place in legal jeopardy physicians or their individual patients who may benefit from the use of cannabis. As the Administrator, you have the discretion to decide whether to continue heightened enforcement activities in California and in other states that have authorized the use of medical cannabis by qualified individuals. Please explain what role, if any, emerging scientific data plays in your decision-making process to conduct enforcement raids on individuals authorized to use or provide medical cannabis under state law.”
Read the entire letter and list of raided medical marijuana dispensaries and cooperatives here.
Let’s hope the DEA’s answers are as illuminating as the questions being asked by Chairman Conyers.
Tags: California, DEA, Drug Enforcement Administration, John Conyers, medical marijuana, NORML
May 7th, 2008 at 3:51 am
Cheers to Rep. Conyers for helping to bring the issue of state’s rights vs DEA enforcement into the public eye. Let’s hope more representatives start asking these types of questions.
May 7th, 2008 at 10:10 am
If we could only get 1 representative from all 50 states to start questioning the DEA, maybe we could start to see some change!
May 7th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Rep. Conyers exhibits courage and common sense in asking these questions of the DEA. We need to demand our government make decisions based on science, not hyperbole and lies. DEA should not make policy, and should not have any hand in deciding policy - it is a clear conflict of interest that does not serve the American people. They’ve had too many years of uncontested authority - it’s time to bring DEA in line with the will of the people, not just the will of those who benefit from the deep pockets of this abortive “War on Drugs”.