The pot industry can thank Barack Obama and Eric Holder for ordering the DEA not to enforce federal marijuana laws in those states that have legalized the weed. So now people in California are lining up in the streets outside pot shops, waiting their turn to get inside. Dozens of large pot plantations and grow houses have sprouted up across the formerly Golden State, now the Green State.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has now rescinded that terrible pro-pot order by Obama and Holder. He is leaving it up to federal prosecutors on what, if any, action to take against the pot industry in Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, the states that have legalized recreational marijuana.
Here comes the rub. The courts, juries and a lack of Manpower in the DEA will likely be insurmountable obstacles in reigning in the pot industry.
Let’s take California as an example. The minute the DEA moves against the state’s thriving pot industry, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra will seek a restraining order, probably in San Francisco’s federal judicial district. That district is loaded with liberal judges and it is extremely unlikely that they will not grant an injunction against the DEA. The Justice Department can appeal to the 9the Circuit Court of Appeals, but that circuit is well known for its left-wing rulings.
But let’s say that John Doe and Harry Roe are busted by the DEA for operating a large grow house and for the distribution of 700 plants or kilograms of marijuana, which carries a federal penalty of 5-40 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. No jury in California is going to convict John and Harry, and federal prosecutors know this.
But let’s turn the DEA loose. Sorry, but they just don’t have the manpower to make a dent in the legalization of recreational pot. The DEA will have to have the assistance of California’s Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement and local law enforcement agencies to carry out large scale raids. Because California has legalized pot, the state’s BNE agents and local police and sheriff’s departments will be prohibited from assisting the DEA in taking down state licensed marijuana operations.
I have been on a number of raids on California pot plantations and growth houses. Almost all of these raids were multi-agency operations. And every DEA raid had to have the manpower assistance of local law enforcement agencies. With the DEA no longer able to rely on the assistance of state and local cops, any effort to crack down on pot growth operations seems doomed to failure.
Jeff Sessions is a strong opponent of pot. But the courts, juries and the DEA’s lack of manpower stand in the way of his desire to put an end to the legalization nonsense. And let’s not forget that during the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald trump made it quite clear that the marijuana issue should be left up to the states. That means the president will not have Session’s back.
So the Green State and the other seven states that have legalized recreational pot will continue to enjoy the benefits of a growing pot industry. They expect to collect billions in taxes. Of course those taxes, which are very high when you include local taxes on top of the state taxes, will leave the Mexican drug cartels laughing all the way to the bank as the black market in marijuana continues to flourish. In fact, the black market may even grow when new pot users find they can get good weed at much lower prices from their street corner dealer.
And here is one more benefit. The Los Angeles Police Department is worried about an expected rise in fatal car crashes involving stoned drivers. And well they should be. That has been the experience of Colorado and Washington.
What does all this mean for my great state of Texas? I can foresee us really being the Lone Star State, surrounded by the legal pot states of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
I’ll just park this here Howie.
Funny, but not that farfetched. Them stoners are likely to have seen unicorns.
Congress just needs to pass legislation allowing states to have overriding jurisdiction in this arena, and then we can be done with it.
Just curious if Howie is just as passionate about big pharma and their dope peddling that kills with impunity, all you have to do is make a doctors appointment instead of seeking a dealer.
Actually I worked for big pharma for a couple of years before I returned to police work. Back then they were not allowed to advertise in the print media or on the radio. They got their business by bribing doctors all too willing to accept interest-free loans and gifts, such as office furniture. Some of those loans were forgiven if the doctors used the tthe company’s products.
I worked for one of the smaller companies and had to rely on the superiority of my products. Once a month I would be in Las Vegas. I called on a clinic that had eight doctors, that many nurses and several clerical personnel. When I tried to sell the head of the clinic on my product, he said something like this: “I know that your’s is better than what we prescribe. But their representative takes the whole clinic out for dinner and to a casino show once a month. If you will do that, I’ll switch to your product.”
Now that is an extreme example and most doctors were not as forthcoming. But many of them would say so-and-so is handing out this-and-that, why don’t you do that too? And one of the other reps handed out some really expensice pens. He told me that when word got around, doctors would ask, “Whwer’s my pen?” He would reply, “They’re prescribing my drugs, you’re not. Now if you’ll switch over, I’ve got a pen for you.” (I still have one of those pens.)
While all that disgusted me, I’m not ready to condemn big pharma to the extent you have. Of course most drugs may have undesirable side effects and patients have died from taking them strictly as prescribed. But for most patients, those drugs work as intended.
With all the TV ads for drugs, patients pester their doctors for what they saw on the boob tube and the doctors will acquiesce.
And this brings me to another gripe. Big pharma spends far more money on promoting their products than they do on research for new products. That is why the cost of drugs is so high.
My mother passed away December of 2016, she was taking 35 pills a day for the last several years of her life. All of her symptoms of which killed her were side effects of just a few of those pills. We tried to take them from her and she threw child like tantrums because she was convinced that without them she would die, my mothers story is not uncommon.
Have you ever noticed that every commercial for big pharma says that the meds may actually kill you? Stop taking them if you die of a heart attack….
Pot is, in my opinion, a losers drug for dummies, however I dont think it kills and I dont think its any of the feds business.
Hey Wish, if you’ve taken a course on the constitution, I suggest you retake Constitution 101.
Of course there is no mention of pot in the constitution, but there are federal laws prohibiting the manufacture, distribution and possession of a list of drugs as classified by the DEA. And those laws are supreme over any conflicting state laws as proscribed in the constitution.
You can argue all you want about the pros and cons of pot, but the prohibition of Marijuana is the law of the land.
As a former warrior in the war on drugs, I don’t want to get into an argument with you on that other than to say that the war is not the failure its detractors claim it is.
“No jury in California is going to convict John and Harry, and federal prosecutors know this.”
And that is exactly the point where the law should be repealed. Period. No ands, ifs, or buts. If you can’t find 12 people to enforce it, it needs to be off the books, just as surely as if there was a referendum and 100% of the voters voted it down.
Anything else is simply not “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Pretty much unnoticed in the debate on the legalization of marijuana is the effect on gun owners and the Second Amendment. As long as marijuana remains a controlled substance under federal law, you may not (honestly) purchase a firearm. You must lie (a federal felony) on the background check form, BATF4437.
Whether or not you may continue to possess firearms if you are a regular recreational or medical marijuana user hasn’t been, to my knowledge, resolved at the federal level. However, several states that have legalized marijuana have stated that their citizens are prohibited from owning firearms, if they are recreational or medical marijuana users. States that register firearms, like Hawaii, have sent out notices to dispose of all firearms to registered owners who also hold a medical marijuana card.
I am not sure I agree Howie. I note that the formerly great state of CA is moving to enact a Marijuana Sanctuary State law, which, if enacted, would flat-out prohibit local and state law enforcement agencies from assisting the feds in enforcing anti-weed laws without a court order directing them to do so. Sessions pissed in pretty much the same way ICE is pissed about the CA sanctuary state law. Assuming that Trump gets tired of being poked in the eye with a sharp stick and decides to do something about it, it could get very interesting indeed.
The US Constitution covers illegal immigration, no where do I find mention of pot, if you did alcohol would be illegal too. Of course you could argue what invasion means. The fed has overstepped its authority on the “war on drugs” and has ignored its authority on the invasion, very likely all by design.
“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.”