Whoa there kimosabe. If the DEA (and the federal US government in general) really is serious about softening up on the ol' maryjayjay (itself a promise deserving of skepticism -- fool me twice shame on me!), then yeah, it is a good thing that small-time farmers, distributors, and users who stay within the bounds of their local laws when it comes to marijuana, don't have to worry about the DEA kicking in their doors anymore. But the cynic in me says that if this is really the direction that federal marijuana policy is headed, it's mostly for self-interested reasons on the part of the federal government, with the DEA as their hired goons. Maybe some top-secret think tank has crunched some numbers from the "pilot program" in CO and WA, and realized the federal government can pull in more money by allowing people to grow and/or sell and/or use marijuana if and only if they're willing to pay an exorbitant federal tax and/or licensing fee, and kicking in the doors of those don't pay their protection money tax, as opposed to banning marijuana completely and kicking in the doors of anyone who possesses marijuana.
Dismantle the DEA. Never did nothin for nobody. They're a little bit analogous to the religious police in Saudi Arabia. Both are in essence their respective country's ruling elite's terror squad, who showily hunt "moral deviants" as both a Coliseum-ish distracting spectacle, and a warning to the general populace of what they do to people who disobey them.
I have to obtain a DEA number in order to prescribe drugs. The party line I'm always fed is that it's a mutually beneficial relationship, whereby I'm protected from monkey business by drug makers / vendors and untrustworthy patients alike. I think that's a load of hooey, sold to us to make the real agenda go down more palatably among healthcare providers. The DEA forces me (the initial application and renewal processes are on my own time and dime, mind you) to let them watch and analyze my every move with a prescription pad, and that's about the whole story. If I'm unwilling to grant them this intrusion, then they're unwilling to let me prescribe prescription-only drugs. Last I heard forcing people to do business with you against their will is called racketeering. They'll do nothing for me. Word on the street has it that approaching the DEA as a prescriber with a complaint, or asking them for help out of a tough situation, is kind of like walking into a police station to report a crime in a country where you're an unpopular minority and the police are very opaque and corrupt. You'll be lucky to walk away without some serious scrutiny of you, maybe even some trumped-up charges if you say too much, and if you really rub somebody the wrong way, a ruthless beatdown you'll never get an apology for, let alone justice.
