As we approach election time the federal government has begun taking a strong stance on medical marijuana. However, not every government official is on board with this; like House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, who criticized the Obama Administration’s stance against medical marijuana suppliers in California this week. She believes the government is putting patients in danger, and undermining its policy of deferring to states on the issue, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
“Access to medicinal marijuana for individuals who are ill or enduring difficult and painful therapies is both a medical and a states’ rights issue,” she said in a statement. “I have strong concerns about the recent actions by the federal government that threaten the safe access of medical marijuana to alleviate the suffering of patients in California.”
Last October, the United States attorneys in California told dozens of marijuana dispensaries they must close or face criminal and civil action. Four U.S. attorneys stated that they would prosecute landlords who rent space to operators of medical marijuana dispensaries. Since then, about 300 marijuana dispensaries in the state have closed, according to the newspaper. More than 1,000 medical marijuana suppliers are still in business, according to the advocacy group Americans for Safe Access.
