Obama has weed drama in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO -- Hundreds of marijuana advocates gathered in downtown San Francisco Tuesday to protest recent federal crackdowns on California's medical cannabis industry while President Obama attended a fundraising luncheon at the nearby W Hotel.

Among the demonstrators was an employee at a local marijuana collective. "I've worked there for years," the man, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Huffington Post. "But if the Feds close us down, I'll be out there on the street with the Occupy Wall Street protesters because I'll be out of a job. This is my career, my livelihood. What Obama has done to our industry is nothing short of entrapment."

Despite an earlier promise to leave medical marijuana laws to the states, federal officials recently launched a whirlwind crackdown on cannabis dispensaries throughout the state, threatening to shut down certain pot shops and targeting others with exorbitant IRS bills and other sanctions. At a press conference held prior to the demonstration, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) joined advocates, local lawmakers and business owners in calling on the Obama administration to intervene.

"It's a total overreaction by the U.S. attorneys and they need to be reined in," Ammiano said. "I don't know who let the dogs out, but they need to be called off."

San Francisco resident Misha Breyburg, who participated in the protest, said he was disappointed in Obama's regression from his campaign promises. "It's important for politicians to stand by their words," he said. "These people out here -- they've worked hard, they've saved their money and they've taken all of the legal steps -- and then to have their property taken away from them? Maybe in North Korea."

California voters approved the use of medical marijuana in 1996 with the passage of Proposition 215, later named the Compassionate Use Act, which allows patients to possess and cultivate cannabis with a doctor's permission. The law has been interpreted many times since its inception. In City of Garden Grove v. Superior Court in 2007, trial court sided with the patient, finding it "is not the job of local police to enforce the federal drug law." A California Supreme Court ruling in 2010 found residents may grow or possess "reasonable amounts" of marijuana with a doctor's blessing.

Source: Huffington Post - go to the story