Despite Obama admin’s promise, DEA continues raids on medical marijuana growers

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Tr1p

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On Thursday, a Denver news station interviewed Chris Bartkowicz about his medical-marijuana operation in the basement of his home. Bartkowicz, confident of his compliance with state laws, boasted of its size and profitability.

"I'm definitely living the dream now," he told 9News.

The following day, the dream was over.

Drug-enforcement agents raided his home, placed him under arrest, and carried off dozens of black bags of marijuana plants and growing lights.

The Obama administration promised in October that the federal government would respect state laws allowing the growing and selling of marijuana for medicinal use, but the Drug Enforcement Agency sent a loud message with the arrest of Bartkowicz.
"It's still a violation of federal law," said Jeffrey Sweetin, the DEA special agent in charge of the Denver office. "It's not medicine. We're still going to continue to investigate and arrest people."

The United States Attorney's office will decide Tuesday if charges will be filed against Bartkowicz.

In an interview from his jail cell, Bartkowicz said he believes the DEA is making an example of him. He would never have exposed himself if he believed his business was illegal.

"If I knew what I was doing was illegal, I would have never made a public display of myself," he said. "I would not have put myself in the line of fire if I was knowingly violating the law."
Sweetin wasn't surprised by Bartkowicz' confidence.
"According to him and according to what he's seen on the news, he probably believes he is legal," Sweetin said.

And according to Sweetin, it isn't just growers who face arrest. The dispensaries are next on the list.

"The time is coming when we go into a dispensary, we find out what their profit is, we seize the building and we arrest everybody. They're violating federal law; they're at risk of arrest and imprisonment," he said to The Denver Post. "Technically, every dispensary in the state is in blatant violation of federal law."

Deputy U.S. Attorney General David Ogden told federal agents in an October memo to not target people in "clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana."

Sweetin said the memo does nothing to change federal law, which makes marijuana illegal.

The difference between the Obama administration's stated mission to end the "war on drugs" and the actual enforcement of that policy by DEA agents may not come as a surprise to those who have seen the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) budget for fiscal year 2011.

"We're not at war with people in this country," Obama's drug czar Gil Kerlikowske told The Wall Street Journal in May.

But according to 2011 funding "highlights" released by the ONDCP (PDF link), the Obama administration is expanding the drug war and tilting its funds heavily toward law enforcement over treatment.

During the interview in his jail cell, Bartkowicz said he realized his arrest is the center of a national debate and defended his right to publicly declare his business.

"I'm the poster boy now," he said. "If I am legal, why should I be in the shadows?"

http://rawstory.com/2010/02/obama-admins-promise-dea-continues-raids-medical-marijuana-growers/
 
To anyone unclear how the chain of command works it is Obama's responsibility to enforce the law, this includes prioritizing which laws to enforce.

I'll be interested to see if this is a rogue agent about to get fired, or more likely the actual policy of the executive branch despite their rhetoric.
 
^Yea, part of me says it's the DEA/ONDCP vs the executive branch, but a bigger part says that it's the same old fear mongering machine of indiffereence. Obama has made it clear that he thinks cannabis is a joke imo, despite the will of the American people, like during the televised internet question/forum he held where legalization of cannabis was the number one supported and talked about subject and he brushed it off like it was total bullshit.
 
obama is a motherfucking liar and fooled all the fools who bought into his shit and his whole "change" bullshit ploy. a smart fucker he is thoe bc he said and did EVERY SINGLE THING that people wanted to hear and now were stuck with him... get use to more of it to come:!
 
DexterMeth said:
^It was either him or Mccain/Palin. I'm glad we have a harvard law school prep instead to be honest. The machine is the machine, learn to play.
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oh dont get me wrong, i should of added that i didnt vote for mccain/palin either!!!! but obama is a shady fucker and who knows what lies further down the rabbit hole:\


would love to be nailin' palin' i'd have to admit=D im a sucker for the glasses/ library type woman!

but seriously fuck our corrupt pos excuse of a system...where theres power&money theres always going to be corrupt scumbags who ruin the lives of the people their sworn to protect--- god wtf am i smoking8)
 
I voted for Obama because I felt it was better than going with McCain... now I wonder if I was right...

I knew everything in support of marijuana and medical marijuana was b.s. though. Politicians don't like touching the drug issue unless its increasing enforcement of it.
 
^I foresee a 3rd mainstream political party voting someone into the white house in the near future, or at the very least getting closer than any other in the modern era. These people will have a such an influence on public policy that it will actually benefit the politician to be drug friendly. I call this era, "the hippie majority"...it's entirely fictional. :)
 
DexterMeth said:
^Yea, part of me says it's the DEA/ONDCP vs the executive branch, but a bigger part says that it's the same old fear mongering machine of indiffereence. Obama has made it clear that he thinks cannabis is a joke imo, despite the will of the American people, like during the televised internet question/forum he held where legalization of cannabis was the number one supported and talked about subject and he brushed it off like it was total bullshit.
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Obama doesn't give a shit about legalization of marijuana. Obama is far more concerned with health care reform and tax reform. Anyone who thinks otherwise is naive and ignorant to what is going on in Washington and in the media.

ChemicalSmiles said:
I voted for Obama because I felt it was better than going with McCain... now I wonder if I was right...

I knew everything in support of marijuana and medical marijuana was b.s. though. Politicians don't like touching the drug issue unless its increasing enforcement of it.
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this is where you failed. There were more than two names on taht presidential ballot. Perhaps more people should research ALL of the candidates not just the big two.
 
This guy wasn't smart to go on the news though. It isn't legal. There are some ugly parts to the colorado medical pot scene outsiders don't understand also. It isn't just rainbows and unicorns.

I'd rather Obama than Mccain.
 
Don't mean to kill your guy's hope, here is a little something I got from wiki about what Gil Kerlikowske had to say:

In a May 22, 2009 interview on KUOW radio, he said any drug 'legalization' would be "waving the white flag" and that "legalization is off the the charts when it comes to discussion, from my viewpoint" and that "legalization vocabulary doesn't exist for me and it was made clear that it doesn't exist in President Obama's vocabulary." Specifically about marijuana, he said, "It's a dangerous drug" and about the medical use of marijuana, he said, "we will wait for evidence on whether smoked marijuana has any medicinal benefits - those aren't in."

I love how Gil claims they are not at war with this country when that is EXACTLY what the war on drugs is, the war on American's appetite. But just look at his picture, that's all you need to see to know that he isn't going to be recommending to Obama we decriminalize any illicit substance. And Obama... ha! People gotta quit being so optimistic when it comes to politicians, especially those who aspire to be president. They will tell you whatever you want to hear to get elected.
 
Um ...

I think this Jeffrey Sweetin guy just needs to be fired for acting counter to the standing orders from his superiors. The Attorney General of the federal government sent him a memo specifically stating that he should not do what he just did. I think all the hatred directed at Obama is a bit misguided ... he didn't personally make the decision to raid this grower, and I suspect that he'd be a bit peeved to know that his administration's official policy was being countermanded by some DEA agent.
 
ChemicalSmiles said:
I voted for Obama because I felt it was better than going with McCain... now I wonder if I was right...
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ask yourself in that question again in 2012 when he signs off on the UN small arms treaty that intends to drive a steamroller over your 2nd amendment right. oh no he won't! oh yes, he will.
 
Amricans are so retarded, and this thread is perfect evidence. Bush was bad news from the start, and has ruined america in the eyes of the world, and as such we have no faith in the american people..

Drugs are illegal for the same reasons gay marrage isnt and racism is still rife. Its the same in our country - conversative pigs. Any vote for these fags is a green light to there policy. SERIOUSLY, u smoke weed and side with republicans. THAT MAKES NO SENSE!!!
 
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thujone said:
ask yourself in that question again in 2012 when he signs off on the UN small arms treaty that intends to drive a steamroller over your 2nd amendment right. oh no he won't! oh yes, he will.
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Bush/Nixon has ALREADY removed plenty of your rights which is primaliry the reason why this site exists. And this is the 2nd amendment, such a retarded law that makes america unsafe and continues to push the conservative movemnt forward.

WAKE UP PEOPLE. You are a product of your media. Its so funny, the world laughs together and how easily you are influnced. YOU ARE THE REASON this shit is illegal. YOU LET IT HAPPEN. Take responsibility now, or this will never change.

And yes, i believe Nixon is the anti-christ.
 
UndrCovrStonr said:
Bush/Nixon has ALREADY removed plenty of your rights which is primaliry the reason why this site exists. And this is the 2nd amendment, such a retarded law that makes america unsafe and continues to push the conservative movemnt forward.

WAKE UP PEOPLE. You are a product of your media. Its so funny, the world laughs together and how easily you are influnced. YOU ARE THE REASON this shit is illegal. YOU LET IT HAPPEN. Take responsibility now, or this will never change.

And yes, i believe Nixon is the anti-christ.
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Obviously America is becoming more and more like a police state, but trying to act like Americans are idiots and everyone else in the world isn't is asinine.

Britain just upgraded marijuana to a Class B drug, IIRC. And other than maybe Amsterdam and Portugal, I don't know too many countries around the world that have it legalized.

And people are products of the media everywhere. Last time I checked, reality TV and sensationalist/biased news wasn't just restricted to the States. There's a new movie/documentary coming out called Videocracy which discusses how the Prime Minister of Italy also runs the major media outlets in that country. And how whenever he wants to keep the populace preoccupied he just launches another quiz/game show where the female contestants take off their clothes....
 
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