Recently the United States House of Representatives voted to defund DEA medical marijuana raids in states that have passed legislation to legalize them. The United States Senate has yet to approve the measure, and it seems that the effort faces an uphill battle in the chamber. However, supporters in the United States House of Representatives have received backing from the Governor of Vermont, Peter Shumlin, this week. Per Vermont Public Radio:
Gov. Peter Shumlin says he supports an effort in Congress to block the federal government from cracking down on state-sanctioned medical marijuana dispensaries. Twenty-two states, including Vermont, have enacted medical marijuana laws in the past few years.
“We’re doing the right thing for folks that need marijuana for medical purposes,” said Shumlin. “I think that Congress’s action just adds more voices to the common sense approach to marijuana policy.”
Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin is joining a majority of Americans who agree that the federal government should leave medical marijuana states alone. State voters and/or legislatures have spoken, and have clearly established that they want to decide who deserves to have safe access to medical marijuana. Why the DEA feels the need to trample on state’s rights and harass state medical marijuana program participants and dispensary owners is beyond me.
Recently the DEA notified doctors in Massachusetts who are affiliated with medical marijuana centers that they would revoke their license if they continued to work with the medical marijuana industry. This form of harassment is unacceptable. If a qualified doctor feels that a form of medicine will help a patient, that should be enough. The DEA should not take it upon themselves to interfere. It’s beyond time to defund the DEA, not just for medical marijuana raids, but altogether.
