Holder Hints at Ending DEA Raids on Medical Marijuana
Attorney General promises states are in charge
By DANIEL MARRIN
Updated 2:46 PM PST, Thu, Feb 26, 2009
Attorney General Holder was speaking at a press conference Wednesday about Operation XCellerator, a crackdown on Mexican drug cartels, when a reporter asked him about the DEA's stance on the raids. The reporter mentioned some raids that occurred right after the inauguration but before Holder's confirmation, then he asked Holder if he would continue the raids policy under his tenure.
Holder joked, "What the president said during the campaign, you will be surprised to know, will be consistent with what we will be doing here in law enforcement." After a bit of laughter, he repeated, "What he said during the campaign is now American policy."
Obama made it clear in the primaries that he supported states' rights to give out medical marijuana, and that he wanted the DEA out of the raiding game. That same position was taken by both John McCain and Hilary Clinton.
After Eric Holder's comments Wednesday, blogger Radical Russ on NORML, the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, wrote that people should mark down 2/25/09 as "the beginning of the end of adult marijuana prohibition."
First Published: Feb 26, 2009 2:26 PM PST
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