[420 Girl]

The Obama administration's declaration last week that it might someday start thinking about calling the federal drug-war dogs off state-approved medical marijuana dispensaries was certainly welcome news.

White House flack Nick Shapiro assured Americans the changer-in-chief "believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior leadership to fill out the ranks of the federal government, he expects them to review their policies with that in mind."

Again, good for him. Because as it stands now, just 23 days into the Obama years (I know, I know - it seems like so much longer), the Drug Enforcement Administration under the former Illinois Senator is on an early but unmistakable trajectory to surpass George W. Bush's two-term raid total, and do it in just two years.

DEA agents have committed at least five medical-marijuana facility burglaries since Inauguration Day. In the entirety of Bush's eight years in office (I know, I know - it seemed like so much longer), the DEA conducted 150-200 raids, said a spokesman from Americans for Safe Access.

By contrast, President Clinton's DEA looted voter-endorsed pot dispensaries on fewer than 20 occasions, according to the spokesman. (A bit misleading, that "low" number by no means indicates some higher appreciation for individual rights or grassroots democracy on Clinton's part: States didn't even start legalizing medical marijuana until his second term. And, of course, it'd be difficult to conceive of a more fanatical living opponent of patient freedom and physician autonomy than Clinton's odious drug czar, Barry McCaffrey.)

http://www.420magazine.com/forums/in...president.html